1/6/2009 9:09:00 AM Tayler Hill, Tigers race past Royals
Hopkins senior forward Jasmine Mendes, right, fights to keep the ball from Minneapolis South defenders in the first half of the Royals 55-44 loss to the Tigers during Dick’s Sporting Goods Holiday Classic. PHOTO: Mark Trockman
By Jon Weisbrod
After falling behind by as many as nine points in the game's first eight minutes against Minneapolis South, the then top-ranked (Class 4A) Hopkins girls' basketball team pulled within one possession, only to be turned away by the Tigers' ultra-talented senior, Tayler Hill.
Hill, a versatile, 5-foot-11 small forward, reeled off seven consecutive points late in the first half that put South back on top by a comfortable margin.
Hopkins trailed by five at intermission, but could not thaw from its shooting freeze and lost 55-42 in the championship game of the third annual Dick's Sporting Goods Holiday Classic at the Lindbergh Center on Wednesday, Dec. 31.
Hill - who has narrowed her college choices to Duke, Texas, Marquette and Minnesota - dropped a game-high 21 points to go with nine rebounds. Half of her four total field goals came directly after the Royals closed the gap to 23-21 with 4 minutes, 24 seconds left before halftime.
After converting a two-point field goal from the right block, Hill glibly drained a step-back 3-pointer from the left wing that made it 28-21 with 2:29 remaining on the clock. Sixteen seconds later, she knocked down two of her seven shots from the line -and just like that - it was back to a nine-point game.
"What more can you say? I mean, she's the best player in the state," Hopkins coach Brian Cosgriff said. "Not too many teams have slowed her down."
Cosgriff isn't just saying that to make himself feel better either.
In her 10 previous games, Hill has scored no fewer than 28 points in a single contest, which includes a 29-point output in South's 55-37 loss to Hopkins in late November. In that game, though, Hill received little aid from her teammates in the lop-sided nonconference decision.
The rematch was a different story as the fourth-ranked (Class 4A) Tigers supplemented Hill's production at both ends of the floor.
On offense, South out-scored Hopkins 15 to 3 from downtown. Tyisha Smith - a hyperquick point guard - put her fingerprints all over the scorebook, finishing with nine points, five steals, four assists and three rebounds. In all, four players, including Hill, scored at least five points for South.
On defense, the stubborn Tigers held the Royals to a season-low 27 percent shooting from the floor, which included a dreadful 1-for-12 effort from beyond the arc.
Hopkins, which defeated South in last season's Dick's title game, also did very little to help its own cause, hitting just 9 of 20 free throws (45 percent) while turning the ball over 17 times.
"We just didn't play with the same fire that we had all season," Cosgriff said. "It was just one of those nights I guess."
Foul trouble also beset the Royals as three-fifths of their starting line-up - Kara Elofson, Hana Potter and Jasmine Mendes - combined for just 22 points after hacking their way to the bench.
Elofson, who will play next season at Division I Binghamton University in New York, fouled out while Potter and Mendes each collected four personals.
"Fouls were part of it, but [South's] matchup zone really slowed us down," Cosgriff said. "We didn't make any adjustments. We just weren't aggressive enough."
Potter carried the offense for much of the first half, scoring eight of the Royals' first 12 points. Thirty-one seconds after netting her fifth field goal and 10th point, Potter was whistled for her third foul, sending her to the bench in a one-point game to join Elofson and Mendes for the final 5:45 of the half.
Sandiqah Jihad banked in a three-pointer six minutes into the second half, giving the Tigers their first double-digit lead. The shot also igniting 13-3 run that blew the game open.
In the final 8:19 of the second half, the Tigers twice led by 18 points and did not allow the Royals to draw any closer than 12.
Round 2 may have gone to the Tigers, but that doesn't mean the fight is over.
Since missing out on the state tournament for the first time in five years last season after bowing out in the section championship to South, Cosgriff admits if his team is going to lose, it might as well be in late December rather than in early March.
"Winning this game wasn't all that important," he said. "We have to look at things in March. That's when you need to win big games. Hopefully, if we're fortunate enough, we'll get another shot at them."
