Its one of the monster regular non-conference games on the schedule as #2AAAA Hopkins visits #1AA Minnehaha. Not even 2 weeks into the season and the 3rd time to see these 2 teams play. Not like me to do that, especially in December, but the games are too good to avoid. Standard Gatorade and Hot Dog on the menu. Good crowd but not the wild crowd that one might have expected. But being there always reminds of the coach Johnson recommendation for wild rice soup one afternoon. Nice to be back at Bergstrom Court though I ended up going the long away around the building and thru the snow to find the new entrance which is the old secret passage I used. So maybe I was fooled by the rocks they've got.
Song of the Day: Jenny From the Block - Jennifer Lopez
Number of Teams I've Seen: 39 (25 games, 13 days, 10 buildings, 2 online)
Beverage Ticker: 193.8 ounces (2140 Calories)
- A&W Root Beer: 12 ounces (170 calories)
- Dr. Pepper: 12 ounces (150 calories)
- Fruit Punch Gatorade: 48.9 ounces (340 calories)
- Pepsi: 72 ounces (900 calories)
- Sprite: 48.9 ounces (580 calories)
- Hot Dogs: 5
- Pizza: 1
- Walking Tacos: 2
- Extras
- Lays Chips (160 calories)
- 2 Snickers (500 calories)
Andy Stafford productive early for Hopkins. The Royals use a 10-0 run to take a 20-12 lead at 9:06 with a couple of Stafford hoops. Minnehaha right back with their own 11-0 run and they're back in the lead 23-20 at 6:17. Jalen Suggs once again living at the foul line. But his night was different as his shots weren't falling. Kerwin Walton with a 3 to beat the halftime buzzer. That gives Hopkins a 35-32 lead at the break.
Walton and Stafford with triples. Dane Zimmer and Walton add buckets and Stafford converts a turnover for a 47-35 Hopkins lead with 13:25 left. Minnehaha rallies with 4 Suggs free throws and a converted turnover along with a Chet Holmgren jumper. But Suggs has to sit with 9:49 left with his 4th foul. Walton buries a 3 and Hopkins is up 10 and Minnehaha looks in trouble. Holmgren with a tip dunk and he's swatting everything on the other end. Zeke Nnaji sits with his 4th at 6:55 while Suggs is already back in. Donovan Smith adds a 3. Suggs up high to Holmgren for the dunk. Then its Suggs for 3 and coast to coast for 2 free throws. 56-55 Hopkins hanging on to the lead with 3:40 left after the 12-3 Minnehaha run.
Zimmer and Nnaji with buckets to push the lead back to 5. They look to hold with that lead but Holmgren with yet another block to give Minnehaha a chance. Suggs misses a front end but recovers with a steal for 2 free throws and its a 1 possession game with 1:09 left. But Suggs misses a couple late 3s and Hopkins makes enough free throws to seal it. Hopkins wins 66-59.
Post Game
Jalen Suggs finishes with another huge night at the line with 15 of 18 FTs and 25 points. I had him 4-16 from the floor on my sheet. I also had him for 6 rebounds and 4 assists. Chet Holmgren gigantic night with 18 points, 9 blocks on my sheet and others had 10 rebounds for him. He gave Nnaji and Zimmer fits at the rim all night. Saying breakout game is too much since he's already known but doing this against the high level front line of Hopkins was eye opening. The rest of the roster with only 16 points. Will teams start playing off the big 3? Minnehaha falls to 3-1 overall. They'll host St. Louis Park on Friday and then be done until the Augsburg Holiday Tournament. That championship game is mapped out to be a likely rematch of this game.
Kerwin Walton leads Hopkins with 21 points. He knocks down 4 3s and seals the game late with 3 of 4 FTs. Andy Stafford with 17 points in another solid supporting effort. Zeke Nnaji with 13 points and 10 boards on my sheet. But Holmgren's length helped hold him to 6-16 FGs as well. Overall they took care of the ball and limited the transition opportunities for Minnehaha. When you can run your stuff and not turn it over, Minnehaha will break down defensively. Hopkins will host #3AAA Robbinsdale Cooper on Thursday before playing Madison LaFollette in the Southside Showcase on Saturday afternoon at Roseville.
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