Staff photo by Ari Selvey Sleepy Eye’s Eric Lozano puts up a contested shot during a Tomahawk-Valley Conference, Tomahawk Division boys basketball game against Lester Prairie Monday at Sleepy Eye High School.

SLEEPY EYE — Despite a strong second-half push, Sleepy Eye fell 66-62 to Lester Prairie in a Tomahawk-Valley Conference, Tomahawk Division boys basketball game on Monday.

“We missed a lot of bunnies around the basket.” Sleepy Eye head coach Shane Heiderscheidt said. “I think we had 11, 12 missed bunnies, wide open looks. You have to shoot 100 percent, at least 90 percent of them. In close games, every possession matters, and we had a couple of costly turnovers down the stretch. We turned it over twice in a row by forcing it and not moving the ball.”

Brayden Heiderscheidt had 23 points, five rebounds and five assists for Sleepy Eye, while Landon Wendinger had 20 points, 17 rebounds and five blocks. Eric Lozano added 11 points and three assists for the Indians.

Coach Heiderscheidt said that, while the team was young, that can’t be an excuse for the team anymore, but added the team showed improvement from the past few games.

“We’re 20 games into the season,” he said. “Some of these guys have played varsity now for three years. We’ve got to catch the other younger guys up that didn’t get a chance to play last year. Overall, from the last few games we’ve played, it was a lot better. We’ve started to go back to playing really good defense and move the ball a little bit and knock down some shots. That’s what it’s going to take.”

The teams traded buckets early, with neither team gaining much of an advantage. A pair of free throws by Wendinger put Sleepy Eye up 12-10, Lester Prairie’s Caiden Herrmann hit a 3-pointer to put the Bulldogs back on top. The teams continued to battle, with several lead changes, but a steal by Brayden Heiderscheidt led to a layup that put Sleepy Eye up 30-25 going into the half.

A mid-range jumper by Brayden Heiderscheidt increased that lead to 32-25, but Lester Prairie struck back with a pair of 3-pointers, sandwiching a 3-pointer from Sleepy Eye’s Robert Romberg, and continued to battle until a shot by LaDamien Gatlin-Coellner put the Bulldogs up 41-40.

The teams traded buckets for several more possessions, with neither team gaining much of an advantage. A layup by Wendinger tied the game at 60 with under two minutes left, and Lester Prairie’s Devin Bahr put Lester Prairie back on top with a layup. Gatlin-Coellner got a putback to increase the Bulldog’s lead to 64-60 with under a minute to to go, and Eli LaMott hit two free throws in the bonus to put Lester Prairie up 66-60. Brayden Heiderscheidt was fouled on a 3-point shot with a few seconds to play, making the first to shots and missing the third intentionally, but Sleepy Eye was unable to secure the rebound, ending the game.

Sleepy Eye has seven regular-season games to play, and coach Heiderscheidt believes that, with the right bounces, the team has as good of a chance as anyone to make a run in the playoffs.

“Anybody can be beat,” he said. “I feel, and I’m sure every other coach in our subsection feels, that on any given night, anybody can be beat. It was good, Lester Prairie’s a good team, and everybody’s right there. We’re all conglomerated around .500. Anybody can be beaten on any given night. We got them last time, we got them this time.”

Sleepy Eye (8-11, 5-8) hosts Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop on Friday.