Girls' basketball, Class 4A semifinals: Defending champion Hopkins, Bloomington Kennedy reach final

Hopkins more than made up for a first-half scare. The Royals overwhelmed Osseo in the second half for a convincing 73-50 victory in Thursday night's Class 4A girls' basketball semifinals. The turnaround is what Hopkins needed.

The two-time defending champion Royals (30-1) survived through three halves in the first two rounds of the tournament. They even trailed early in their semifinal against the Orioles (22-9). Then the Royals figured it out by following the example of Erin O'Toole and earned a third consecutive trip to the championship game.

"I had a lot of energy. I was shooting better and had a lot of confidence," O'Toole said after collecting 16 points and eight rebounds. "I was feeding off [my teammates], too."

O'Toole had 12 of Hopkins' 31 first-half points and was the Royals' answer when nothing else worked. The 6-4 center had a five-inch height advantage over Osseo's biggest player, and the difference meant the Orioles would hit a brick wall several times throughout the night. Three of O'Toole's five blocks consisted of Osseo shots going directly into O'Toole's hands and its shooter falling to the floor.

"It's hard 'cause she's a big body," said Osseo's Janay Morton, who scored 14 points. "And a lot of [Hopkins' comeback] had to do with Nia Coffey finishing."

Phillis Webb had 13 points and Ayo Porte 10 for Osseo.

Cosgriff said he loved the play of his star forward, Coffey, in the second half. She scored 16 of her 20 points after halftime and made a statement with a steal and full-court dash for her first two of the half. Nia Hollie added 13 points for Hopkins.

The first half was a different story as Osseo attempted to run with Hopkins. The game plan that most teams in the state consider impossible had varying results for the Orioles, but it kept them in the game and within six points, 31-25, at the break.

"We knew we could run with them," Morton said. "When they got tired, they got lazy on D. But when we got tired, our offense slipped away."

Bloomington Kennedy 43, Eastview 39: The Eagles' swarming defense was too much for the Lightning's striking offense.

Kennedy (28-3) held Eastview (28-3) to 30 points under its average and limited the state's best three-point shooter, sophomore guard Madison Guebert.

Kennedy will meet Hopkins in Saturday's title game.

"We really pushed our defense," Kennedy senior forward Jade Martin said. "Kenisha [Bell] just stepped up and put tons of pressure on [Guebert] and that's what we needed to win the game."

Trailing by six points with a minute to play, the Lightning couldn't find a shooter. Eastview passed the ball around for 35 seconds until the Martin sisters (Jade with 11 points, and eighth-grader Jasmyn with nine points and 10 rebounds) knocked it away. This stop all but secured Kennedy's victory as the frustrated Eastview players didn't know what else to do.

"We had a lot of good shots that didn't fall," said Guebert, after scoring 19 points, including 10 on free throws and shooting three-for-eight from three-point range.

Others tried to pick up the Lightning's perimeter shooting. Senior forward Tyra Johnson (12 points) had two three-pointers, but it took a hit without Guebert's touch.

"I feel like we didn't wake up until the end of the first half," said Eagles junior forward Tonoia Wade, who had 10 points and five rebounds. "But we weren't going to lose to them again."