Regular-season sendoff made special by Eagles’ seniors

Omer Muktar approached Eden Prairie boys basketball head coach Zander Culver after the Eagles regular season finale on Friday.

The senior guard had a message for his coach.

“I appreciate you,” Muktar told Culver after the final regular-season home game of his career.

Culver accepted the gesture and returned the gratitude, on a night when the Eden Prairie seniors saved the best for last – or first – depending on how you look at it.

Zander started all four of the seniors on his roster against Edina for senior night. They responded – by jumping out to a 16-5 lead over the Hornets to start the contest.

Eagles senior guard Nolan Johnson broke open the scoring by draining a three-pointer just 15 seconds into the game for a 3-0 Eden Prairie lead.

Johnson hit another from beyond the arc later in the first half as the seniors gave their teammates an early advantage, much to the delight of the Eden Prairie fans in the stands.

“It means everything,” Johnson said of starting on senior night. “I’ve been playing basketball here since I was in kindergarten.”

Culver said that starting the four seniors – Johnson, Muktar, Rhys Carey and Parker Fahning – was something they knew they would do at the beginning of the season.

“You always want to send your seniors off on their home court with something positive,” he said. “I think they will remember this forever.”

Culver said simply that, despite not starting all season, the seniors did what they expected them to do, pointing out, “they did what you want your seniors to do. And they led, so I was really proud of that.”

Junior guard Max Lorenson was the only non-senior in the starting lineup and was happy to provide the upperclassmen with a fitting send-off.

“(The seniors) did a really good job and put us up early,” he said.

Lorenson contributed with seven points in the first five minutes, along with an array of assists, dissecting the Edina defenders with sharp passing in the first half.

“I’ve been focusing lately on just doing what the defense gives me,” Lorenson said. “If I have to dish to my teammates, I’ll do it. But if I have to hit a shot, I will. And I’ve started to really get into dishing to my teammates and getting assists.”

Lorenson got into early foul trouble and sat out the final nine minutes of the first half, leaving Edina to take full advantage.

The Hornets’ Josiah Coleman notched his 1000th career point on a series of free throws, giving Edina their first lead with 8:57 remaining before intermission.

Edina led by as much as eight points with 6:30 to play, but the Eagles clawed back to within one and trailed 41-40 at halftime.

Lorenson would lead all scorers with 22 points. Junior guard JJ Sullivan added 14. Sophomores Nolen Anderson and Hamze Yusuf each had eight.

Meanwhile, Fahning had seven, while Johnson and freshman Ty Schlagel added six apiece.

The Eagles took a 52-48 lead 3:27 into the second half when Lorenson followed up on a three-pointer with a reverse layup off a feed from Yusuf.

But Edina regained the upper hand with 11 minutes remaining, and while the Eagles battled back for a one-point advantage off another three-pointer by Lorenson, the Hornets pulled away down the stretch to win it 79-73.

“It was a good game. We were close. We had it, but there were just a couple mistakes,” Schlagel said.

The Eagles finish their regular season with a record of 9-17, while Edina closes out the schedule at 15-11.

“It was a good game, a hard-fought battle,” Culver said. “It’s the little things that we probably didn’t do throughout the game that led to us not winning.”

Despite the loss, Culver pointed to the effort provided by the Eagles’ seniors in the early going as a lasting positive to take away from the finale.

“Our seniors gave us a great start to the game,” Culver said. “The start they gave us was amazing, so I’m really proud of them, and we’re just proud of the heart that they show.”

And there’s more basketball to be played on the home hardwood. 

The Eagles host Prior Lake in the opening round of the section playoffs, with the opening tip set for 7 p.m. on Wednesday.