McKiernan scored on a drive and followed draining a wide-open three-pointer to put the Lakers up 52-44 with 6:45 to play. Then he assisted on the Lakers' next basket, driving and dishing to senior Isaiah Sims for two to put the Lakers up 54-46 with 4:45 remaining.

McKiernan finished with nine points as the Lakers improved to 6-8 overall (5-3 in the SSC) with their second straight win. Senior Joe Morris led the Blaze with 15 points as the team fell to 7-9 overall (3-5 in the conference).

Both teams are also in Section 2AAAA, so the Lakers gained a slight seed advantage over the Blaze. The two teams will meet again in Burnsville Feb. 13.

The Blaze led the first meeting 30-28 at the break, ending the first half on a 6-0 run. But Prior Lake took control in the second half, outscoring the Blaze 38.24.

Senior Brett Shepley tried the keep the Blaze close late in the game. He nailed a three-pointer to the cut the margin to 60-54 with roughly two minutes to play. But that ended up being the last points for Burnsville.

Shepley finished with 11 points, while senior Jake Ruffing had 10 and junior Jason Gumm scored nine.

Sims and senior Connor Bair led the Lakers with 12 points each, while senior Austin Heidecker scored 11 and senior Sam Schultze finished with eight.

Fifth-ranked Shakopee (12-4) is heading for the No. 1 seed in Section 2AAAA. Seeds are based solely on QRF rankings (quality results formula), which can be found at www.minnesota-scores.net.

Other teams in the section field: Chaska (12-4), Bloomington Jefferson (10-3), Bloomington Kennedy (7-8), Chanhassen (7-10) and Lakeville South (5-10).

Burnsville is back on the court Jan. 20 at home versus Lakeville South, while Prior Lake is home to defending Class 4A state champion Lakeville North the same day. Both SSC games start at 7 p.m..

To see more photos of the Blaze-Lakers game, go to Scoreboard's Facebook page:https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.946683745356976.1073742332.197190936972931&type=3.