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Hopkins advances easily

By Star Tribune, 03/13/13, 12:15PM CDT

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After a choppy start, the Royals put away St. Michael-Albertville to reach the Class 4A semifinals.


Hopkins' Molly O'Toole and TT Starks and St. Michael-Albertville's Bre Grube battled for possession under the basket during a quarterfinal game Wednesday at Target Center in Minneapolis. Photo: ELIZABETH FLORES * eflores@startribune.com

Nia Coffey and Hopkins couldn’t find the basket Wednesday morning. The Royals’ first 16 points of a 77-58 victory over St. Michael-Albertville in the Class 4A girls’ basketball state quarterfinal were a struggle to net.

The opening nine minutes featured more missed layups than converted baskets. After Coffey won the opening jump ball and scored seconds later, the Knights turned over their first possession. Then Coffey struggled to find a rhythm. The unseeded Knights frustrated the top-seeded Royals, who  were inconsistent from the free-throw line.

“First game was kind of rough,” Coffey said. “Survive and advance is what [coach Brian Cosgriff] told us and that’s just what happened.”

The bits of scoring were enough to give Hopkins an early double-digit lead. With nothing else was working, Coffey started to shoot long balls and found her shot beyond the arc.

Coffey’s three first-half three-pointers, Taylor Anderson’s regular put backs, and TT Starks’ double-double helped Hopkins comfortably pull away. Coffey had a game-high 22 points and nine rebounds. Anderson added 12 and nine. And Starks had 11 and 10.

The Knights trailed by about 20 points for most of the second half and never got closer than 16.

Jordan Hansen led the Knights with 15 points and Sydney Tracy had 10.

“The missed layups, no one expected that of us,” Hopkins guard Nia Hollie said. “We have to slow down and be patient.”

JASON GONZALEZ

3 Stars

1. Nia Coffey (Hopkins) - She got into some foul trouble early but then in 2 consecutive possessions she knocked down a pair of 3 point baskets to open the game up. St. Micheal-Albertville never recovered after that. Coffey ended the game with 22 points. She shot 7-14, 3-5 from behind the arch, and hitting 5-7 FT's. She also grabbed 9 rebounds.

2. Taylor Anderson (Hopkins) - Quick PG shook off a couple turnovers and had 2 assists along with 12 points and 9 boards. She was 3-7 from the field and 6-8 from the line. 

3. Jordan Hansen (St. Micheal-Albertville) - The 5'7 guard wasn't afraid to shoot over Hopkins size. She had a team high 15 points by going 5-12 with three 3 point baskets and 2-2 from the line. She also pulled down 9 boards in what was her last game as a Knight.

-Pete Heldstab, MN Girls Basketball Hub

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