It could have been catastrophic.

Hopkins had built a comfortable 13-point lead in the latter stages of its Class 4A girls' basketball state tournament semifinal against White Bear Lake when superb Royals 6-4 senior post Maya Nnaji collapsed in the lane, clutching her right knee.

It could have been catastrophic.

Hopkins had built a comfortable 13-point lead in the latter stages of its Class 4A girls' basketball state tournament semifinal against White Bear Lake when superb Royals 6-4 senior post Maya Nnaji collapsed in the lane, clutching her right knee.

For most teams, losing their leading scorer, rebounder and key interior presence would have been a tough blow to weather. But Hopkins isn’t most teams. The uber-talented Royals, whose lead shrunk to eight by halftime, regrouped, cranked up their ball pressure in the halfcourt defense and pulled away for a 52-27 victory in Williams Arena.

Hopkins forced 24 turnovers in the game and held White Bear Lake to eight points after halftime.

“When Maya went down, our rotations off the bench are pretty quick, fast guards so we had more guards than usual,” Hopkins coach Tara Starks said. “We want to utilize them to the full advantage.”

Starks said she doesn’t believe Nnaji’s injury to be serious.

The Royals’ emphasis on defense also helped them settle into their game. They struggled offensively in the first half, which senior guard Amaya Battle attributed to nerves, indicating that even players with plenty of postseason experience get the butterflies.

“In any big game, there’s going to be some nerves, no matter if you’ve been there before,” said Battle, who repeatedly found her way into the lane and finished with 11 points. “After a little bit, we calmed down.”

Nunu Agara led the Royals with 14 points.

White Bear Lake coach Jeremy Post said the Hopkins defense was like none the Bears had experienced before.

“The hardest part is how fast it happens,” he said. “Then, when you deal with that, how long they are at the basket. Any time you get anywhere near the rim, you’re dealing with something you’re not used to dealing with.”

Said Bears guard Lauren Eckerle: “We only average about 5-8. You had all these short people trying to score against trees. It was kinda hard.”