“She’s a really humble player,” Chaska coach Tara Seifert said. “She’s had a huge impact on our program. She’s going to finish and break a lot of records here.”

This year is different for Sanders, however. For many years, she played second fiddle to stars such as Mallory Heyer, a star scorer for Chaska who now plays for the University of Minnesota. This year, more responsibility has been put on Sanders.

“I have had to become much more of a vocal leader,” Sanders said. “We have a lot of younger girls. We’re trying to get them some confidence.”

So far, Sanders has taken the opportunity and run with it. She entered Thursday’s game averaging more than 22 points per game and has officially become the ring leader for the Hawks, ranked No. 4 in Class 4A by Minnesota Basketball News. 

“She’s picked up her scoring,” Seifert said. “We knew we were going to need that for her. But she’s also creating for the other kids. She’s just a very dynamic player who also defends.”

The No. 3-4A Eagles have found themselves in the same boat after the graduation of star forward Nia Holloway. One of the players who was expected to fill the gap left by Holloway was Savanna Jones. However, Jones tore her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in July and is set to miss her entire senior season.

“Losing (Jones) is very difficult,” Eden Prairie coach Ellen Wiese said. “That’s very difficult. She would’ve averaged a double-double and been all-state. We’re still trying to cope with that.”

Thankfully the Eagles have other players who can step up in the absence of Jones, like senior guard Ashley Fritz and sophomore guard Tori Schlagel. Schlagel led the Eagles with seven points in the first half as Eden Prairie grew a small lead against the Hawks.

Chaska, however, responded with an 11-0 run late in the first half to pull ahead. Sanders was key with her 11 points in the half but was also distributing passes. Senior guards Ashley Schuelke and Anna Lenzen also played significant roles in the run and each finished with points in the double figures.

“We strung some good possessions together,” Seifert said. “We’ve worked a lot on details and executing. A lot of kids played with confidence.”

In the second half, Eden Prairie fought back with Fritz heating up for the Eagles. She scored her team’s first 11 points in the second half to put the Eagles within a single possession of tying the game. Fritz finished with 17 points.

“We were more efficient on offense,” Wiese said. “We seemed to move the ball better and get better chances.”

Chaska did not back down, however. Sanders followed up her first-half performance with 11 points and showed how she has become the Hawks’ all-time leader in assists by finding posts such as senior forward Kylie Silus in good spots to score in the paint.

“My posts were just doing a really good job finding the right spots,” Sanders said. “They were going hard at me, so I had a lot of easy dump passes. It’s nice to see success for the whole team.”

The lead did get down to two or three points but Chaska (8-1) eventually pulled away for the nine-point victory. It’s the Hawks’ first top-five win of the season and a confidence booster after a 27-point loss to No. 2-4A St. Michael-Albertville on Dec. 16.

“This win brings us a lot of confidence,” Sanders said. “Especially since it’s a team in our section. It’s good to get a big win like this.”