Barton is in her fourth season on the Lakers' varsity. She needed 185 points going into the season to reach 1,000 for her career. She leads the team at 14.2 points per game.

Barton averaged 14.7 points last year (398 points in 27 games). She averaged 9.6 points as a sophomore and 5.5 as a ninth-grader.

"I told her personally after the game that she reached 1,000 points the right away," said Lakers coach Mike Gidley. "She's a pass-first player and very team-orientated. She's not out there putting up a lot of shots. She runs our offense. So what she's been able to accomplish is very impressive."

Barton has 26 threes on the season, so she's on track to break the single-season record of 58. She has 98 career three-pointers. Prior Lake's all-time leading scorer is Anna Hanson, a 1994 graduate, who finished with 1,326 points.

Against Eagan, Barton's 15th point tied the game with just under three minutes to play. But Eagan was able to get past the Lakers down the stretch converting more free throws and baskets in the half court.

"We just couldn't make enough baskets and free throws down the stretch," said Gidley.

Prior Lake (7-6 overall) fell to 1-4 in the conference. Gidley said his team has had trouble finishing games and has struggled to be consistent against the top clubs that like to apply a lot of pressure.

"We played very well against Eagan; they're a good team," said Gidley. "At the end, they had more in the tank than we did. We need to find some bench players. We are only playing about seven kids, so we're getting a little fatigued at the end of games."

Eagan led the Lakers 21-19 at the break. Junior Michelle Lother was also in double figures for Prior Lake with 11 points, while senior Sam McElwain had nine.

Sophomore Riley Wheatcraft had six, followed by eighth-grader McKenna Hofschild with five and sophomore Brooke Glass with two.

Prior Lake is back in SSC action Jan. 16 at home versus Burnsville at 6 p.m. The Blaze is a Section 2AAAA foe as well.