Games began more than a week ago, but the girls' basketball season hit the gas Saturday, when many of the metro's best teams took part in the Breakdown Tip-Off Classic at Hopkins' Lindbergh Center.
The marquee matchup of the day was a rematch of this year's Class 4A championship game, with defending champion and third-ranked Eastview taking on No. 1 Hopkins.
If Hopkins expressed any nerves about playing the team that beat it in the finals, it didn't show it.
Before the game, Royals superstar guard Paige Bueckers sat along the wall and kept her teammates entertained by lip-syncing and dancing to the music in her headphones.
When the game started, Bueckers did her dancing on the court, toying with the Lightning by slashing to the basket, hitting off-balance pull-up shots and draining long-range bombs, leading Hopkins to a 75-48 victory.
Eastview led 11-10 in the first half before Bueckers took over. She scored six straight points, then began feeding her teammates as Hopkins went on a 26-5 run. The game was essentially over after that.
Bueckers had 25 points for Hopkins (4-0), which earned its third victory of the young season over a highly touted foe, having already beaten Stillwater and Lakeville North.
It was far from the only notable game of the day, however.
