Was at Hopkins High School on this Saturday evening to catch the two Section 2, Class 4AAAA semifinal games; the first one that pitted Bloomington Kennedy against powerhouse Eden Prairie. Actually, I would have been here for the tip-off easily but, because I unwittingly managed to leave my phone at home, I had to run back to my place and get it and didn't get back to Hopkins and get settled in until the 3:42 mark of the first half where Eden Prairie had managed to grab a 21-11 lead; a ten point margin they would hold going into the locker room at halftime up 25-15.
Actually, Bloomington Kennedy had an excellent shot at trimming the deficit to single digits before the break but costly turnovers killed those chances. And this is a very young Bloomington Kennedy team as well; a far cry from the glory days of Jenna Smith, Tasha Mrosak, Heather MacPhie, Tara Steinbauer, et al when this program had the city on its ear during their section and state tournament runs. And not that Eden Prairie was playing that much better either but was able to recover from its slump quickly and take firm control of this one. Junior post Jackie Johnson showed her versatility at the 16:16 mark when she nailed a "3" from the right top and then also scored inside a minute later. Senior captain Morgan Van Riper-Rose also had a stellar second half as well as Eden Prairie opened up a twenty point cushion by the 12:49 mark and expanded on that as well. Junior Shayne Mullaney and senior Aubrey Davis made their contributions felt as Eden Prairie won handily 57-33. Perhaps the neatest moment of the game came when Bloomington Kennedy got a basket before the buzzer by seldom-used senior Shamara Duwearatchi; a nice way to cap off her high school career.
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