Hopkins too much for Benilde

Prologue
A fine Saturday in the metro with #3AAA Benilde-St. Margaret's visiting #1AAAA Hopkins.  While the Taco in a Bag is steep at $3.75, its worth every single penny.  You won't find a better one.  Tons of folks on hand for this one.  Pump N Run, Pulley, 43 Hoops, Fury, Boston U and Northern Iowa all looking on.  Coach Pivec from Dakota County Tech, Mpls South and Orono also looking on along with Ken Lien and the Mr. Basketball committee.

Game Time
A fast pace early in this one.  Isaiah Zierden with the 4 point play and a floater off the glass at 13:32.  14-13 Hopkins leads.  6 in a row from Hopkins including a Joe Coleman reverse layup off the postup and a turnover resulting in a Marvin Singleton dunk.  Timeout BSM at 12:16 down 22-15.  Then Coleman with his 1 outside shot of the day on a nice baseline pullup to start a run and an assist to Nick Jorgensen for 3 to cap it.  33-19 Hopkins at the 8 minute mark to force another BSM timeout.  The run is 17-4.  Marving Singleton with a tip in and a layup off a turnover.  Those sandwich a Demetrius Martin triple.  Then Coleman with a bunny to push the lead to 52-28.  But the last 1:25 sees a quick 11-2 spurt thanks to a pair of Will Dunn 3 points plays to end the half.  54-39 Hopkins at the break.

Dunn with a 3 for 9 in a row as we start the 2nd half.  That's followed by a Zierden reverse layup.  54-44 Hopkins with 16:40 remaining and the Red Knights appear to have made this one a game again.  16-2 is the run over the last 3 minutes of game time crossing halftime.  But appearances are deceiving as Hopkins slams the door shut and deadbolts it.  Singleton with a jumper and a tip in.  Siyani Chambers with a steal for 2.  Zach Stahl finishes the 13-0 run with a drive and triple.  67-44 with 13:16 remaining and just that quick, this one is over.  Singleton on the post for the And 1 followed by 2 Martin layups. 75-47 Hopkins with 11:30 remaining.  An Andre McDonald layup at 8:50 sends this one to running time as the 2nd half is all Hopkins.  They win 99-65.

Post Game
For Benilde-St. Margaret's, Isaiah Zierden leads the way with 16 points on 5-10 shooting. 12 of those in the first half.  Will Dunn 13 points with 9 of those coming in the last minute of first half and first minute of the second half.  Kyle Washington reaches double figures with 13 points as well.  Great comeback to cut it to 10 but after that they crumbled.  Is there a true leader on the floor?  I see them needing to be more aggressive too.  On a cold shooting night, the number of threes they shoot will haunt them.  With that talent, getting to the rim and scoring strong should be a priority.  BSM falls to 2-1 and travels to Minnetonka on Tuesday night in a game I'll be doing the color for on Webcast America.  Here's a link to the page where Minnetonka will have the game online.

For Hopkins, Marvin Singleton 22 points and just too strong.  Demetrius Martin came up big with 4 3s and 18 points.  Joe Coleman 17 points on 6-16 shooting with 1-4 on actual jump shots.  That's 3-10 on jumpers in the 2 Hopkins games I've watched in person this season.  He easily could have had 25 as he went 5-12 on chip shots.  Their experience really showed in making critical plays.  The offensive glass was a major factor in this one too.  Against the 4 guard lineup, Hopkins took advantage with Stahl and Singleton.   Hopkins is now 4-0 and hosts St. Louis Park on Tuesday.  Then its off to the Best Buy Holiday Tournament at Augsburg for a possible showdowns with Minnesota Transitions and St. Paul Johnson.