Sports
Three Hopkins Girls Basketball Stars to Watch Whose Last Name Isn't Coffey
Taylor Anderson, Gracia Hutson and Mikaala Shackelford will be key to the state champ's success this season.
The girls basketball team enters this season as both last year's and one of the favorites to win this year's Class 5A state championship.
The Royals began practice Monday and kick off their season against Minneapolis North at the Hamline University Tournament in St. Paul the day after Thanksgiving.
Much of the attention has focused on the Coffey sisters——and the immense talent they bring to the team. Sydney just to play next year at Marist University in New York. Nia, who's a junior this season, has roughly 50 D-I schools already chasing her.
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But it takes more than two players to make a successful basketball team. So who are the three other players to watch this season? Head Coach Brian Cosgriff, who will be shooting for his fourth state title, has some answers.
Taylor Anderson: “Taylor Anderson will be our point guard, and she is very talented,” Cosgriff said.
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A junior, Anderson is very fast. She was second in the girls 100-meter dash at the state track and field championships in the spring. She replaces Brianna Williams who led the Royals last year and is now playing at the University of North Dakota.
“Anderson also has nice size for a point guard (5 feet, 7 inches) and is a good outside shooter,” Cosgriff added.” I think she could be our most improved player.”
Gracia Hutson: Center Gracia Hutson started last year. The senior at the University of Vermont next year and has “looked very good in summer basketball.”
“She needs to step up her scoring, but we are confident she will because she has improved in that area,” Cosgriff said of his 6-foot-2-inch post player. “She is a very hard worker and plays strong defense.”
Mikaala Shackelford: The junior shooting guard is a deadly outside scorer and, in the words of her coach, “a lock-down defensive player.
“She can also fill in at small forward when needed,” said Cosgriff
Last season, the 5 foot, 9 inch Shackelford made eight points in less than 30 seconds in a critical regular season game against Eden Prairie.