Hopkins coach Brian Cosgriff put his No. 5-ranked Royals' convincing 72-38 win against No. 2 Centennial as simple terms as you could get.

"In girls 4A basketball, you have to show up every night and play," he said. "We knew we had a great team coming in, but if we perform the way we know we can, good things can happen."

The Royals were coming off two consecutive losses and were not going to get a break with one of the state's best in Centennial coming to town.

"You have to put those losses behind you," Cosgriff said. "Fact of the matter is you have to get up the next day, lace up your boots and get ready again."

Hopkins has only four seniors on a roster dotted with six sophomores and three freshmen, but it took its past two defeats as a positive.

"I think it was good for us," Royals' sophomore forward Nia Hollie said. "It made us realize that we have to be ready to play every night."

The Cougars also bring in Jillian Conrad, who was averaging 18 points. She only managed five as Hopkins senior forward Molly O'Toole handled her better than anyone else has this season.

"We looked at a lot of video on her, and Molly did a great job on her," Hollie said. "She (Conrad) is a great player, but we had a great game plan for her."

The Royals dominated Centennial on the glass, creating numerous second-chance opportunities. Hopkins also pushed the ball up the court on fast breaks, making it difficult for the Cougars to lock down on their offense where they could feed Conrad down low.

"I thought we played pretty fast tonight," Royals' sophomore Ashley Bates said. "I think we kind of tired them out with our depth and speed."

The Royals had four players reach double figures in points. Jazz Martin led the way with 13, Bates had 12, K'Aezha Wubben with 11 and O'Toole contributed nicely on the offensive end with 10.

After shutting down Conrad and chipping in on offense, O'Toole's night was not done.

"She had to run to her choir concert," Cosgriff said.

Hopkins led 32-13 at the half and nearly got its lead to 40 points in the second half.

After two losses and one of the states best teams, did anyone think Hopkins would win in such decisive fashion?

"I had a good feeling about tonight," Hollie said. "Those two losses were going to be good for us, and I am glad we came back the way we did."

Even after a convincing victory, Cosgriff said he thinks the Cougars will be in the mix at the end of the season.

"That is a good basketball team over there and they are going to be tough to go against for anyone in the playoffs," he said. "They are a team that can make a comeback with the players they have."

-- Justin Magill