GBB Out & About: Hopkins’ Sixth Straight Sweet 16 Championship

The Summer of 2019 is in the books. The Sweet 16 (or 12) crowned a familiar champ: Hopkins. For the last six straight years (and eight of the last nine) they have left the College of St. Benedict with gold around their necks. They beat a familiar rival: Wayzata. These two Lake Conference powers reside in the same section and that is why only one will make it to mid-March in 2020.

The common theme today was high level basketball. In all the games I charted every team shot over 50% from 2. The lowest pp100 was 98.5. Five players made the 31 Club.

Hopkins during the winter season, has the opportunity to string together an impressive win streak. The most consecutive wins right now is 78 held by Fosston (2002). That was done in Class A. Using the Matt Pederson based research the highest in AA is 61 by NRHEG (2014). AAA and AAAA are missing from the top five listing. The last number in the top five is Glencoe with 51 (ended in 1975, the dawn of the Title IX era). These records do not include the Grand Meadow marks set in the pre-Title IX days. Hopkins is currently sitting on 32 wins and would need 19 to tie Glencoe, 20 to break. That would be more than enough to be the best of the AAAA teams. If Hopkins ran the table in 2020, they would have 64 wins which would be 14 behind the Greyhounds and second overall. Looking back here is the current AAAA list:

Lakeville (2001-2002-2003) 11-29-0- 40—ended by Elk River (0)
Lakeville North (2010-2011) 32-3—35—-ended by Hopkins (3)
Eastview (2017-2018-2019) 1-32-2—35—–ended by Hopkins (2)
St. Paul Central (2007-2008) 32-1—-33—-ended by Centennial (1)
Elk River (2017) 32—–ended by Moorhead (0)
Hopkins (2019–???) 32—–Still active
Rochester Mayo (1996-1997-1998) 1-27-3—-31—–ended by Mankato West (3)
Woodbury (2003) 29—-ended by Eastview (0)

Here is a walk down memory lane with past Sweet 16 winners (and trench players)

WAYZATA 77, LAKEVILLE NORTH 66

Wayzata outlasted Lakeville North 77-66 in the semis. The Trojans with their inside presence and length on the perimeter created mismatch issues for the Panthers. The High-Low action between Annika Stewart to Jenna Johnson (or at times flipped) resulted in 44 points. LN also had a dynamic one-two punch with Sarah Kuma and Lauren Jensen combining for 42 points. After one nine minute quarter Wayzata established their rhythm and led 20-11. After scoring the first eight points of the second quarter, the Trojans rested their starters. For the game the starters for Wayzata had 62% of the touches. LN took advantage of the Wayzata starters absence and closed margin to 38-25 at the break. LN kept chipping away. A Jensen 3 made it 64-59 with 6:21 left. A put back by Stewart broke the momentum and Wayzata outscored LN 13-7 down the stretch.

  WAYZATA LAKEVILLE NORTH
Points 77 66
Reb/Off 35/16 26/12
Turnovers 15 15
FTA/FT% 15/86.67 10/80.00
2FG%/3FG% 55.31/30.76 51.42/31.81
PP100 114.9 98.5
Top Scorer Jenna Johnson 27 Sarah Kuma 22

CHAMPIONSHIP: HOPKINS 77, WAYZATA 65

For the second straight year Hopkins topped Lake Conference rival Wayzata in the final. For the second straight year Paige Bueckers was the Trench Player of the game (and third time in the last four—-Raena Suggs took the honor three years ago). These two teams know each other well. Action was physical. And both teams were dead eyes when it came to shooting with 58% & 54%. When the game opens with four straight scores, you can sense something was brewing. By the end of the quarter the Royals were on their way scoring the last seven points to lead 25-16. Wayzata had trimmed the margin to 37-31 at half outscoring Hopkins 15-12 in that nine minutes. Fatigue caught Wayzata in the third as Hopkins topped the Trojans 27-18 (64-49). A Bueckers strike to Salem Maher for a corner 3 at the buzzer put an exclamation point on the quarter. Both teams went to the benches the last four minutes.

Hopkins was without some anticipated key players today: Maya Nnaji, Sunaya Agara both were missing. There length would have helped in defensive match ups. Taylor Woodson was in early foul trouble with recent Nebraska verbal Annika Stewart.

Jenna Johnson continued her hot hand from the semis with an additional 29 points. She cleaned up on second chancers for the day and was 13/15 v the Royals. She sizzled with a 161 pp100. Against LN she was 12/17 from 2s. Stewart (11) and Braun (9) helped, but no one else had more than four points. All five Hopkins starters were pp100 centurions with Kayla Adams, thanks to going 2/2 on 3s, bettering Johnson’s pp100 at 177.8.

Paige Bueckers capped her 2019 summer with another standout performance. The MVP of the U19 FIBA World Cup recently held in Bangkok had a true triple double. What sets her apart is the ability to see the game deeply. Some of her actions don’t get charted, but are instrumental to a win. Like the time on defense in transition where she rushed a Trojan who lost concentration and missed a sure layup or the time she passed a teammate who just entered the game the ball and the player mishandled it, but got it back to Bueckers. Bueckers put it right back in her hands and made a request that she shoot. From the left corner for three. That is showing confidence in the teammate and getting them involved when other players perhaps may have never thrown that kid the ball again because of the initial bobble.

  HOPKINS WAYZATA
Points 79 65
Reb/Off 26/9 35/16
Turnovers 10 17
FTA/FT% 11/72.72 20/70.00
2FG%/3FG% 58.13/41.17 54.05/22.22
PP100 117.9 100.00
Top Scorer Paige Bueckers 23 Jenna Johnson 29

TRENCH PLAYERS:

GAME 1: Jenna Johnson with 27 points, 135.0 pp100 and a 38 score in the 31 Club. Johnson made the 31 Club twice today.

GAME 2: Paige Bueckers with 23 points, 104.5 pp100, and a member of the 41 Club with 46. Bueckers  was 60% on her set up passes (12/20) and had 11 d stops for a pure kjasr triple double.

PLAYER OF THE DAY: Paige Bueckers

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