Boys basketball: Defense shines in win over Eagan

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With the boys basketball teams for Eden Prairie and Apple Valley both unexpectedly losing on Tuesday night, it was another example of how difficult it can be to go through the Lake Conference schedule.

The Rosemount boys basketball team didn’t need to see the conference’s top two teams lose to know how tough it can be. The Irish have been playing through it all season.

The two relative upsets can be instructive to Rosemount coach Bryan Schnettler. Meanwhile, Schnettler is willing to give an honest assessment of where his team stands in the conference.

“First of all, the Lake Conference is tough,” Schnettler said. “Those two teams lost to teams they probably didn’t expect to lose to. We’ve been inconsistent. Our guys know if they play with energy, and we move the basketball, and have a defensive focus, we are tough to beat. We can beat anyone. But they also know that if we don’t have one or two of those things, we are in trouble.

“We’re on a bit of a roller coaster right now. If we can be consistent and put three games in a row together, we can still accomplish our goals and win the section. But that has to happen and happen quick.”

The Irish split their past two games, beating Eagan 64-59 last week before losing 76-61 to Chaska on Tuesday.

Rosemount (13-8, 10-7 Lake) have five games remaining in the regular season, beginning with a matchup tonight at No. 8 Apple Valley.

The Irish are hoping for one of their “up” performances on the recent roller coaster.

Against Eagan, Rosemount started slow and were losing at halftime, before turning things on in the second half.

“Our defense won the game,” Schnettler said. “We hit a few shots, which helped out down the stretch. I really like how we played in the second half. In the first half, we weren’t focused on what we needed to do. The second half was much better.”

Toriano Tatum scored 21 points for the Irish. Zach Vraa chipped in with 15 points.

In a rare occurrence, Rosemount was outrebounded by Chaska.

“We got killed on the boards,” Schnettler said. “We are averaging a plus-9 per game on rebounds, but I don’t know happened last night. There were moments where our focus wasn’t where it needed to be on defense and those two things hurt us.”

Vraa scored 24 points with Tatum adding 18. Matt Larson scored eight points.

Tags: boys basketball, sports, rosemount, prep, irish