Eden Prairie knew this would be a tough game, particularly close on the heels of a disheartening loss to Hopkins less than a week ago.

But the Class 4A, No. 1 Eagles overcame any pressure that 3A, No. 2 DeLaSalle gave them, walloping the Islanders at home 83-62.

"We prepared for this game for a really long time," said Eagles leading scorer Morgan VanRiper-Rose, who had 18 points. "We knew DeLaSalle was going to come out strong, so we had to be on our game."

And they were. The Eagles (17-2) pulled out to a quick double-digit lead within the first six minutes, finding an immediate rhythm and netting three three-pointers, while DeLaSalle (16-4) struggled to get past Eden Prairie's zone defense.

By halftime, the Eagles stretched the lead to 35-21.

But the Islanders came out with a new energy in the second half, and though Eden Prairie kept a significant lead for most of the game, DeLaSalle refused to go away entirely, pulling within seven or eight points several times. Tyseanna Johnson scored a game-high 26 points for the Islanders.

"Actually, I'm really proud of the effort in the second half to stay in the game and keep fighting," DeLaSalle coach Faith Johnson Patterson said. "We've had a couple of big games and the second half is where we laid down, so our lesson today was that we could fight and compete until the end, and that's what we did."

None of that surprised anyone on the opposite bench. But VanRiper-Rose said the hold the Eagles maintained on the game is evidence of the poise the squad has developed over the season.

"We knew they had a run in them," she said. "In the second half they came out ready to play and they weren't going to lay down for us, but we picked up their pressure and played harder."