Can Lakeville North sustain upset mojo?

John Oxton had two full days to digest Friday night's upset victory over Eastview.

The Lakeville North boys' basketball coach remained on an even keel.

Proud? Yes. Ecstatic? Hardly.

"We were fortunate enough to make enough plays down the stretch to win," said Oxton, his voice never rising. "Anytime that you get an opportunity to play the best team in the state -- and beat them -- is pretty exciting.

"Both teams made gritty, effort-filled plays," he said. "So many big plays. To our kids' credit, they did enough to win."

The No. 3 Panthers' one-point victory over the previously undefeated and top-ranked Lightning put a ripple into the South Suburban Conference and Class 4A as a whole.

Just how big of a stone was cast remains to be seen.

"[Last] Friday night was just further validation to our players that we can."

Can one late-season victory be a springboard?

"I've been asked a couple times about that and to be quite honest, I think our players are confident enough," Oxton said. "I don't think this is something that's going to get us over the hump or anything like that. Our kids have played very confidently all year.

"I don't think this came as a big surprise for them," he said. "I don't think they felt like, 'We're for sure going to win' but it wasn't like, 'Oh my goodness, we beat Eastview.' I have a lot of respect for the players and coaches there, but we're a pretty good team, too."

Mr. Hockey hopefulsCandidates for the 28th annual Mr. Hockey Award were announced last week. South metro players up for the honor include Justin Kloos of Lakeville South and Will Merchant and Michael Zajac of Eagan.