Hopkins guard Vinnie Shahid (14) passed the ball around Lakeville North guard Nick Fossey (4) after battling for the loose ball on the floor with guard Trevor Schermann (11) in the first half. Photo: AARON LAVINSKY * aaron.lavinsky@startribune.com

Xavier Johnson was on the bench, unable to do anything to stop what he was seeing on the floor.

Hopkins trailed Lakeville North by five points early in the second half. The senior guard felt it was his time to step forward.

“I told Coach [Ken Novak Jr.] that I wanted to go back in the game because I knew that, in order for us to win, I had to pick it up on defense with their ballhandler,” Johnson said. “My goal was to harass him.”

The role fit the quick, 5-foot-11 guard perfectly. He made two steals and scored six points in a decisive 15-0 run to lead the Royals to a 64-55 victory in the Class 4A championship game. 

Until Hopkins went on its game-defining run, Lakeville North looked poised to pull a repeat of 2014, when the Panthers upset Hopkins in the championship game by scoring six points in the final minute.

“All I was thinking about was two years ago when we had the big lead and we lost it,” Novak said. “I was thinking, ‘Oh man, we can’t do this again.’ But, these guys competed, and they have all year long.”

It took Hopkins all of five minutes to end such speculation. That 15-0 run turned another disappointment into Hopkins’ first state championship in five years, seventh since 2002 and ninth overall. It’s the type of success that carries with it very high expectations.

“I’ve had people ask me ‘What’s wrong?’ ” Novak said. “It’s only been five years.”

Amir Coffey scored 19, Vinnie Shahid 13 and Johnson added 10 for Hopkins (31-1), which came within one loss to Wayzata of the third undefeated season in team history.

“We wanted to go undefeated, but I’ll take this any day,” Novak said.
For two-thirds of the game, things were much more to Lakeville North’s liking. The Panthers, playing the type of defensive, controlled-tempo game that had been so effective for them in the first two state tournament games, held the high-scoring Royals in check. 

The score was 23-23 at halftime, and Lakeville North led 42-37 with 9:15 left before Hopkins went on its deciding run. 

“We played great defense,” Lakeville North coach John Oxton said. “But we struggled to score, which we knew might be a problem.”

Hopkins has a reputation as an offensive powerhouse, but Novak said his team’s defense is underrated.

“We’ve stressed defense and rebounding the whole year,” Novak said. “You need to defend, especially the way we play.” 

Johnson and Coffey were the offensive forces who sparked the game’s quick change. 

The duo combined to score eight straight points in the 15-point surge to take the biggest lead of the night for either team, 52-42, with 4:32 left in the game.

Lakeville North rallied in the game’s closing minutes, however. Trailing 56-46, the Panthers scored six quick points to cut the lead to 56-52 with 1:10 left. This time, however, Hopkins was able to seal the victory.

Shahid scored four straight points and Coffey added two free throws with 10 seconds left in the game.

Nathan Reuvers, the lanky 6-foot-10 forward who was offered a scholarship by University of Minnesota coach Richard Pitino after Thursday’s semifinals, led Lakeville North (26-6) with 16 points on 6-for-12 shooting.

First report

Lakeville North’s magical run came to an end 10 minutes too early.

The Panthers, poised and efficient, held a five-point over Hopkins lead with 9:15 left in the Class 4A championship game. Remembrances of 2014, when Lakeville North upset Hopkins in the championship game, were being made fresh.

It took Hopkins all of five minutes to each such speculation. The Royals (31-1) went on a 15-0 run, turning another potential upset – Hopkins was seeded No. 2, Lakeville North No. 5 – into their seventh state championship since 2002 and ninth over with a 64-55 victory.

Amir Coffey scored 19 , Vinnie Shahid 13 and Xavier Johnson added 10 for Hopkins, who came within one regular season loss to Wayzata of this third undefeated season in team history.

Following Hopkins’ victory over Apple Valley in the Class 4A semifinals, Royals coach Ken Novak Jr. said he thought Lakeville North was a better team than the one that beat Hopkins in the thrilling 2014 Class 4A final.

“I think they’re better than they were two years ago,” Novak said. “They’re really, really good.”

Some scoffed, but Novak looked spot on after a first half in which the Panthers controlled the tempo, didn’t allow Hopkins to crank up its vaunted running game and held the Royals to 34.6 percent shooting.
The two teams were tied 23-23, but it was a tie that was clearly in Lakeville North’s favor.

Neither team shot the ball well in the first half – a by-product largely  of both team’s commitment to stopping the other – but things changed dramatically after halftime.

Lakeville North, which had made just 1 of 11 three-point attempts in the first half, started finding their range, hitting five three-pointers on the way to its largest lead of the night, 42-37.

Hopkins punched back behind Coffey and Johnson. The duo combined to score eight straight points to spark the Royals’ game-changing run 15-0 run, the biggest run of the night for either team, to take a 52-42 lead with 4:32 left in the game.

Lakeville North rallied in the game’s closing minutes, however. Trailing 56-46, the Panthers scored six quick points to cut the lead to 56-52 with 1:10 left.

Speculation began to creep around the game’s edges. Could it happen again? Lakeville North had scored six point in the final minute of the 2014 final to shock the Royals, but this time Hopkins was able to seal the victory. Shahid scored four straight points and Coffey sealed the victory with two free throws with 10 seconds left in the game.

Lakeville North, which had been so efficient  in the tournament, was undone by turnovers in the second half. They committed 11 miscues after just six before halftime.

Lakeville North (26-6) was led by Nathan Reuvers, the lanky 6-10 forward who had received a scholarship offer from University of Minnesota coach Richard Pitino after Thursday’s semifinal. Reuvers finished with 16 points on 6 of 12 shooting but was virtually non-existent on the boards, collecting just two rebounds.

Nick Fossey, continuing the strong play he’d displayed throughout the tournament, was the only other Panthers player in double figures with 11 and added 8 rebounds. Carter Brooks, who wowed the Target Center crowd with two  first-half dunks, was held scoreless in the second half and finished with 6 points.


Postgame Press Conference Video