Hopkins guard Paige Bueckers sidelined with ankle injury

<p>"It&#39;s not a crisis unless we make it a crisis." Those were the words of Hopkins coach Brian Cosgriff Saturday afternoon upon learning that his starting point guard Paige Bueckers will be lost to the team for the foreseeable future due to a nagging ankle injury. After dealing with the pain for several weeks, Bueckers had an MRI done which revealed a subchondral fracture with a deep bone bruise. "It has been bothering her all year," Cosgriff said. "She twisted it in fall league and just hasn&#39;t let it heal properly so we are shutting her down. She goes to see an ankle specialist on Thursday and we&#39;ll see what happens from there."</p> <p>Bueckers missed Friday night&#39;s narrow 68-60 win over Eden Prairie, and was wearing a boot Saturday as her team rolled over Minneapolis North by a score of 77-44. "I think it has just been a build-up," she said. "I have injured this ankle a couple of times so they think it&#39;s an ongoing thing. I don&#39;t think it has been a hundred percent all season, but it hurt the last couple of weeks so I thought I would check it out. In the games my adrenaline is pumping and it doesn&#39;t really hurt, but it hurts after I&#39;m done. I really feel it the day after."</p> <p>Injuries happen, of course, and all teams have to deal with them. Some are more significant than others, however, and this one is really significant. Bueckers is not only Hopkins&#39; best player, she&#39;s the best player in Minnesota and one of the best in the country. In her absence, there will be about 30 minutes of playing time and 22 points a game to be absorbed by others. The majority of the point guard duty will likely fall on the young shoulders of 8th grader Amaya Battle, who played big minutes on Saturday. She has been in the rotation all season and has a year and a half of varsity experience. It will likely mean more minutes for sophomores Jaide Pressley and Kayhla Adams, as well.</p> <p>"We try to keep a positive spin on things," Cosgriff said. "First of all, nobody is going to feel sorry for us. Second of all, the sign of a good team is to be able to persevere through injuries and that sort of thing. Other people have to step up. This gives some younger kids a chance to get better and make our team deeper."</p> <p>Hopkins is 17-2 on the season and ranked third in the state behind Eastview and Wayzata. The Royals are always expected to contend for another state championship. They are accustomed to the pressure and used to playing through adversity. "She&#39;s not done. She&#39;s going to be back. We&#39;re just going to make sure that we let it get 100 percent better before we throw her back out there," Cosgriff said. "This is not career-ending. This is not season-ending. This is a three-week thing and a lot of teams go through this."</p> <p>Hopkins is off until next weekend when the Royals travel to Bemidji and Moorhead for a pair of games. Bueckers admits it isn&#39;t easy watching from the sidelines. "It&#39;s kind of tough, but at the same time I&#39;m going to do everything that I can to try and help. Maybe I can give my teammates a different perspective," she said. "It gets our bench more ready and more people can step up. Once I come back we will be even better."</p>