By John Millea
Twenty-four teams, 12 games, two courts. That's a lot of girls' basketball for one day. Such was the theme at Hopkins for today's Breakdown Tip-Off Classic. I spent part of my Saturday there, and here's a rundown from a reporter's notebook… --I said hi to Andy Berkvam, coach of top-ranked 4A Lakeville North, and he replied in kind in a very hoarse voice. "Hey," I said, "You've already lost your voice. That's a good sign. You're working hard." The Panthers were the best team I saw today, and junior Rachel Banham was the best player I saw today. She led North to a 66-49 victory over Minneapolis Roosevelt, the No. 1 team in 2A. North has three Division I players in its starting lineup. Banham has committed to the Gophers (Pam Borton was in the stands), senior center Cassie Rochel has signed with Wisconsin and junior forward Apiew Ojulu is drawing interest from mid-major schools. --New Prague (No. 3, 3A) beat Barnum (No. 1, 1A) 56-51. Later in the day, New Prague coach Ron Gunderson described his team as "Young kids learning in a hurry. It's baptism by fire." Right now, a lot of coaches would say the same thing. --Roosevelt's nickname is the Lady Teddies. Uh, I wish they were simply the Teddies. --Roosevelt's Shakila Boler is not playing due to a knee injury. Coach Michael Wright said she will be back in January. Also absent is Hopkins' Brianna Williams, also with a bum knee. She should be back before the holidays. --The leading scorer in today's action was a player named Hill. No, Tayler Hill has graduated from Minneapolis South and now starts at Ohio State. This is her cousin, Jen'Von'Te Hill from St. Paul Central. She scored 31 in a 66-54 loss to DeLaSalle. --Speaking of South, the defending 4A state champs (No. 3 right now) lost a close game to Benilde-St. Margaret's (No. 1, 3A), 56-50. --Minnetonka got a nice win over Woodbury, 73-68. --Maple Grove is a team to watch. The Crimson (No. 10, 4A) defeated No. 2 Hopkins earlier this week and today they beat Hill-Murray (No. 4, 3A) by a score of 59-54. --Chaska (No. 4, 4A) beat Caledonia (No. 8, 2A) 62-53, adding more luster to the Lake Conference. Teams like Lakeville North, Eastview, Eden Prairie and Chaska might make the Lake the premier conference this season. --Hopkins beat Centennial 62-53 in a matchup of the No. 2 and 5 teams in 4A. Both teams are still rounding into shape, figuring out rotations, etc., but I wouldn't be surprised to see the Royals and Cougars at the state tournament. I'm going to take the rest of the night off. On Sunday – which will arrive in a few minutes -- I'll be at the Mr. Football banquet at noon. I'll post a Twitter update the second the winner is announced. Basketball … football … sport rolls on… John Millea is on Twitter at twitter.com/stribjohn
