The very first game on tap at 10:00 A.M. featured the number one seed Hopkins; the Section 6 champion going up against Rochester Mayo, the Section 1 champion. The Royals, with a sparkling 27-1 record would be prohibitive favorites in this one but, according to some of the people I spoke with prior to the contest, you shouldn't just necessarily assume an easy Hopkins victory would be in the offing. From not having seen the Spartans in action myself, I was curious about this team and what they would bring in this game.
Hopkins, using its speed and athleticism to its advantage, quickly put up a 4-0 lead but the Spartans; who looked a bit rattled early on, settled down and fought their way back. Two big three-pointers - one from junior guard Lexie Riley from the left top area at the 15:27 mark and another from fellow junior Courtney Hruska from the top of the key - put Rochester Mayo on top 6-4. Hopkins would get a 5-0 push to take a 9-6 lead but lanky Spartan junior post Anna Winter was able to snare an offensive rebound of her own miss and get a putback and get fouled in the process as well. The ensuing freebie made it 9-all by the 13:36 mark and it looked for a bit that that Rochester Mayo might be able to stay right in the thick of things. But this Hopkins team presents so many match-up problems with their speed that it can cause several problems for opponents on offense and such was the case for the Spartans who committed several turnovers on offense whenever the Royals would press or trap. This scenario enabled Hopkins to embark on a 13-2 run over a five minute stretch to make it a 22-11 game; punctuated by a "3" by junior guard Ashley Bates' "3" from the right top area with 8:48 left. Rochester Mayo finally stopped some of the bleeding with 7:10 left on a score by Winter in the paint but it was here that the Royals got the separation they were looking for; going on an 18-2 blitz over a six minute stretch that really set the tone for a 40-15 advantage. Too many turnovers and too many easy baskets for Hopkins was the story in this critical stretch that the Spartans simply couldn't overcome. Rochester Mayo found some reprieve late in the first half as Winter got a score in the paint and got fouled in the process as well and sunk the obligatory freebie with 1:26 left. A steal by Riley in the backcourt and lay-up made it 40-20 but another late 5-0 surge by the Royals established a commanding 45-20 Hopkins lead by the time the buzzer sounded ending the first half. The impressive thing about the Royals' great first half, IMHO, was their balanced scoring attack. Bates' ten points led the way but junior guard Nia Hollie added nine and senior guard Viria Livingston had eight points. Winter's eight points paced Rochester Mayo while Riley added five points. Turnovers had to be a sore spot for Spartan Head Coach Rich Decker as Rochester Mayo was guilty of 25. Yikes.
Things didn't get any better for the Spartans once the second half got going either as the turnovers continued to pile up and Hopkins extended its lead; going on a 6-2 push in the first six minutes before a score in the paint by Winter at the 11:59 mark put a temporary halt to the bleeding but the Royals methodically put more and more separation between themselves and their opponent. A jumper by Hollie in the paint with 9:22 left established a 55-22 lead and a Hollie lay-up with 6:39 left made it 60-27. Rochester Mayo got late points to make the score respectable though. Junior forward Hannah Larson scored inside with 4:34 left and Winter got one more score in the paint with 2:16 left. Hopkins Head Coach Brian Cosgriff inserted his bench in the closing minutes as the Royals cruised to an easy 62-35 win to advance to the semis. Afterward, Cosgriff stated that "We played hard but we still need to take better care of the basketball....."Our goal from Day 1 has been to play from the opening day to the very last day." I asked Cosgriff about the balanced scoring attack his team has. "We've done that all year" he said. "We share the ball but will always look for the one with the hot hand."
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