The Shakopee boys basketball team keeps rolling along in South Suburban Conference play.
The Sabers are 20-2 in league action since last season, winning their ninth straight contest Jan. 13 with an 83-58 home win over Burnsville. Junior Isaac Snell led the way with 21 points.
Shakopee went into the game off a 69-60 home win over Prior Lake Jan. 10 in league play.
The Sabers (7-3 overall, 4-0 in the SSC) are the defending conference champs, going 16-2 in the SSC last winter. This year’s team is different than last season’s squad that finished 25-4 overall and was the runner-up in Section 2AAAA.
Gone from last year are the team’s top-five scorers and seven seniors. But Snell, junior Jalen Langsy and senior Termaine Fulton have picked up their scoring to make the Sabers contenders again.
Langsy leads the team at 19.4 points per game, followed by Fulton (13.6) and Snell (13.1).
The SSC is strong with No. 2-ranked Lakeville North the favorite, while Eastview is also ranked at No. 6, followed Farmington at No. 8 and the Sabers at No. 10.
Section 2AAAA is also loaded with Eden Prairie and Minnetonka ranked at No. 5 and 7, respectively.
Shakopee is 4-2 against the section so far with wins over Chaska, Chanhassen, Waconia and Prior Lake and losses to both Edina and Eden Prairie.
In beating Burnsville, the Sabers led 38-24 at the break and never looked back. Langsy finished with 17 points, while senior Vincenzo Miller scored 13.
Fulton chipped in nine points, followed by junior Mason Wood with eight and sophomore Luke Wherley with four.
Against Prior Lake, Shakopee led 39-31 at the break and held on from there. Langsy scored a career-high 31 points, while Snell was also in double figures with 11.
Wherley finished with seven points, followed by Fulton with six and junior Kaden Braxton with five.
Shakopee went into the Prior Lake game off a 69-63 loss at home to No. 9 Wayzata, last year’s Class 4A state runner-up. Langsy and Fulton both scored 14 points in the loss, while Snell had 13 and sophomore Eli Schroeder scored seven.
The Sabers also had a 49-40 conference road win at Rosemount Jan. 6. Fulton led the team with 18 points, while Langsy scored 15 and Snell had seven.
Section 2AAAA tournament play starts March 8 with the quarterfinals. The semifinals are March 11 with the title game March 17. The higher seed is at home for all three rounds.
This year’s Class 4A state tournament is March 22-25. Top-ranked Park Center is the defending champion.
Shakopee made six straight trips to state in Class 3A starting in 2000, including winning the title in 2005. The next season the Sabers made the move to Class 4A, where it made state for the first time at that level in 2014, as well as in 2015 and 2021.
