Game of the Week #7: Wayzata comes from 18 down to knock off Hopkins
This was their moment in the spotlight, the Wayzata Trojans' grand opportunity to step up onto the big stage and prove that they – not the Hopkins Royals – could be the star of the show for once. Five minutes…
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Continue ReadingThis was their moment in the spotlight, the Wayzata Trojans' grand opportunity to step up onto the big stage and prove that they – not the Hopkins Royals – could be the star of the show for once. Five minutes into the first half, it look as though the Trojans had forgotten their lines, tripped over some props and tumbled off Broadway in a hurry. A complete bomb. Less than an hour later, Wayzata was at mid court, shrieking with glee as they celebrated an improbable comeback and a 70-66 win over Hopkins in the Northstar Girls Hoops Game of the Week.
Those first few minutes were vintage Hopkins – a whirlwind of quick feet, fast hands, super-aggressive perimeter defense and a flurry of quick transition baskets. Sophomore Paige Bueckers had obviously brought her A game and the Royals were putting in the work necessary to dominate another opponent. “It was a buzzsaw,” said Wayzata coach Mike Schumacher. “They came out and pressed us and we got rattled. They shot layup after layup. We burned two timeouts and all of a sudden we look up and we're down 12-zip.”
Junior guard Mimi Schrader finally scored on a deep three to put Wayzata on the board nearly five minutes into the game. The Hopkins lead eventually stretched to 18 and the Royals were up 44-29 at the half. Something had to change if Wayzata was to avoid an embarrassing loss. That's why Schumacher went to a 2-3 zone almost exclusively in the second half. It worked. “Obviously what we were doing in the first half wasn't working particularly well,” Schumacher said with a laugh.
Wayzata slowly chipped away at the lead, getting a series of stops. Hopkins could no longer penetrate, and their jump shots were not falling. Midway through the second half, the Royals' lead was still 10 but you could feel the momentum shifting. That's when freshman forward Jenna Johnson scored three consecutive baskets for Wayzata. Then junior guard Mimi Schrader hit a three, followed by a nifty spin and score that shrunk the margin to six. “We told our girls at the half to just stick with it,” Schumacher said. “The biggest thing I said was there's no 15-point play. We just had to stick our nose in there and grind it out possession by possession. It wasn't anything magical.”
With 3:40 remaining, Schrader scored on a sweet baseline floater to put Wayzata ahead for the first time at 65-64. Down the stretch, Hopkins couldn't put the ball in the basket and Mimi made 5 of 6 free throws to seal the deal. It was vintage Schrader, as the savvy point guard controlled the ball, dictated the play, and was a hound dog on defense. Johnson, who is having an outstanding inaugural campaign, was tremendous. Schrader scored 15 points in the second half while Johnson had 12. Hopkins had only 22 in total in the half, Bueckers just four and 15 overall.
“Jenna has been rock solid,” Schumacher said. “She scores, she rebounds, she defends, she gets to the basket. She has been very, very good… Mimi was our floor general. At crunch time, she had the ball in her hands and made good decisions. She made a tough runner on the baseline, two nice threes in the second half, and she knocked down the critical free throws. She has been around the block and showed some veteran experience and leadership tonight for sure.”
Wayzata's length, as predicted, proved to be a problem for Hopkins. Once the Trojans created a logjam in the paint, Hopkins was no longer able to penetrate. “If we don't hit from outside, or don't get stops or transition the basketball, we're going to struggle,” said Brian Cosgriff, the longtime Hopkins coach. “We got some easy baskets in the first half by transitioning the basketball. We didn't get that in the second half. Sometimes you can't just outscore people, you have to get stops, and we didn't do that. We have been talking about it all season and we have to get better.”
Wayzata's girls had a boisterous celebration at game's end and who can blame them. Hopkins is the pinnacle of girls' basketball in Minnesota, and every team comes at the Royals with their best effort. This year, Wayzata has the personnel to seriously challenge the Royals for a Lake Conference title and a trip to the state tournament. But this is just one game and Schumacher knows there is a long way to go. “It's January 12th so let's not get too carried away,” he said. “We play them again, perhaps two more times. Obviously our kids are excited but you've got to temper the emotions a bit.”
The teams will meet again on Feb. 16 at Hopkins, and possibly in the section final. “Hopefully we'll get two more shots at them. Hopefully,” Cosgriff said. “If we don't defend any better than this, we won't. If we don't defend, we will be sitting at home this year.”