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Hopkins hurries past Owatonna

By Jim Paulsen, Star Tribune, 03/23/11, 12:08PM CDT

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Royals pull away in second half to advance to Class 4A semifinals


Hopkins' Siyani Chambers was fouled by Owatonna's Quentin Smith as he drove. Bruce Bisping, Star Tribune

It’s the burden — well, one of them, at least — that goes hand in hand with being the best. Following Hopkins’ 71-57 victory over Owatonna in the Class 4A quarterfinals, Royals coach Ken Novak Jr. talked about the expectations that follow his ultra-talented team.

“Part of the problem is that people always want us to be ‘Showtime,’” Novak said. “They think that you should win every game by 30 points. But this time of year, in the state tournament, it gets tougher. Scores go down.”

Owatonna started the game strong, finding openings along the baseline en route to a 17-12 lead. But Hopkins cranked up the defensive pressure, forced Owatonna to turn the ball over and went on a 20-4 run. The Royals led 40-29 at halftime.

If anyone thought that Hopkins had the game won at that point, Owatonna didn’t get that message. The Huskies began attacking the basket and managed to cut the lead to six points, 56-50, on a pair of free throws by Vaughn Thada.

“They were working harder than us,” Novak said. “I think we stood around too much.”

But Hopkins has played all season with a bull’s-eye on its back. Nick Jorgensen took a little momentum away from Owatonna with a three-pointer — his only basket of the game — keying a 9-0 run that included a monster tomahawk dunk by Coleman.

“We’re used to that,” Coleman said. “We just needed to settle down.”

Coleman and Marvin Singleton, who added 16 rebounds, had 20 points each to lead Hopkins (29-1).

Thada led Owatonna (24-5) with 24 points.

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