Hopkins took a 20-point halftime lead and defeated La Crosse Aquinas 78-57 in a matchup of girls' basketball teams that entered Friday's game with perfect records.
The Class 4A, No. 1 Royals were led by senior guard KK Adams, who had 21 of her 24 points in the first half, and ninth-grade forward Taylor Woodson, who scored 22 as the Royals raised their record to 12-0.
Senior guard Paige Bueckers, who will play for UConn next season, had nine points, seven assists and four steals for Hopkins, which used a 10-point run a few minutes into the first half to take a 12-4 lead and was never seriously threatened.
Aquinas (10-1) is the two-time defending Wisconsin Division 4 state champion and has a 65-2 record over the past three seasons, with both of those losses to Hopkins. Going into Friday's game, the Blugolds had outscored their opponents by an average of 49 points per game this season, including a 67-41 victory over Eastview and an 81-30 victory over DeLaSalle.
Wayzata 67, Stillwater 66: The Class 4A, No. 4 Trojans held off the visiting Ponies. Jenna Johnson and Annika Stewart scored 23 points each to lead the Trojans, and Mara Braun had 11. Liza Karlen led the Ponies with 20 points, Amber Scalia had 17, Alex Pratt had 14 and Grace Côte had 12.
New Prague 64, Prior Lake 59: Amanda Giesen scored 25 points to lead the Trojans past the visiting Lakers. Emily Russo had 17 points and Katie Vasecka 10 for the Trojans. Haidyn Pitsch led the Lakers with 18 points and Tatum Bostrom had 14.
Becker 78, Cambridge-Isanti 73: Courtney Nuest scored 17 points to lead the Bulldogs past the visiting Bluejackets. Julia Bengtson had 15 points, Adeline Kent had 13 and Megan Gamble had 12. Amme Sheforgen led the Bluejackets with 19 points, Makayla Aumer and Jana Swanson had 18 each and Jackie Olander had 13.
Breck 44, Minneapolis Roosevelt 42: Kendall McGee scored 15 points to lead the Mustangs past the host Teddies. Jaida Walker led the Teddies with 12 points and Olivia Wren had 11.
Hill-Murray 49, Mahtomedi 40: Bella Hartzel scored 14 points to lead the Pioneers past the host Zephyrs. Ella Runyon scored 13 points and Ella Sutherland had 10 for the Pioneers. Saley Underwood led the Zephyrs with 10 points.
Boys' basketball
Minnehaha Academy 89, Park Center 68: The Class 3A, No. 1 Redhawks started the second half on a 21-6 run to defeat the visiting Class 4A, No. 2 Pirates. Jalen Suggs scored 22 points in the first half and 25 in the game to lead the Redhawks. Chet Holmgren had 17 points and Donovan Smith had 14 for the Redhawks. Dain Dainja led the Pirates with 22 points and Joshua Brown had 10.
White Bear Lake 66, Centennial 63: The visiting Bears overcame a five-point halftime deficit to defeat the Cougars. Kanye Raheem led the Bears with 24 points, Jack Janicki had 12 and Moses Hancock and Brice Peters had 11 each. Mason Lindsay led the Cougars with 24 points, Thomas Palmsteen had 18 and Evan Walsh had 11.
St. Michael-Albertville 57, Rogers 56: Jack Carroll scored 17 points to defeat the host Royals. Evan Wieker had 14 points for the Knights. Sam Simpson led the Royals with 21 points and Thomas Glad had 13.
Benilde-St. Margaret's 69, Blake 61: Walker Johnson scored 16 points to lead the Red Knights past the visiting Bears. Zai Smith had 12 points and Nick Peterson had 10 for the Red Knights. Gabe Ganz led the Bears with 18 points, Sam Deignan had 16 and Theo Liu had 10.
Cambridge-Isanti 78, Blaine 70: The Bluejackets built an 18-point halftime lead and held off a rally from the host Bengals. Henry Abraham led the Bluejackets with 30 points, Connor Braaten had 27 and Micah Ladd had 10. Isaiah Giles led the Bengals with 19 points, Aaron Kaul had 15, Patrick Perreault had 12 and Samuel Olson had 11.
Annandale 50, St. Cloud Cathedral 46: The Cardinals overcame an eight-point halftime deficit to defeat the visiting Crusaders. Logan Purcell led the Cardinals with 14 points and Paul Meyer had 11. Jake Meyer and Jacob Stolzenberg had 14 points each to lead the Crusaders.
Stillwater 58, St. Louis Park 54: Ben Smalley scored 15 points to lead the Ponies past the visiting Orioles. Sam Shikenjanski had 12 points, Will Swanson had 11 and Max Richardson had 10 for the Ponies. Paris Johnson led the Orioles with 28 points and Erik Piehl had 15.
Hastings 57, Simley 53: Devon Haraldson scored 22 points to lead the Raiders past the visiting Spartans. Trey Swanson had 13 points and Colby Zak had 12 for the Raiders. Ruot Jioklow led the Spartans with 12 points and Luke Vandermeer had 10.
Boys' hockey
Hill-Murray 2, Edina 0: Remington Keopple stopped 29 shots to shut out the visiting Hornets. Nick Pierre got the Class 2A, No. 10 Pioneers on the board 5:54 into the game. Charlie Strobel extended the lead for the Pioneers 5:34 into the third period. Louden Hogg made 22 saves for the Hornets.
Rogers 5, Thief River Falls 4: The Royals scored two goals in the final three minutes to defeat the host Prowlers. Tanner Weis tied the score at 4-4 with 2:12 left and Trey Frederickson scored with 52 seconds later for the game-winning goal. The Prowlers scored three goals earlier in the third period to take a 4-3 lead. Zach Dalzell scored 2:46 into the period and 10 minutes later to sandwich a goal by Tucker Skime. Blake Biermaier got the Prowlers on the board first 9:09 into the game. The Royals got goals from Tate Lenius, Weis and Cal Levis in a 3:30 span in the second period to take a 3-1 lead into the final period. Hannah Skavnak made 33 saves for the Royals.
Girls' hockey
Delano/Rockford 1, Mound Westonka 0 (OT): Grace Glasrud made 53 saves to shut out the Class 1A, No. 4 White Hawks. The senior stopped 23 shots in the first period, 15 in the third and six in overtime for the Tigers. Kylee Heinzen scored 7:18 into overtime to give the Tigers the upset victory.
South St. Paul 3, Simley 2 (OT): Brynn Sexauer scored her second goal of the game 2:53 into overtime to give the Class 1A, No. 5 Packers over the visiting Spartans. The senior also scored 24 seconds into the game to get the Packers on the board first. Makenna Deering scored with 2:10 left in regulation for the Packers to send the game to overtime. Kate Carlson and Avery Schwark scored in the second period to give the Spartans a 2-1 lead heading into the third. Delaney Norman made 24 saves for the Packers and Hailey Ries had 22 for the Spartans.
Benilde-St. Margaret's 3, Minneapolis 1: The Red Knights scored two goals in a 2:38 span late in the second period to pull away from host Minneapolis. Mary Zavoral scored a shorthanded goal with 3:47 left in the second period and Lucy Hanson scored shortly after to give the Red Knights a 3-0 lead after two periods. Julia Stevens scored a power-play goal with 25 seconds left to get Minneapolis on the board. Emma Peschel scored for the Red Knights 6:23 into the game.
staff reports
