Hopkins rolls over Roseville and into girls basketball state tournament semifinals

Flat and uninspired best described Hopkins girls basketball going into a mid-January game against Roseville.

Not so in Wednesday's Class 4A state tournament quarterfinal.

The defending state champion Royals were fierce and focused. Add those attributes to a wicked talented roster and the result was an 81-40 rout at Williams Arena.

Hopkins (27-2) jumped to a 54-24 halftime lead by outscoring Roseville 23-1 off 15 Raiders turnovers and building a 38-8 advantage in points in the paint.

Royals players said the finality of the state tournament brought out the requisite intensity.

"This time of year, you want to just survive and advance," senior Taylor Woodson said. "We want to keep playing together."

Woodson finished with 23 points, second to teammate Liv McGill, who led all scorers with 24 points.

Hopkins previously defeated Roseville 74-53 on Jan. 14. Kendall Barnes led Roseville (19-11) with 12 points in Wednesday's rematch.

"We didn't execute our game plan," Barnes said. "We got in our own heads."

Roseville coach Tanysha Scott said, "We weren't doing a lot of the little things that helped us in the first game. You can't mess up against a very good team like Hopkins because it will turn quick."