A night of royal purple

Prologue

It a night of purple for the Wayzata at Hopkins showdown.  It Hoops For Hoops night with everybody in purple for cancer research.  Players all in purple for warmups for both teams.  Coach Novak and Coach Ward both sporting tennis shoes with their nice outfits as they support the great cause. Even I put my wallet where my mouth is and chipped in some of The Czar's vast wealth during the 75 second rush at halftime.  Walking Taco had heat but while I used to like the lettuce, its wilting now.  Too overpowering.  As to overpowering music, we have the Lean Mean Performance Machine (Hopkins band) in the house.  But purple and overpowering only means 1 artist for our

Song of the Day
Deep Purple  - Space Truckin

Game Time
Andre McDonald not listed on the Hopkins roster anymore.  Bradley Carlson sitting out for Wayzata due to illness.  An important glue guy missing.  Chad Potas scores in the post early and Wayzata has a 7-2 lead.  Zach Stahl starts a 13-0 run with 1 drive for 2 and then taking the defensive rebound coast to coast for a 3 point play.  Siyani Chambers finishes the run with a layup.  Then Potas goes down in a heap with a right knee injury and he won't return.  Stahl posting on the BLOB.  His bucket puts Hopkins up 23-11 at the 9:50 mark.  Its a 21-4 spurt in 5:45.  Demetrius Martin with 7 straight to push the lead to 14, 30-16 at the 7:45 mark.  The lead gets to 17 but Wayzata hangs around with a pair of Ryan Walstad 3s.  48-33 Hopkins at the break.  Big advantage of 15-3 in makes at the foul line for Hopkins in the half.

11-3 run for Wayzata to start the 2nd half.  Zach Robertson with a jumper to start it and soph guard Kyle Kalivoda finishes it with 2 baskets at the rim.  51-44 Hopkins with 15:15 left.  Wayzata with the momentum and Zach Stahl sitting with 4 fouls.  Hopkins responds with Martin going to the rack for a 3 point play.  Then he cuts and converts the reverse layup.  Jamal Davis takes a steal for a dunk to end a 9-0 Hopkins run and the lead is back to 16.  60-44 Royals with 12:30 left.  Robertson with a pair of hoops as Wayzata cuts the lead to 62-50 with 10:53 left.  They take time to talk it over.  A Kalivoda bucket cuts the lead to 11 but Hopkins closes it out from there.  Siyani Chambers with the push and he finds Martin for a 3 point play.  Chambers adds 2 FTs.  Nick Jorgenson scores and Martin takes a turnover for a layup.  Davis with the 3 point play and adds a 3 point bomb.  Martin with a pullup at the 6:30 mark to push the lead to 26 and the benches empty.  The 3 minute run totals 17-2 and puts this one out of reach.  Hopkins wins 98-69.

Post Game
For Wayzata, Zach Robertson leads with 18 points and 6 rebounds.  Guards Colin Nugent and Kyle Kalivoda add 10 each.  Only 3 seniors on the Wayzata roster which is rare for them.  They will all be missed but the Trojans will have plenty of talent coming back with 5 pieces coming back not to mention players like forward Nick Eid or frosh guard Grant Long from the JV squad.  The Trojans fall to 18-4 and a shocking 1-4 in the Lake Conference.  This all makes the race for the 2 seed in section 6AAAA a mess.  Wayzata has beaten Minnetonka and Edina but Minnetonka has 2 losses to Edina.  Friday will have some answers as Wayzata hosts Edina.

For Hopkins, Demetrius Martin leads with 26 points.  Quiet nights from Zach Stahl and Siyani Chambers.  Hopkins is now 23-1 and 6-0 in the Lake Conference.  Tonight's win officially clinches another conference title for the Royals and certainly the #1 seed in section 6AAAA.  They finish at Minnetonka on Friday and host Edina next Tuesday.