Quantcast
skip navigation

Hopkins rallies to beat DeLaSalle 84-79

By MATT STEICHEN, Special to the Star Tribune, 12/09/17, 4:15PM CST

Share

The Royals trailed by as many as 13 points late in the first half

Kerwin Walton’s layup with just over a minute to go gave fourth-ranked (Class 4A) Hopkins its first lead of the second half in its come-from-behind 84-79 victory over Class 3A No. 1-ranked DeLaSalle Saturday night at the Breakdown Sports Tip Off Classic in Hopkins.

The Royals trailed by as many as 13 points after the Islanders knocked down nine first-half three-pointers. Walton helped erase that deficit with a trio of three-pointers of his own midway through the second half, pulling the Royals within one at 65-64. After Walton’s go-ahead basket, the Royals got a defensive stop and Zeke Nnai grabbed an offensive rebound and converted a three-point play to seal the win.

“We did a good job of continuing to set people up and get good shots. We didn’t panic,” Hopkins coach Ken Novak said. “In the first half they were getting us to rush and in the second we dealt with that a little bit better.”

Walton and point guard Blaise Beauchamp scored 19 points apiece to pace Hopkins. Nnaji added a double-double, scoring 17 points and hauling down 10 rebounds. The 6-foot-9 junior led the Royals to a 40-25 advantage on the glass.

“We went into the locker room and talked about forcing them to do what we wanted them to do,” Nnaji said. “We had to run them off the three-point line and force them into the paint where we had help.”

DeLaSalle’s Jamison Battle knocked down six three-pointers on his way to a game-high 24 points. Teammate Tyrell Terry finished with 20 points and University of Minnesota commit Gabe Kalscheur scored 17.

Related Stories