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Two transfers help turn Edison around

By JIM PAULSEN, Star Tribune, 01/29/13, 4:20PM CST

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Alaysha Sutton


U-Nique Longs

When freshmen Alaysha Sutton and U-Nique Longs enrolled at Minneapolis Edison as transfers from embattled Prairie Seeds Academy, girls' basketball coach Greg Gilreath knew he was getting an infusion of basketball talent that would help his program.

He had no idea how much.

Things are looking up for the Tommies after a two-victory 2011-12 campaign in which they were outscored by 40 or more points 16 times.

Friday's 79-67 victory over Minneapolis South improved Edison's record to 10-6 on the season, 3-4 in the City Conference. Pretty much all the credit, Gilreath said, can go to Sutton and Longs.

"U-Nique is the point guard and she pretty much handles the press," he said. "And Sutton is a swing player. She's the person we get the ball into. They have basically carried us."

Sutton is the team's leading scorer, averaging 18.6 points per game, while Longs averages 15.4 points and more than 10 assists per game.

Longs' play has been so impressive that Gilreath, who has been coaching for nearly three decades, has made her a team captain.

"I've never had a freshman captain before," he said. "But she's such a good leader on the floor. The rest of the team feeds off of these two young ladies.

''We're more enthusiastic and have had better efforts. I'm definitely surprised. I didn't think we'd have this much success this soon."

St. Louis Park honors former player Keller

Former St. Louis Park baseball player Derrick Keller, a 2010 all-state selection as a senior, died in June after a 10-month struggle with leukemia.

The St. Louis Park Dugout Club has renamed its baseball field, Dakota Field, in Keller's honor. It is now known at Derrick Keller Field at Dakota Park. The booster club is raising $10,000 to build a scoreboard. The group also wants to raise another $10,000 to fund a scholarship in Keller's name.

Home-cooking

Junior gymnast Hannah Roth had an impressive performance in Wayzata's final home meet of the season in Thursday's victory over Hopkins.

Roth had personal-best scores of 9.5 on the balance beam and 37.275 in the all-around. She won both events as the Trojans posted a season-high team score of 142.925.

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