2019 Minnesota Girl's State Tournament - Class AAAA Championship Game Recap - Hopkins vs Stillwater 3-16-19

The big enchilada on this Saturday night at the Barn was the Class AAAA Championship Game between top-seeded Hopkins and second-seeded Stillwater.  Hopkins, of course, would be the heavy favorite but this Stillwater team seemed ready to battle on this night and considering that the Royals have come up on the short end of the stick the last three times in this game, you could not discount anything.

Scoring would come at a premium in the first two minutes as Hopkins had only two free throws to show for their explosive offense by the 15:35 mark and it wasn't until the 13:22 mark that Stillwater got on the board on a lay-up by speedy sophomore point guard Alexis Pratt.  The Ponies would get this game tied at 4-all a bit later and a "3" from the top of the key by senior guard Sara Scalia had Stillwater up 7-4; much to the delight of a raucous Pony student section.  At the 10:50 mark, Scalia would strike again from downtown from the right top area to have the Ponies up 10-8 and a Scalia drive in to the paint for a finish at the 9:42 mark had Stillwater up 14-10.  Hopkins got this game tied up with 8:45 left when junior phenom Paige Bueckers tipped in an inbounds pass to make it 14-all and the Royals would assume an 18-14 advantage on a Bueckers lay-up with 6:23 left.  Stillwater would get this one tied at 20 when Pratt sank two free throws after getting fouled with 3:43 left and the Ponies got their nose out in front again with 1:49 left when junior forward Mary Fultz drained a "3" and two Scalia free throws a bit later pushed Stillwater's lead to 29-24.  Hopkins freshman forward Maya Nnaji would get two free throws to go down with :12 left but the Ponies still were able to take a 29-27 lead into the locker room at the halftime break.  The first half box score stats pretty much mirrored how close this game was so far.  Stillwater held at 25-22 edge on the boards but also had two more turnovers than Hopkins did at 9-7.  The Ponies thus far had more or less held Bueckers in check as she had eight points in this first half and it was senior guard Dlayla Chakolis leading the way for Hopkins with her ten points while Stillwater's Scalia was having a great first half with her 14 points. 

Stillwater's Scalia would strike with a steal and lay-up at the 17:26 mark of the second half to get the Ponies lead to four at 31-27 and a Scalia reverse lay-up at the 16:46 mark increased that lead to six at 33-27.  Hopkins' Bueckers would strike back with a tip-in of an inbounds pass at the 15:58 mark that drew a foul and resulted in Bueckers sinking the "and one" that reduced the Royals' deficit to three at 33-30 but Hopkins freshman Amaya Battle committed a cardinal sin at the 15:22 mark by fouling Stillwater's Pratt behind the arc and Pratt got two free throws out of it to get the Ponies' lead up to 35-30.  The Royals, however, would strike back with a 6-0 push capped by a lay-up in transition by eighth-grade forward Taylor Woodson as Hopkins suddenly found themselves back in front by a 36-35 count and prompted Stillwater Head Coach Willie Taylor to use a thirty-second timeout.  This run continued until Hopkins held a 42-35 lead and it wasn't until Stillwater's Pratt connected with a lay-up that the Ponies ended their dry streak.  Still, this 16-2 run was a big game-changer and it seemed uncertain whether Stillwater could recover from it.  By the 9:12 mark the lead was 52-40 and that lead soon increased to 55-40 with 8:55 left and the Ponies' Taylor now had no choice but to take a match to a full timeout as this one was clearly getting away from his team.  With 7:24 left, the Royals lead had grown to 60-42 and there seemed to be little doubt about the outcome now.  All those shots that were falling for Stillwater before suddenly stopped falling and everything seemed to be going in for the Royals.  Two scores by Hopkins' Nnaji had the Royals up 66-42 with 4:13 left and with 3:30 left that lead grew to 70-42.  After enduring three straight years of frustration and heartbreak, Hopkins finally secured a state title again with a resounding 74-45 victory. 

Some of the stats in the final box score are a bit deceiving at first glance.  For example, the Royals had a relatively slim advantage on the boards by a 40-36 count which, in many instances, would suggest a reasonably close game - which it was for a good chunk of the contest.  But when you dig deeper into the numbers, you begin to see why Hopkins was finally able to erase three years of frustration on this night.  In the second half, Hopkins held the Ponies to 5-23 shooting from FG range for 21.7% and Stillwater finished this game going 16-55 for 29.1%.  Behind the arc, Stillwater wasn't any better either finishing 5-18 for 27.8%.  Compare those numbers with that of Hopkins:  They finished going 30-59 from FG range for 50.8% and although the Royals were "only" 4-11 from behind the arc for 36.4% on this night, that really didn't matter as Hopkins had a huge advantage in points in the paint by a whopping 44-20 count and a 20-6 edge in fast-break points as well and those numbers right there give you a pretty good idea of what happened down the stretch when Hopkins got a stranglehold on this game.  What's ironic is that it wasn't Bueckers leading the way in total points on this night.  That honor actually goes to the freshman, Nnaji, who led the way with her 18 points.  Both Bueckers and Chakolis finished with 13 points and junior guard Kayla Adams had 12 points and that gives you an idea of how balanced this Hopkins team can be at times which must be an absolute nightmare for opposing coaches.  Scalia of Stillwater; even in the losing effort, had a great night leading all scorers with her 24 points and Pratt had 16 points.  Beyond that, scoring was pretty scarce and you can tell that Scalia and Pratt had to carry the load for the Ponies on this night.  During the Stillwater portion of the post-game press conference, I asked Taylor that it seemed like the difference was that Hopkins started to pack it in down low on defense and when a shot was missed, they were able to easily get the rebound, get the outlet pass and get into transition.  "Yeah, we tried to prevent that from happening....We were just kind of stunned and, before you know it, we were down twenty."  Taylor admitted later on that his squad simply could not match the speed that Hopkins has; particularly in transition opportunities.  Scalia; who was also in on the press conference along with Pratt, downplayed her twenty-four point performance on this night.  "I mean, I was just doing whatever I could to help the team win.....We just tried to come out; play with our hearts and give it our all."  Hopkins Head Coach Brian Cosgriff seemed to have a lot of emotions and feelings flowing through him during the Hopkins portion of the press conference.  Cosgriff; asked about what kind of halftime speech he might have given, replied "You know, I don't know if it was a speech or whatever but it was a matter of us saying 'You know what?  We gotta go out and play our game' because that was our worst half by far this year....We needed to make free throws."  But what caught nearly everyone by surprise (including your's truly) was when Cosgriff admitted that Bueckers was quite ill some 12-15 hours before the game on this night.  "Paige was throwing up this morning and was sicker than a dog today.....And she really toughed it out and she was amazing."  Cosgriff also had praise for his other players and how they stepped up on this night; saying that "it was more than just a Paige show".  Bueckers said that she was "coming to play with my team" and wasn't going to let anything get in her way of playing on this night and she was simply spectacular at times on this night.  Cosgriff also noted that this win on this night was a "complete team victory"; noting that he had four players in double figures scoring-wise and that other players were ready to step up to the plate when they learned that Bueckers was sick in the morning hours.  I have to admit that, when I get sick like that, it's nearly impossible for me to even think about picking up a tennis racket or doing much else for that matter other than getting - and staying - horizontal so, on that front anyway, I have to give Bueckers my Jack Youngblood tough award to her for this year.  And, in another way, I can understand while Cosgriff and his players likely feel some vindication of sorts after coming up short the last three years.  As good as Hopkins is, there are now other programs out there that can come in on certain years and steal the show but this year, the Royals made no mistake and finally picked up a crown that they - and Bueckers - had been seeking for a long time.