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Flying Under the Radar?

By Tom Schardin, 02/11/18, 11:15AM CST

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Is the Prior Lake boys basketball team flying under the radar?

The Lakers improved to 15-3 overall with a pair of easy South Suburban Conference home wins — 81-47 versus Eastview Feb. 5 and 61-35 over Lakeville South Feb. 2.

Prior Lake (9-2 in the SSC) has not been ranked in the top 10 in Class 4A all season. Two of the team's three losses are to ranked teams — No. 3 Lakeville North (75-70) and No. 5 Apple Valley (67-56), while the other setback is to Minnetonka (63-50).

The loss to Minnetonka was also the Lakers' season opener, while it was the Skippers' fifth game.

Minnetonka is a Section 2AAAA foe. Prior Lake is 2-1 against section squads with wins over Shakopee (74-72) and Bloomington Jefferson (58-49). Fourth-ranked Eden Prairie (15-3) and No. 8 Edina (12-6) are ranked section squads, while Chaska (13-5) has been ranked.

So don't be surprised if the Lakers show up in the next Class 4A poll, which is released Feb. 7.

Prior Lake gets Edina at home Feb. 15 and follows with rematches with Lakeville North the next day at home and Apple Valley on the road Feb. 20. Prior Lake will be at Burnsville Feb. 9 and at Eagan Feb. 13 in SSC games before facing Edina. All five contests start at 7 p.m.

In beating Eastview, Prior Lake exploded for 48 points in the first half and led by 21. Sophomore Dawson Garcia led the team with 24 points, while junior Robert Jones scored 15 and junior Jackyse Jacox had 11.

Junior Sam Nissen chipped in eight points, while senior Nate Moorse scored six and senior Patrick Bernick had five.

In beating Lakeville South, the Lakers dominated the second half, outscoring the Cougars 38-19. Garcia and Jones were in double figures with 14 and 11 points, respectively.

Jacox had nine, followed by senior Brandon Collins with eight and Nissen with seven.