Lakeville North coach Shelly Clemons said she didn't know who was going to start for the Panthers against Bloomington Kennedy in the opening round of the Pat Paterson Thanksgiving Tournament at Hamline University on Saturday night.

Clemons also doesn't know who she'll start tomorrow when Lakeville North faces Orono.

"We have a lot of kids who can play," Clemons said. "The biggest thing is just finding the right combination, and making sure everybody knows their role and everybody's contributing."

Almost all the Panthers contributed in Saturday night's 49-20 victory over the Eagles as sophomore Temi Carda, junior Claire Blascziek and seniors Polly Sjoberg, Chloe Goodman and MacKenzie Denk each posted six points to lead a deep and experienced Lakeville North team.

Clemons told the team after the game that they were "too unselfish" and needed to look to score more, Denk said. 

"We don't have one main scorer or one person who's going to dominate," Denk said. "It's just going to be different every night."

Depth seems to be the Panthers' strength as they look to make their second consecutive state tournament appearance. Lakeville North lost to Bloomington Kennedy 61-51 in the semifinals last year. 

It's that same depth that also allows the Panthers to play a more aggressive style of basketball.

Denk said the team's credo is to play as hard and fast as possible for three minutes knowing fresh legs are coming in off of the bench. 

Having nine or 10 players who play hard in short spurts allows Lakeville North to stretch the court and run on its opponents, Carda said. 

It gives me confidence knowing that there is someone who is just as good as me who can come in and help our team,” she said. "It helps so much.”

Lakeville North has a good mix of youth and experience in the starting lineup, and the Panthers seem primed for another run to the state tournament with the team's depth matching Clemons' up-tempo pace of play. 

"Through every practice and every game, our main goal is to get back to state," Carda said. "We know that playing in the state tournament is one of the greatest experiences in a high school career, and we're going to cherish the moments as we go."

Lakeville North rolled past Bloomington Kennedy 49-20 in an opening-round matchup Friday in the 15th annual Pat Paterson Thanksgiving Tournament at Hamline University.

Temi Carda, Polly Sjoberg, Claire Blascziek, Chloe Goodman and MacKenzie Denk each scored six points for the Panthers (1-0), No. 5 in the Class 4A preseason poll provided by Minnesota Basketball News.

Jessica Montouri, Olivia Bruce and Sarah Krynski had four points apiece for Lakeville North in the game, which was a rematch of last season's Class 4A state tournament semifinal game won by the Eagles 61-51. 

Bloomington Kennedy (0-1) struggled to find its offense after graduating leading scorers Kenisha Bell (Marquette) and Tonoia Wade (St. John's).

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