Shut down Kerwin Walton and his 24-point scoring average and you stop Hopkins, right?
Not exactly. Walton is averaging 27.5 points in the Royals' two losses and No. 7-4A Hopkins is 4-0 in games in which Walton either did not play or failed to reach 20 points.
Senior Cornell Richardson, at 10.1 points per game, is the only other Hopkins (8-2, 0-0) player with a double-figure scoring average. But Royals coach Ken Novak Jr. has a deep and talented bench with several players capable of scoring in bunches.
Seven Hopkins players, other than Walton and Richardson, have recorded 11 or more points in a game: 6-foot-7 sophomore Elvis Nnaji (8.2 ppg, high of 15), senior Regan Merritt (7.9 ppg, high of 15), junior Andre Gray (7.4 ppg, high of 11), junior Jaelen Treml (6.2 ppg, high of 23), junior Xavier White (5.3 ppg, high of 14), senior Sawyer Shrake (5.1 ppg, high of 16) and junior Tristan Lee (4.9 ppg, high of 15).
So, while DeLaSalle will of course have to pay attention to Walton, the No. 2-3A Islanders will have to be on guard against any other hot hand.
The Islanders (6-1, 0-0) have a deep bench, although the bulk of the scoring generally goes to 6-foot-6 junior Cade Haskins (19.5 ppg) and 6-foot-8 senior Jalen Travis (19.2 ppg). Amir Whitlock, a senior, averages 12.6 points and five rebounds, and junior Keijuan White adds 9.8 points per game.
DeLaSalle opened the season with six consecutive victories before losing 71-61 to Brandon Valley, S.D., on Saturday. The Islanders have beaten No. 1-2A Waseca (65-49 on Nov. 30) and No. 3-3A Mankato East (67-63 on Dec. 7).