Hopkins, Minnetonka advance to Class 4A title game

Everyone knew it was coming. It always does. But knowing Hopkins is going to go on a game-changing run and stopping it are two very different things.

The defending Class 4A Royals scored 10 consecutive points in a span of 1:10 of the first half to wrest control of the game away from Eastview and refused to give the Lightning a chance to take it back, pulling away for an 85-67 victory and a berth in Saturday's Class 4A championship game.

"With a team like Hopkins, you know they're going to go on a run," Eastview coach Molly Kasper said. "You have to play every possession. They started to go on a run and we lost our composure a little bit."

For most of the first half, Eastview had played close to a perfect game. When Allie Pickrain hit a three-pointer with a little more than four minutes left in the half to give Eastview a 28-25 lead, it appeared the Lightning were prepared to battle top-seeded Hopkins down to the wire.

Then, in less than two minutes, Eastview's good fortune ran out. The Lightning committed three turnovers and two fouls, allowing Hopkins to turn a three-point deficit into a 35-28 lead. Sophomore guard Reana Suggs made two three-pointers in the run, which led to a 39-30 halftime lead for Hopkins.

"We were worried about this game," Hopkins coach Brian Cosgriff said. "Reana Suggs came off the bench and gave us some threes and that really opened things up for us."

The Royals leaned on their senior leaders, Nia Hollie and Ashley Bates, thereafter. Hollie finished with 28 points and Bates with 23 as the duo combined to make 17 of 28 field goal attempts. As a team, Hopkins shot 58.3-percent from the floor (28 of 48).

"We have it up in the locker room: We wanted to be playing on Saturday, March 19 at 8 p.m.," Cosgriff said, referring to the Class 4A championship game.

"We put it up after we won it last year. And now we're there. That's been the goal the whole time."

Minnetonka 75, White Bear Lake 50: With a nearly flawless performance over the final 25-plus minutes, the Skippers changed the storyline from in their first state tournament appearance in 17 years to its first state championship game appearance … ever.

The Skippers blew open a tight semifinal game by outscoring the Bears 24-7 over the final 7:19 of the first half. They didn't let up after halftime, building their lead on the strength of an offense that seemingly could do no wrong, particularly from beyond the Williams Arena three-point-line. Minnetonka made 6 of 9 three-pointers in building their first-half advantage, with senior guard Grace Allen making all four of her long-range shots.

Allen finished with a game-high 15 points for Minnetonka, while Chrissy Carr and center Lizzie Odegard added 14. Taite Anderson paced White Bear Lake (23-8) with 12 points.

Minnetonka's only other state tournament appearance was in 1999 and the Skippers have never before advanced to a state championship game.