A 28-minute clinic is enough for Eastview

<p>Before the game, a college coach asked me, Can Hopkins be beaten? Are the Royals that good? Does Eastview have a chance? I said that Eastview had a chance but, yes, Hopkins is that good. It turns out the right question would have been, Does Hopkins have a chance? Because on this particular evening, the Royals were not that good and, for the last 28 minutes of the game, the Lightning were almost flawless.</p> <p>After falling behind 18-10, Eastview outscored Hopkins 56-38 the rest of the way and sometimes appeared dominant against the state’s #1AAAA team. Eastview did it by making 10-of-18 3s, as no less than 6 of the Lightning, including 6-3 post Megan Walstad, hit from long range.</p> <p>And they did it by putting 5 ball handlers on the floor and protecting the ball most of the way. Hopkins took that 18-10 lead in part because of a flurry of 7 early Eastview turnovers, and 6 of those 18 Hopkins points came off of those turnovers. In other words, it looked like a Hopkins kind of night at that point.</p> <p>And, the Royals still led 24-22 at 2:47 of the 1st with 10 of those 24 points coming off Eastview turnovers. But over the final 20:47, Eastview had just 7 more turnovers leading to just 4 Hopkins points, and the Royals were unable to find the defensive intensity to really disrupt Eastview’s offense and/or to create any easy baskets.</p> <p>The turning point came at about 10:30 of the 1st half, with Hopkins leading 18-10 and Eastview having turned it over on 6 of their last 7 possessions. Eastview coach Molly Kasper called a much-needed timeout. Macy Guebert hit a 3, Walstad a 2 and then an and-one and suddenly it was 18-all and an entirely different atmosphere. Eastview closed the half on a 19-8 run to lead 29-26.</p> <p>In the 2nd half Eastview had more 3s than turnovers and quickly pulled out to a 37-29 lead. Hopkins got within 37-34 but no closer, and a couple of baskets by Emma Carpenter made it 56-46 at the 4 minute mark. Guebert and Walstad made 8-of-8 throws inside of 1:30.</p> <p>The heroes for Eastview were many. Walstad and Carpenter were the most indispensable of the Lightning. Walstad led the way with 15 points on 5-of-7 FG and she added 11 boards and 2 blocked shots. She was a rock on defense, opening each half guarding Paige Bueckers in the man-to-man, and polishing the glass all night long. Carpenter was the lead ball-handler and opportunistically pushed the pace. She scored 14 with 2-of-3 3s and added 4 assists.</p> <p>With Hopkins up 18-10, it was Guebert and Walstad who got the big buckets. Later, with Hopkins lurking at 34-37 and 36-40, Andrea Abrams, Walstad, Carpenter and even reserve Lauren Glas nailed it from downtown.</p> <p>Again, it was at times a dominant performance, a clinic. Hopkins, however, can take heart in the fact that other than Bueckers, they played very poorly. There are any number of ways they could bridge last night’s 10 point margin. Coach Brian Cosgriff always says that Hopkins can always lose if they don’t shoot it. At a glance, they shot it OK at 19-of-41. But Bueckers made 11-of-18. Everybody else 8-of-23. Bueckers scored 30 of Hopkins 56 points, and only Dlayla Chakolis was also a threat, scoring 12 on 3-of-7 FG and 6-of-8 FT. But Eastview had 16 assists to just 9 for Hopkins, and outrebounded the Royals 28-20.</p> <p>Someone said afterward that Bueckers should have taken over the game more for Hopkins. But, how much more can she do than 30 (of 56) points, 3 (of 5) 3s, 7 (of 20) rebounds, 4 (of 9 assists), 4 (of 9 steals)? The fact is, Raena Suggs, Angie Hammond, Kahla Adams and Kira Mosley have to become more of a factor. Also, Hopkins was without the services of Jaide Pressley, who could have been a difference-maker. Surely Hopkins is not happy, but they will use this to get better. Mainly, more production from Suggs, having Pressley in the lineup, and ratcheting up the defensive pressure would seem to be called for, and they’ll be there, as always, in March, if they can do those 3 things.</p> <p>But, as for Eastview, we’ve now seen the blueprint. They just need to keep doing what they did Friday night at St. Olaf.</p>