The Prior Lake girls basketball team earned another split on the South Suburban Conference hardwood.

The Lakers trailed by as many as 21 points in the second half at Lakeville North Jan. 22 in an 83-76 loss. Prior Lake went into the contest off a 84-64 home win over Burnsville Jan. 18.

Senior McKenna Hofschild led the way in both games, scoring 32 points in each of them.

Prior Lake (8-8 overall, 4-5 in the SSC) is back on the court Jan. 25 at home versus Apple Valley and will play at Rosemount Jan. 29 in SSC games at 7 p.m.

Prior Lake will be home to Shakopee Feb. 1 and at No. 4-ranked Farmington Feb. 5 in SSC games at 7 p.m. The Sabers are a Section 2AAAA foe and they won the first meeting over the Lakers, 66-58 back on Dec. 18.

Prior Lake, the defending Section 2AAAA champs, will likely need a strong finish to get a home game in the first round of the playoffs.

Tenth-ranked Eden Prairie (12-3) is looking like the No. 1 seed, followed by No. 7 Chaska (13-3) and Shakopee (11-5). Minnetonka (7-9) and Edina (8-10) are also vying for a top-four seed.

Bloomington Jefferson (4-13) and Chanhassen (3-14) are also in the field.

The Lakers are 0-2 against section teams with their other loss to Eden Prairie.

In beating Burnsville, junior Haidyn Pitsch finished with 21 points for the Lakers, while sophomore Kate Trachsel scored 14. Junior Ella Schnackenberg chipped in eight points.

The Lakers led 32-26 at the break.

At Lakeville North, Prior Lake gave up 50 points in the first half and trailed by nine. The Lakers were down as many as 21 points in the second half, before fighting back down the stretch, cutting the Panthers' lead to five points at one point.

Trachsel had 14 points in the loss, while sophomore Emily Kulstad scored 11. Pitsch and Schnackenberg each scored six points, while sophomore Tatum Brostrom scored five.

Section 2AAAA quarterfinal play starts Feb. 27. The semifinals are March 2, and the title game is March 8 at a site still to be determined.