Lakeville North’s best player, Connor Flack, was out with a back injury. Drew Stewart had not scored in double-figures all season. Carter Brooks never saw the floor during the 2014 state championship run. 

Didn’t matter. Playing big games at Target Center brings out the best in the Panthers.

That was evident in their  65-61 victory over Hopkins in the final Class 4A quarterfinal on Wednesday. On paper, it could be considered an upset. Hopkins was the No. 3 seed while Lakeville North’s 11 losses were the most by any team in the field.

But anyone who knew the Panthers’ history wasn’t surprised by the result. They were making their fourth straight state tournament appearance, marked by two championship game appearances during that stretch. And they had been playing their best basketball of the season over the last month.

“We’ve been playing good basketball for about eight games now,” coach John Oxton said. “We’re hoping this is the start of something special.”

Hopkins opened up leads as big as seven points in the first half, but Lakeville North used a late six-point spurt to cut the lead to 27-26 at halftime.

The momentum gained carried over into the second half. Lakeville North pushed the ball at every opportunity and led 49-37 with 9:54 left on a three-pointer by Stewart, his third of the game. Stewart finished with a season-high 16 points.

“I didn’t play that well this season,” Stewart said. “So this feels pretty good.”

Hopkins rallied to tie the game 58-58, but Lakeville North held firm, closing out the game at the free throw line.

Brooks, a 6-foot-6 junior guard, led Lakeville North with 17 points, including four clutch free throws down the stretch.

“We knew we all had to step up and do a little more with Flack out,” Brooks said. “We really felt like we could win the whole time. We have such great coaching, we were just locked in.”

Lakeville North hit eight of 10 free throws down the stretch to hold off No. 3 seeded Hopkins for a 65-61 upset victory.

The game Wednesday at Target Center was a rematch of the 2014 Class 4A final and the result was the same. Hopkins, living and dying by the three-pointer, trailed 49-37 midway through the second half, rallied to tie the game 58-58 but never was able to finish the comeback.

Carter Brooks scored 17 points for Lakeville North and Drew Stewart added 16.

Check back later for more on the game.