The finale of this 2013 Minnesota State Girls Basketball Tournament took me back to old times; the days of 2005 and 2006 when Bloomington Kennedy and Hopkins were meeting in the Class AAAA finals two consecutive years. The players are different now, of course, but you couldn't help but think about those old times. Hopkins, the two-time defending state champs, was a juggernaut and the heavy favorite in this match-up. But Bloomington Kennedy seemed to be the ONE team that, from an athletic standpoint anyway, might be able to stand up to the Hopkins dynasty. Just as interesting on this night was that the Hopkins coaching staff was decked out in pink shirts in honor of breast cancer awareness and the team was also wearing pink shoes; a very nice touch.
The first few minutes saw the teams neck and neck as they were knotted at 5-all by the 14:10 mark. Tied at 7-all, Hopkins embarked on a 5-0 push; aided by some costly Eagle turnovers that made it 12-7 Hopkins with 12:21 left. Moreover, Bloomington Kennedy was having an incredibly hard time trying to box out Erin "Big Country" O'Toole down low. Hopkins looked like they might be on the verge of opening up a cushion on Bloomington Kennedy but credit the Eagles for hanging tough on the big stage. With 6:23 left, they drew to within 19-17 and a "3" by Jasmyn Martin; the 8th grader at the 6:03 mark gave Bloomington Kennedy its first lead at 20-19 and had the Bloomington Kennedy student section rocking. Older sister and senior Jade Martin expanded that lead to 23-20 at the 4:48 mark with one free throw. The Eagles were trying desperately to maintain that slight edge but Hopkins' famous pressure defense was creating the turnover bugaboo to rear its ugly head for Bloomington Kennedy. Nia Coffey's "3" from the top with 1:03 left gave the Royals the lead back at 28-26 which they took to the locker room at the half but, for Bloomington Kennedy, this is right where they wanted to be - in the thick of things - with a fighting chance. Coffey led the Hopkins Express with 12 first half points while Jade Martin led the Bloomington Kennedy effort with 8 points and younger sis Jasmyn was right behind with 7 points. Hopkins, though, did have a slight edge in the rebounds with 26 to Bloomington Kennedy's 22.
The one thing you didn't want to have happen from a Bloomington Kennedy standpoint is for Hopkins to get off to a roaring start in the second half that put you in a hole right away - and that's exactly what happened in the first 1:15 of the second half as the Royals went on a quick 5-0 burst that suddenly bulged the lead to 33-26 and Bloomington Kennedy Head Coach Quintin Johnson called a quick timeout to try and put a halt to all this. But Hopkin's Taylor Anderson nailed a "3" from the right corner at the 15:00 mark to expand the Royals lead to 10 at 36-26 and Bloomington Kennedy was in serious trouble. At the 13:05 mark, Bloomington Kennedy junior Tonoia Wade picked up her fourth foul on a charge and things were slowly falling apart for the Eagles as that initial 5-0 burst by Hopkins suddenly turned into a 15-0 breaking of the dam for Quintin Johnson's squad as they now found themselves down 43-26 at the 12:34 mark. There was a slightly scary moment at the 9:35 mark when Coffey, on one of her blazing fast break lay-up attempts, went down and was grabbing her right leg. She was eventually able to get up with some assistance and it LOOKED as if it was nothing more than a leg cramp (I've had those before; they hurt like hell, believe me). With 8:33 left, Coffey checked back in for the Royals and everything was just peachy keen from a Hopkins point of view. A brief Bloomington Kennedy run just under the 6:00 mark had their student section cheering for a bit but the damage was already done; the war already lost. Hopkins Head Coach Brian Cosgriff inserted his reserves late and Hopkins rolled to a 68-45 victory to claim their third straight Class AAAA state title.
Not surprisingly, Nia Coffey led all scorers and paced the Hopkins attack with 25 points and 16 total rebounds; a devastatingly effective performance. Jade Martin led Bloomington Kennedy with 19 points. Afterward, Bloomington Kennedy Head Coach Quintin Johnson expressed disappointment that his team did not handle the Hopkins pressure defense better. "All those points they got off of turnovers really hurt". But he does seem optimistic about the future and where this program is headed. For Hopkins, they will be graduating a bevy of great players, including one Nia Coffey who is one of the greatest players to come out of Minnesota. But with Brian Cosgriff leading this Hopkins program, don't expect them to fall too far off the map.
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