It's #1 Eastview vs #2 Hopkins for all the marbles

Thirty plus games, countless practices and weight room sessions, plus fall league and summer league and hundreds of miles on the bus. Add it all up and the sum total is this: it's Hopkins vs Eastview for all the marbles. The title game is set for 8 p.m. Saturday at the Target Center in Minneapolis, where the 2018 Minnesota state 4A high school champion will be crowned. The much-anticipated matchup of #1 vs #2 materialized Thursday night when Eastview knocked off Lakeville North in the first match of the evening and Hopkins dispatched Roseville in the nightcap. Eastview 57 Lakeville North 47 Eastview runs their offense with patience and precision. The Lightning always seem to move the ball well, working it around the outside until just the right opportunity presents itself. That's when Andrea Abrams or Mariah Alipate or Emma Carpenter – well basically the entire Eastview lineup – puts up another high-percentage attempt. Yep, the Lightning can shoot at least as well or better than any other team in the state. That's how they eliminated Lakeville North from title contention. With the Panthers Taylor Brown doing her best to keep Eastview's 6'2 senior forward Megan Walstad occupied inside, the rest of Eastiview's starting five were doing work outside as Abrams and Alipate combined for five first-half baskets from beyond the arc. Lakeville North did a lot of nice things in the half, too, but every time they got something going the Lightning would knock down another one. Still the game was tied 25-25 at the break with both teams shooting north of 40 percent. The separation began around the 11-minute mark of the second half when Walstad scored back-to-back baskets to give Eastview a six-point margin. Their edge quickly became 12 and then 15 as the LIghtning went on a 16-3 run that left Lakeville North reeling. From there the Panthers resorted to quick shots and impatient offense, with sophomore guard Lauren Jensen attempting most of the heroics. The Panthers never got closer than eight, even though Jensen scored 11 points in the game's final few minutes. It wasn't enough to stop Eastview from moving on to Saturday's championship game as the Lightning won their 31st game of the year. Player of the Game Andrea Abrams, Eastview – Abrams has been lurking in the shadows at Eastview over the couple of seasons as Rachel Ranke and Megan Walstad and others have been in the limelight. This year, Andrea emerged as a force herself as she continues to make big baskets at big moments. She did it again on Thursday, scoring on 4 of 6 attempts from three for 16 big points. Others who impressed Mariah Alipate, Eastview – Alipate was a starter on this team as a sophomore. Then she missed a season with a major knee injury and nobody was quite sure what to expect. Whatever the expectations were you can be pretty sure Alipate has exceeded them. Like Abrams, she has been an integral part of Eastview's excellent season. She scored 14 against Lakeville North. Ke James, Lakeville North – All James does is work and work and work. She has size and length and has developed nice touch around the basket. All of that has earned her a college scholarship. On Wednesday she had 20 points and 10 rebounds against Maple Grove. She added 11 and 11 against Eastview. Hopkins 61 Roseville 34 Roseville may have been the best defensive team in 4A over the past month. That's how they made it to a surprising berth in the state tournament, and on Thursday night the Raiders held Hopkins to just 61 points, their second-lowest offensive output of the season. That might sound impressive until you consider that Roseville scored fewer points than all but one Hopkins opponent, shooting just 27 percent and never really threatening to win. Roseville's only lead came at the 15:30 mark when freshman post Tamia Ugass scored at the rim to give the Raiders a 3-2 lead. Then Hopkins' Paige Bueckers sprinted up the court and drained a three just seconds later. The Royals never looked back. It was simply a case of Hopkins doing what Hopkins does. The Royals defensive pressure is just too much for most teams, as they struggle to inbound the ball, struggle to get past mid court in the allotted 10 seconds, struggle to execute on offense. By the time 8th grader Amaya Battle scored at the half-time buzzer, Hopkins was up 39-18. “We know they score in runs and boy, do they score in runs,” Roseville coach Jeff Crosby said in the post-game press conference. “They got us rattled tonight. We held it together at times, but they rattled us.” In the second it was more of the same. Roseville, sparked by a pair of Jada Hood field goals, did go on a 12-5 run midway through the second half but Royals' coach Brian Cosgriff called a quick timeout for a few choice words and it was back to business. Roseville is a pretty good basketball team, but Hopkins is a whole lot better. Player of the Game Paige Bueckers, Hopkins – You can pretty much pencil Bueckers' name on this award every night out. Even when someone else lights it up, as senior Raena Suggs did in Wednesday's opening game against Forest Lake, you can almost always trace their success back to the things that Bueckers did to make it possible. On this night, she shook off Roseville junior Kaylee Nelson, one of the state's best on-ball defenders, to go 8 for 12 from the field for 21 points with 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 5 steals. Others who impressed Amaya Battle, Hopkins – When Bueckers missed a few games earlier in the season, the 8th grader was handed her spot in the starting lineup and the talented guard made the most of the opportunity. Battle is a gifted ball handler with very high basketball IQ and tremendous athleticism. The fact she will conclude her second full season as a varsity regular on Saturday night is remarkable considering she isn't even in high school yet. Battle scored 13 points Thursday, but it was her rebounding (she had 8 in the first half) that gave the Raiders fits. Toss in a handy 5 assists in 30 minutes and you have a star in the making. Jayda Johnston, Roseville – The 6'1 sophomore has emerged this year as a force for the Raiders at power forward. She plays hard, knows how to outmaneuver defenders in the paint, scores a ton of big baskets and is a great defender. It's hard to look good against Hopkins but Johnston gave it her best shot scoring 9 points and 5 rebounds in 34 minutes.