Eden Prairie's Jackie Johnson went up for a shot during Friday's section final. /Marlin Levison, Star Tribune
In a year in which parity defined the Lake Conference more than anything else, it was only fitting that the Class 4A, Section 2 finals would come down to two Lake foes who know each other well.
The last time Edina and Eden Prairie played, the Hornets won by one point at home. This time the No. 1-seeded Eagles would not be denied, defeating No. 3-seeded Edina 59-44 at Hopkins High School.
The final score belied a hard-fought, back-and-forth contest that was tied with six minutes to go.
Down 32-27 at halftime, the Hornets – led by junior point guard Katybeth Biewen – came storming out of the locker room for a 10-0 run to start the second half.
Finally, with 12:19 left in the game, senior Eagles guard Taylor Uhl stopped the bleeding with a jumper to pull Eden Prairie back within three. Uhl, who came off the bench to score 14 points, was a major factor in the victory.
“She's been big for us all year,” first-year Eagles coach Chris Carr said of Uhl, who will play soccer for the Gophers next year. “She could've been a starter for us and probably one of our leading scorers … She's accepted her role and she's done a magnificent job in it.”
Junior forward Jackie Johnson led the Eagles, as she often does, with 18 points, 13 of which came in the first half.
Uhl and junior guard Shayne Mullaney – who finished with 16 – picked up the scoring slack in the second. The Eagles as a whole, as they have all season, used various traps and presses to harass the Hornets into seven second-half turnovers – allowing Eden Prairie to pull away in the final six minutes.
Biewen led the Hornets with 16 points.
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