Hopkins junior forward Hana Potter, center, comes up with a loose ball between Christina Keup, left, and Kristi Kuhn under the Trojans basket during fierce, first-half competition at Lindbergh Center in Minnetonka Friday, Jan. 23. The Royals beat the Trojans 75-60. PHOTO: Mark Trockman
By Jon Weisbrod
It's no secret, playing against the Hopkins girls' basketball team is a rather arduous task.
Steering through the Royals' in-your-face, end-to-end defensive pressure has proven to be as exhausting as it is frustrating.
No team this season outside of Minneapolis South - which handed Hopkins its only loss on Dec. 31 - has been able to withstand the pressure for a full 36 minutes.
In fact, rarely does a squad stick around long enough to stand even puncher's chance in the second half. Hopkins has already won 11 games this season by 20 or more points, six of which have been at least 30.
Then there are the few instances like the Thursday, Jan. 23 confrontation with Wayzata. In these cases, the opposition fights back and refuses to go down without a fight.
But that doesn't mean not at all.
Eventually, they all give in - including the Trojans.
Attacking with its usual deep rotation and a tenacious defensive pressure, the Royals made Wayzata pay for several ball-handling blunders and used a pair of swift scoring bursts to escape with a 75-60 Classic Lake Conference victory at the Lindbergh Center.
Hana Potter led Hopkins with 18 points while Brianna Williams chipped in with 15. The Royals' bench accounted for 20 points as ten different players recorded a field goal.
Hopkins (17-1, 2-0 CLC) took advantage of Wayzata's obvious lack of a true point guard, forcing 23 turnovers and turning them into 24 points.
"We just wanted to keep working hard, play defense one possession at a time and take care of the basketball on offense," Hopkins coach Brian Cosgriff said. "We're known for having a deep bench and being able to come at people with that, which I think we did again tonight.
"I think we're fortunate to come out on top though. Wayzata is a good shooting team and they fought us tooth-and-nail the whole way."
Cosgriff - who admits he didn't feel comfortable until the "final horn" - watched as the Royals played hot-potato for much of the first half, flip-flopping the lead seven times the game's first 12 minutes.
Wayzata, which held a 15-0 edge in points from beyond the arc in the first half, took a 23-21 lead when Kristi Kuhn canned a three-pointer from the left wing with 4 minutes, 20 seconds left before intermission.
Hopkins wasted little time in response, orchestrating a game-deciding run that put the Royals on top for good.
Starting with a Tori Jorgansen jumper from the free-throw line at the 4:02-mark, Hopkins out-scored Wayzata 11-0 the rest of the half. In typical Royals fashion, six of the points came from the bench as four players contributed to the rally.
Buoyed by Michigan-bound senior Kate Thompson, Wayzata closed the gap in the first nine minutes of the second half, pulling within four at 47-43. In the span, Thompson scored eight points while taking on primary ball-handling duties despite being the tallest player on the floor at 6-foot-3.
However, the Trojans would draw no closer as Hopkins answered with a 12-4 burst over the next three minutes that swelled the lead back to double-figures at 59-47 with 5:31 to go. Once again, the Royals spread the wealth as five different players scored in the spurt.
The Trojans could do little more than trade buckets for the next three minutes as Hopkins iced the victory by nailing 8 of 10 shots from the line in the game's final 1:59.
"All-in-all, it was a good night," Cosgriff said. "But the fact of the matter is we're going to have to play them again [on Feb. 17] at their place and they'll be ready for whatever we throw at them."
With the victory, the second-ranked Royals extend their winning streak to six games, two of which have come in league play.
Wayzata (8-6, 0-1) - which was led by Thompson's 15 points, nine rebounds and six blocks - starts the conference campaign 0-1 for the second straight season.
Hopkins stayed in the game early by outscoring Wayzata 10-0 in second-chance points.
