Friday was a day full of yearly traditions for Eden Prairie coach David Flom. For starters, it was his birthday. To add to the day's traditions, Flom and his Eagles had their annual matchup against Lakeville North.

Though these two Class 4A programs haven’t been in the same conference since 2010, the teams have continued to schedule each other every year and, making a habit of playing close games. Six of the past seven contests have been decided by single digits.

Friday was no different. But when the game ended, Flom got to walk off the floor with a nice present. After four consecutive losses to the Panthers, Eden Prairie bested Lakeville North 66-62 at Lakeville North High School.

Though these teams have a reputation of duking it out for 36 minutes, it appeared that the Eagles, ranked No. 4 in Class 4A by Minnesota Basketball News, might run away with this one. After the game was tied at 17 in the first half, Eden Prairie finished the half on a 19-6 run.

On offense, the Eagles (5-2) found success without relying on its top two scorers — juniors Drake Dobbs and Austin Andrews, who combined for 9 points in the first half. Meanwhile, juniors Brenden Donahue and John Henry each had 9 points to lead the way.

Defensively, Eden Prairie held down the No. 7-4A Panthers and their top scorer, senior guard and Wisconsin commit Tyler Wahl, who came into Friday averaging 23.6 points per game. Eden Prairie’s Connor Christenson, who ad the task of going up against one of the top players in the state, held Wahl to 9 points.

“Connor is one of the best defenders in the state,” Flom said. “He does everything for them: He plays the point and can go in the post. But Connor did a good job and stayed focused.”

Christenson, part of the group of Eden Prairie juniors that has played on the varsity team since their freshmen season, has previously guarded Wahl and has watched him on the AAU circuit.

“It’s about forcing him to do things he’s not comfortable doing and staying locked in all the time,” Christenson said.

But after a first half where the Eagles were surging, things went south early in the second half. The Panthers (3-3) went on a 23-5 run to open the half and go ahead 46-41. Lakeville North got a big half out of senior forward Jack Rusch, who finished with a team-best 18 points, including five 3-pointers.

Rusch’s hot shooting and Eden Prairie’s struggling second-half offense allowed the Panthers to climb back into the game.

“I called one timeout to try and cheer them up,” Flom said. “But I took another shortly after that and laid into them. I told them they needed to be tougher. I like how well we responded.”

And the Eagles did just that. It started with Dobbs, who came in averaging a team-best 18.3 points per game. Right out of the timeout, the Eden Prairie guard scored five quick points to tie the game at 46.

After scoring seven points in the first half, Dobbs went for 13 in the second half to finish with a team-high 20 points.

Henry knocked down a pair of shots from beyond the arc in the second half, buoying a late offensive push that was enough to hold off Lakeville North and give the Eagles the win.

With the win, Eden Prairie picks up its second win of the week against a top-10 opponent. On Tuesday, the Eagles picked up a 55-50 win against No. 5-4A East Ridge. Through seven games, Eden Prairie has already played the Falcons, the Panthers, No. 1-4A Park Center and No. 1-3A DeLaSalle. With its next game against No. 6-4A Chaska on Thursday, the road doesn’t get much easier.

“We build our schedule so we’re prepared come March,” Christenson said. “We see all different styles and have to take every game seriously.”