Hopkins Boys Basketball Heads to Championship Game

The Hopkins boys basketball team entered Thursday’s Class AAAA semifinal knowing full well Cretin-Derham Hall had a strong 3-point game. The task was finding a counter to the Raiders’ perimeter shooting.

The Royals found it in their inside game. Senior Marvin Singleton collected 15 points and 12 rebounds, Hopkins out-scored CDH 46-20 in the paint and the Royals advanced to their third straight state championship game with a 75-56 win at Target Center in Minneapolis.

Hopkins will face Eden Prairie—the lone team to beat the Royals this season—at 8 p.m. Saturday for the class AAAA title.

“It feels really good,” junior Siyani Chambers said. “We worked really hard this year and that’s where we wanted to get to.”

CDH connected on 8-for-20 shooting from 3-point range Thursday, including a 3-pointer from CJ Neumann with 13:45 remaining to cut what once was an 11-point lead down to two.

But the Royals (30-1) continued to pressure, using turnovers to produce fast-break points and half-court sets to create miss-matches inside for Singleton and senior forward Joe Coleman—who finished with a game-high 29 points.

Hopkins’ 42-18 rebounding advantage led to the Royals outscoring the Raiders 17-6 on second-chance points.

The Royals went on a 12-0 run—ending with a Zach Stahl jumper at the 3:44 mark—that put the game out of reach. During that stretch, Singleton scored three points, drew two fouls and grabbled three rebounds.

“Singleton’s like a professional player,” Cretin-Derham Hall coach Jerry Kline said. “He’s got an NBA body. He’s physical, and he’s absolutely in command with bodies all over him.”

That inside game was too much for CDH (23-8) to handle. Hopkins earned a shot at its third consecutive state championship, and the Royals did it by beating a squad they knew could be dangerous if they didn’t win the battle in the paint.

“That’s a good team; they’ve got a number of guys that can shoot it,” coach Ken Novak, Jr. said. “They didn’t even hit easy threes—we were on them. I thought we did a nice job on the board, making sure they didn’t get a the second (chance) when they did miss.”

GAME STATISTICS

Cretin-Derham Hall 28 28 — 56

Hopkins 34 41 — 75

Scoring — HOP: Joe Coleman 29, Demetrius Martin 8, Marvin Singleton 15, Zach Stahl 7, Siyani Chambers 10, Andre McDonald 3, Nicholas Jorgensen 3, CDH: Cortez Tillman 14, Taylor Montero 9, CJ Neumann 9, Connor Quicksell 5, Raijon Kelly 16, Maxwell Gardner 1, Jon Frey 2. Assists leaders — S. Chambers 10, Z. Stahl 6. Rebound leaders — M. Singleton 12, J. Coleman 8, Z. Stahl 6. Turnovers — HOP: 14, CDH: 10. Fouls — HOP: 9, CDH: 16.