The second game on tap on this Tuesday at Target Center featured an intriguing match-ups of two teams who have been here many times before - Lakeville North and Eastview. Not having seen these two teams play this season I wasn't quite sure what to expect but the Lightning; who finished as runners-up in last years AAAA field maybe had a little more to prove in this game. At the same time, you couldn't count out the Panthers chances either.
With Eastview as the number four seed and Lakeville North as the number five seed, I expected this to be a tight contest and, given the fact that these two longtime South Suburban Conference rivals knew each other well, it was a given that this could be a good one despite the fact that the Lightning swept the regular season meetings between the two teams. Lanky Eastview junior guard Rachel Ranke had something of a hot hand early on; draining one trey from the right wing at the 13:47 mark and drilling another trey at the 12:27 mark to forge an 8-4 Lightning advantage. Lakeville North meanwhile struggled mightily from the perimeter and blew several easy transition lay-up chances and it didn't help the Panther cause when senior guard Sarah Krynski picked up her second foul that sent her to the bench for a spell. As it was, Eastview was able to stretch the lead as two scores by lanky sophomore forward Megan Walstad - a rebound and putback with 8:19 left and a jumper from the right elbow area with 7:35 left made it a 12-4 ballgame. Two Ranke free throws with 7:06 left and a Ranke offensive rebound and putback with 5:57 left gave the Lightning a ten-point cushion at 16-6 and a Walstad drive into the lane and finish that drew a foul that sent her to the line for the obligatory freebie had the Panthers in a hole trailing 19-8. Lakeville North finally found a bit of a spark when junior guard Olivia Bruce banged home a "3" from the left wing area that cut the Lightning lead down to eight at 19-11 with 4:46 left but it would be an uphill climb for the Panthers down the stretch of the first half. Eastview built their lead back up to double digits on a score in the paint by Walstad with 4:32 left and on a offensive rebound and putback by junior reserve forward Miranda Crenshaw with 2:06 left. Lakeville North avoided a complete disaster as junior point guard Temi Carda was able to connect on a lay-up in transition with just :01 left but going into the locker room trailing 25-13, the Panthers had their work cut out for them in the second half.
Lakeville North needed some sort of spark to regenerate its hopes going into the second half and an opening 7-0 Panther spurt suggested that they had found it. Senior post Jessica Montouri knocked down two free throws at the 17:44 mark and then followed that up with a score in the paint at the 16:36 mark. Senior guard Claire Blascziek then drained a "3" from the right wing area that suddenly had Lakeville North right back within striking distance trailing 25-20 and Eastview Head Coach Molly Kasper wasted no time in calling a thirty-second timeout to get her squad reorganized and calmed down. That short stoppage in play seemed to do the trick as the Lightning hunkered down and effectively choked off the Panther offensive strikes. A Walstad score in the paint at the 15:25 mark and a pretty reverse lay-up by Ranke at the 14:03 mark got the lead back up to nine at 29-20 and two more Lightning scores; including a strong offensive rebound and putback by Crenshaw at the 12:36 mark gave Eastview a 33-20 advantage. Unfortunately for Lakeville North, not only did the revert to their old bad habits of not being able to connect from the perimeter but they also could not cash in from the charity stripe either. Sophomore reserve post Kiara James was unable to drop two pairs of free throw attempts at the 12:17 and 11:22 mark and the Lightning pounced on the missed opportunities. One Walstad freebie at the 10:34 mark and two three-point bombs by junior guard Allie Pickrain - one with 7:50 left and another with 6:42 left - gave Eastview a cozy 40-22 lead. Two Pickrain free throws with 2:59 left increased the lead to 48-27 and the Lightning; despite a late Lakeville North rally, cruised into the semifinals with a 52-35 victory.
A disappointed Panther Head Coach Shelly Clemons could only heap praise on her South Suburban Conference rival. "They (Eastview) run their offense extremely well" she said. Lakeville North shot a dismal 20% from FG range in the first half and were even colder behind the arc (12.5%) and Clemmons admitted that Eastview's zone defense definitely had an adverse effect on her squad. On the Eastview side, Ranke; who finished this contest with 16 points, said that her team "had to come out with a lot of energy and intensity because they (Lakeville North) were really going to run the court." Going forward into the semifinal with Hopkins on Thursday, Pickrain just said that her team just has to focus and "lock down....play like we know we can....and play with heart." Walstad led the Lightning with 18 points but more importantly, Eastview owned the boards in this contest by a whopping 22-12 margin. Krynski led Lakeville North with her nine points while Montouri added eight.
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