Girls basketball takes down Forest Lake in first round of State

The second seeded Royals took on the Forest Lake Rangers in the opening round of the MSHSL class AAAA state tournament.

The Royals came out aggressive as they immediately got into a one-three-one full court press. This caused Forest Lake to panic as they turned the ball over many times in the opening minutes.

The Royals also flourished in their transition game as these turnovers led to layups and free throw opportunities. Forest Lake turned the ball over 17 times in just the first half.

With Hopkins jumping out to an early lead, the Rangers switched up their defense and began to play a two-three zone. The Royals looked prepared for this change as they went on a 9-2 run before they switched back to man defense.

The Royals got into early foul trouble as Forest Lake got in the bonus with still 8:36 left to play in the first half.

Forest Lake showed some life towards the end of the first when Grace VanBergen, senior, made a three pointer and a transition layup with a little under three minutes left to cut the lead down to 11 points.

At the end of the first half, the Royals were up 36-21. Paige Bueckers, sophomore, and Raena Suggs, senior, led all scorers with 12 a piece in the first half.

The Royals came out with their starting five to begin the second half. The Royals got aggressive getting back into their full court pressure forcing more turnovers.

Forest Lake couldn’t get a bucket as the Royals went on an 11-0 run until Lindsey Johnson, junior, converted a layup with 12:49 left in the second half.

Hopkins kept pushing as they got the win by a score of 74-36.

A big part of the Royal’s win was their defensive effort. Their aggressiveness forced the Rangers to turn the ball over 28 times.

Suggs led all scorers with 23 points on the day as the Royals shot 58 percent from the field.

The Royals head back to Target Center tomorrow night to play the winner of Roseville versus third seeded Cretin-Derham Hall.