With each shot he made — and JP Macura made a lot of them en route to a 43-point game — the crowd of 11,344 at the Target Center Saturday night grew louder.
By the time the Lakeville North senior made his final shot, a three-pointer with 50 seconds remaining that pulled the Panthers within two points of Hopkins, the din was a full-fledged roar.
Still, basketball is not a one-man sport, and it was Macura's teammates, Drew Stewart and Connor Flack, who made the two biggest plays of the game as Lakeville North rallied to beat Hopkins 84-82 for the Class 4A championship, the first boys' basketball title in school history.
Stewart was fouled while making a three-pointer that pulled Lakeville North to within a point, 82-81, with 22 seconds left. Stewart missed the free throw, but Flack, who had a subpar game from the floor, outleaped everyone and tipped the rebound to himself. He pogoed back up and banked in an 8-footer, giving Lakeville North its first lead since midway through the first half, 83-82, with 18 ticks left.
A free throw by Stewart was sandwiched by two failed Hopkins possessions, including a missed three-pointer at the buzzer by Jacob Wright, and Lakeville North, which lost to Osseo on a buzzer-beater in the 2012 final, was the champion.
Target Center erupted, somewhat shocking considering most fans were still catching their breath after the stunning ending.
"I felt all the energy [at Target Center]," said Macura, whose epic offensive show likely earned him a place in history as author of one of the tournament's greatest championship game performances. "It was incredible."
Lakeville North coach John Oxton paused during a postgame interview, thinking of the right way to sum up his team's improbable comeback.
