After beating Eastview in the regular season, Bloomington Kennedy (25-6) senior guard Kenisha Bell set her sights on another meeting in the state tournament.

“They were undefeated and we were the team that beat them so I was like, ‘We deserve to be there with them.’”

And here the Eagles are, focused on a high-stakes rematch and a better ending to their season. They took runner-up a year ago and are hungry to take the final step.

Beating unseeded Lakeville North (21-10) 61-51 in Thursday’s semifinal required a better second half. MacKenzie Denk (17 points) and Temi Carda (10) kept the Panthers competitive.

“They are on a roll and they had confidence,” Eagles’ coach Quintin Johnson said of Lakeville North. “They came to play.”

The Eagles, who beat North twice in the regular season by an average of 21.5 points, turned a close halftime score into a more comfortable cushion on the strength of 10-0 run.

Tonoia Wade (19 points) and Bell (18) led the Eagles in scoring. Lasha Wright-Ponder and Isieoma Odor chipped in a combined 22 points.

First Report

Bloomington Kennedy gave Eastview’s girls’ basketball team its only loss this season. But the No. 1-ranked Lightning can get payback on the biggest stage.

The teams will meet at 8 p.m. on Saturday in the Class 4A championship game at Williams Arena. Eastview (30-1) fell to the Eagles 73-60 on Feb. 14.

Eastview got there by earning the survivors tag twice in as many state tournament games. Eastview outlasted No. 3 Eden Prairie for a 62-51 victory in Thursday’s Class 4A state tournament semifinal game. 

No. 2 Bloomington Kennedy beat Lakeville North 61-51 in the second semifinal game.


Photo gallery: Bloomington Kennedy 61, Lakeville North 51