The first game on tap on this Tuesday morning at Target Center featured defending Class AAAA state champ Hopkins taking on defending Class AAA champ Park Center. This game; on paper anyway, seemed to heavily favor the Royals but with a swarming defense that the Pirates bring to each and every game makes them extremely dangerous as an underdog and they were going to do everything to try and pull off the monumental upset on this day.
This game started with a flurry of three-point bombs on both sides as one from Hopkins senior forward Nia Hollie from the top of the key at the 15:16 mark started the show but two from Pirates; including one from sophomore guard Sommer Blakemore from the right top area at the 14:41 mark gave Park Center a 6-5 lead. Junior guard Ann Simonet would drain one from the left wing area at the 13:32 mark for an 11-7 Pirate lead but the Royals would waste little time in gaining control of this contest with their stifling defense and an ability to force turnovers. Senior guard Ashley Bates got a lay-up in transition off one turnover at the 11:15 mark and then was able to snare another steal at the 10:29 mark where she then dashed the other way for a lay-up for a 17-13 Hopkins lead. And when the Royals weren't able to get lay-ups or jumpers off of those steals, they were getting a steady parade of free throw shots. Two freebies by 8th grader Paige Bueckers at the 10:06 mark and one more by Bates at the 9:53 mark got the lead to nine points at 22-13 and two more by Hollie with 7:45 left got the lead to double-digits at 24-13. With Hopkins safely in the bonus by this point, Hollie would knock down another pair with 6:24 left that maintained the eleven-point edge at 26-15. The Pirates, however, had no intention of simply folding up the tent and going home and they slyly cut into the Hopkins cushion. One jumper from the left elbow by junior guard Danielle Schaub with 5:23 left and a Simonet lay-up in transition with 4:19 left got the deficit back into single digits and a Simonet "3" from the top of the key with 3:58 left cut the Royals lead down to six at 30-24. Park Center's fortunes, however, appeared to take a turn for the worse when Schaub was whistled for her third foul of the contest on a questionable charging call in transition with 2:13 left. Still, a resourceful Pirate squad would not give in and despite two free throws by Hopkins senior reserve guard Evelyn Knox with :57.7 left, lanky 6'1" junior post Mikayla Hayes was able to snare an offensive rebound for a putback with :38 left that had Park Center right in the thick of things trailing 34-27 at the halftime break.
The Pirates needed to somehow limit their turnovers and the second chance points that Hopkins was getting the the trio of Hollie, Bates and senior reserve post Dominique McNeely simply proved to be too tough, too tall and too strong to keep off the boards. Park Center's Simonet, however, was not going to let her team go down without a fight as she went bombs away from behind the arc in the second half that helped keep the deficit anywhere in the 10-13-point range. But they could never sustain a key run that may have changed the complexion of this contest. The other problem was that the Royals kept making all-too frequent trips to the charity stripe that maintained the cushion they were able to establish in the early part of the second half (37-45 for the game). But that might be deflecting some of the credit that went to the seasoned veterans of this Hopkins team; particularly with Bates who led the Royals with her 28 points on this day. She has arguably grown as a player from last year as she seemed to be the forgotten component of the star-studded team that waltzed to the state title last year. Hopkins would win this one 81-69 but Royals Head Coach Brian Cosgriff stated afterward that this was "probably the toughest first-round game we've had here." And the equally stingy Park Center defense was another sore spot on Cosgriff's mind afterward as he admitted that his squad committed way too many turnovers on this day. On the opposite side of the coin, Park Center Head Coach Chris VanderHyde admitted that the physical aspect of this Hopkins team was something of a concern coming into this contest but then again, the Pirates play several teams throughout the year that are arguably more physical than they are. VanderHyde did lament, however, that when Hopkins made their decisive move in the first half, "there were instances where we were out of position on defense." Still, VanderHyde believes that this initial experience at State at the Class AAAA level will pay dividends for his squad down the road. Simonet led the way for the Pirates with her 29 points.
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