It's too bad that...
-Raiders coach Bill Callahan had a glazed look on his face during the entire Super Bowl.
-Rich Gannon had a spectacular year, but didn't even show up on Super Bowl Sunday.
-The Super Bowl halftime show lasted longer than Andre Agassi's straight set victory in the Austrailian Open Final.
-Coaches can't be named MVP of the Super Bowl, because Bucs defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin would get my vote.
-The Dixie Chicks can't sing the national anthem at every Super Bowl.
-John Madden solidified himself as the most overrated color commentator in sports broadcasting history.
Best Super Bowl Commercial
Without a doubt, my favorite commercial during yesterday's Super Bowl was Reebok's add featuring Terry Tate the office linebacker. If you missed the spot, it featured a large man in football pads crushing office workers for typical office behavior such as playing solitare and forgetting to put a cover sheet on a TPS report.
Hopkins Falls at Target Center
By Matt Thomas (From 01/28 edition of The Lakeshore Weekly News)
With three players headed for division I scholarships next season, the Hopkins boys basketball team was largely deemed the most talented team in the state. The Royals received some attention in national polls and got four games against out of state powers on their schedule.
The Royals completed the four games with a 1-3 record after they fell 67-65 to Laurinburg Institute of North Carolina.
“Probably contrary to what a lot of people think, I think that those games have kind of set us back a little bit,” head coach Ken Novak, Jr. said. “I don’t think we’re as good right now as we should be and we haven’t defined our game enough.”
Before the two-point loss to Laurinburg, the Royals went 1-1 in the Slam Dunk to the Beach Tournament in Delaware. The Royals also lost to St. Anthony (NJ) High School at Cameron Indoor Stadium on the campus of Duke University.
The game with Laurinburg on Jan. 25 was nip and tuck the entire way as neither team led by more than seven points the entire game.
The Royals got seven points in the first quarter from junior Mitch Henke to take a 16-14 lead.
After the Royals built their biggest lead of seven at 29-22, Laurinburg ended the first half on a 14-2 run.
Royals senior Kris Humphries struggled from the field in the first half as he scored nine points on 3-11 shooting from the field.
The Royals made a concerted effort to get Humphries better looks at the basket in the second half and it worked.
Humphries started the quarter with a backdoor cut for a slam dunk and showed Laurinburg why he is the top recruit from Minnesota by scoring 12 points in the third quarter to bring the Royals back within two.
Humphries started the fourth quarter by making his first three shots from the field, but then mysteriously didn’t take a shot the remainder of the game.
The Royals took a 58-53 lead, but Laurinburg battled back to lead 64-59.
The Royals battled back to get within two and senior Darren Clarke hit a three pointer with 26 seconds remaining to put the Royals up by one.
Laurinburg didn’t even look concerned as they came down the court and found Theo Brown open for three in the corner. Brown knocked the shot down with six seconds to play to give Laurinburg the victory.
Humphries finished with a game high 28 points on 10-20 from the field. Clarke and senior Dan Coleman added 14 points apiece.
“We play well in streaks, but we still play way to much of a pick-up basketball game,” Novak said. “Offensively we have to be much more consistent with what we do and defensively we have to get much tighter and sharper because we allowed too many easy baskets.”
Earlier in the week, the Royals remained perfect in conference play at 5-0 with a 79-54 victory over Minnetonka.
Humphries scored 30 points against the Skippers while Coleman added 16. John Manley led the Skippers with 23 points and Kevin Martin added 11.
The Royals had a scare during their Jan. 21 game against Wayzata as junior guard Kyle Reynolds suffered a stroke in the middle of the game.
Reynolds staggered off the court and soon lost feeling in the left side of his body. He was rushed to the hospital where doctors found a blood clot in his neck.
Reynolds has been showing continuous improvement since doctors performed an angioplasty on him. The team was hoping that Reynolds would be released from North Memorial Hospital for a few hours to watch the game at Target Center, but doctors and the Reynolds family decided against that.
“They’re hoping for [a full recovery], but I think it’s kind of a fifty-fifty deal which means he’s got a shot at it,” Novak said. “It’s definitely not a sure deal, but Kyle’s a fighter and we know he’ll go after it.”
While the team is still sorting out the emotions of Reynolds’ situation, they know they have to come to the court focused the next two weeks. The Royals face Edina on Jan. 31 before a marquee matchup with Minneapolis Henry on Feb. 4.
“Right now I think we are a good team, but that’s all we are,” Novak said. “There are times when our level raises up, but there are also times when it goes down.”
Royals Take Control of Classic Lake
By Matt Thomas (From 01/28 edition of The Lakeshore Weekly News)
Now that every team in the Classic Lake Conference has had a shot to knock off the Hopkins Royals things have become crystal clear. The Royals are unquestionably the top team in the conference after beating their six counterparts by an average of 37 points per game.
The latest victims last week were the Wayzata Trojans and the Minnetonka Skippers who fell at the hands of the Royals by 36 and 34 points respectively.
The Trojans actually held the Royals to just 24 points in the first half on Jan. 21 and trailed by only 11 at the break. A halfcourt zone defense by the Trojans limited the number of touches for Royals junior Leslie Knight.
The Royals were subsequently forced to take several perimeter jump shots on successive possessions and the shots were not falling.
Royals freshman guard Abby Greene hit two three pointers early in the first quarter to give the Royals a 17-6 lead.
Both teams struggled to find quality shots in the second period as the Royals shot just 33 percent compared to 38 percent for the Trojans.
“We needed to stop turning the ball over because we had nine turnovers at halftime,” Knight said. “They were playing that zone and we weren’t executing our offense like we could have.”
The Royals must have figured something out at halftime because they started the third quarter with an 11-2 run that pushed the lead out to 20.
Knight, senior Jordan Barnes and sophomore Kaitlyn Lillemoe combined to score 15 of the Royals 17 third quarter points.
The Trojans meanwhile had difficulty creating open shots for their leading scorer, Jowan Ortega. Ortega was limited to just seven points on 4-9 shooting from the field.
With a 41-20 lead in their hands, the Royals continued to pour it on in the fourth quarter. Greene hit three more three pointers in the fourth quarter to end the night with 15 points on 5-7 shooting from beyond the arch.
Knight shrugged off some early missed lay-ups to finish with a game high 16 points on 5-8 from the floor and a perfect 6-6 from the line.
Barnes finished with 11 points on 5-10 from the field, while Lillemoe also had 11 points on 4-10 from the field.
The Royals followed the trouncing of the Trojans with a 73-40 victory over Minnetonka.
Knight led the Royals with 20 points, while Lillemoe and Barnes added 14 and 11 points. Barnes scored the 1,000th point of her career on Jan. 17 in the Royals 79-36 victory at St. Louis Park.
“I think it really means a lot and it’s a really nice thing to achieve,” Knight said, who also has over 1,000 points in her career. “I don’t think anybody on this team cares that much about their points, but its still a nice thing to be recognized for so we were happy for her.”
Some would think that the Royals might lose focus with so many lopsided victories in their favor, but last year’s State Tournament semifinal loss to Blaine still lingers in the team’s memory.
“If we make it to state we know there are going to be tougher teams like Eastview, Lakeville and Elk River,” Knight said. “We just have to keep that in mind and keep working hard.”
The closest any conference team has come to knocking off the defending conference champions came back on Jan. 3 when Edina came within 17 points of the Royals.
The Royals were scheduled to play a non-conference game with Minneapolis Henry on Jan. 27. The team will then head back into conference play when they host Cooper on Jan. 31.
-Raiders coach Bill Callahan had a glazed look on his face during the entire Super Bowl.
-Rich Gannon had a spectacular year, but didn't even show up on Super Bowl Sunday.
-The Super Bowl halftime show lasted longer than Andre Agassi's straight set victory in the Austrailian Open Final.
-Coaches can't be named MVP of the Super Bowl, because Bucs defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin would get my vote.
-The Dixie Chicks can't sing the national anthem at every Super Bowl.
-John Madden solidified himself as the most overrated color commentator in sports broadcasting history.
Best Super Bowl Commercial
Without a doubt, my favorite commercial during yesterday's Super Bowl was Reebok's add featuring Terry Tate the office linebacker. If you missed the spot, it featured a large man in football pads crushing office workers for typical office behavior such as playing solitare and forgetting to put a cover sheet on a TPS report.
Hopkins Falls at Target Center
By Matt Thomas (From 01/28 edition of The Lakeshore Weekly News)
With three players headed for division I scholarships next season, the Hopkins boys basketball team was largely deemed the most talented team in the state. The Royals received some attention in national polls and got four games against out of state powers on their schedule.
The Royals completed the four games with a 1-3 record after they fell 67-65 to Laurinburg Institute of North Carolina.
“Probably contrary to what a lot of people think, I think that those games have kind of set us back a little bit,” head coach Ken Novak, Jr. said. “I don’t think we’re as good right now as we should be and we haven’t defined our game enough.”
Before the two-point loss to Laurinburg, the Royals went 1-1 in the Slam Dunk to the Beach Tournament in Delaware. The Royals also lost to St. Anthony (NJ) High School at Cameron Indoor Stadium on the campus of Duke University.
The game with Laurinburg on Jan. 25 was nip and tuck the entire way as neither team led by more than seven points the entire game.
The Royals got seven points in the first quarter from junior Mitch Henke to take a 16-14 lead.
After the Royals built their biggest lead of seven at 29-22, Laurinburg ended the first half on a 14-2 run.
Royals senior Kris Humphries struggled from the field in the first half as he scored nine points on 3-11 shooting from the field.
The Royals made a concerted effort to get Humphries better looks at the basket in the second half and it worked.
Humphries started the quarter with a backdoor cut for a slam dunk and showed Laurinburg why he is the top recruit from Minnesota by scoring 12 points in the third quarter to bring the Royals back within two.
Humphries started the fourth quarter by making his first three shots from the field, but then mysteriously didn’t take a shot the remainder of the game.
The Royals took a 58-53 lead, but Laurinburg battled back to lead 64-59.
The Royals battled back to get within two and senior Darren Clarke hit a three pointer with 26 seconds remaining to put the Royals up by one.
Laurinburg didn’t even look concerned as they came down the court and found Theo Brown open for three in the corner. Brown knocked the shot down with six seconds to play to give Laurinburg the victory.
Humphries finished with a game high 28 points on 10-20 from the field. Clarke and senior Dan Coleman added 14 points apiece.
“We play well in streaks, but we still play way to much of a pick-up basketball game,” Novak said. “Offensively we have to be much more consistent with what we do and defensively we have to get much tighter and sharper because we allowed too many easy baskets.”
Earlier in the week, the Royals remained perfect in conference play at 5-0 with a 79-54 victory over Minnetonka.
Humphries scored 30 points against the Skippers while Coleman added 16. John Manley led the Skippers with 23 points and Kevin Martin added 11.
The Royals had a scare during their Jan. 21 game against Wayzata as junior guard Kyle Reynolds suffered a stroke in the middle of the game.
Reynolds staggered off the court and soon lost feeling in the left side of his body. He was rushed to the hospital where doctors found a blood clot in his neck.
Reynolds has been showing continuous improvement since doctors performed an angioplasty on him. The team was hoping that Reynolds would be released from North Memorial Hospital for a few hours to watch the game at Target Center, but doctors and the Reynolds family decided against that.
“They’re hoping for [a full recovery], but I think it’s kind of a fifty-fifty deal which means he’s got a shot at it,” Novak said. “It’s definitely not a sure deal, but Kyle’s a fighter and we know he’ll go after it.”
While the team is still sorting out the emotions of Reynolds’ situation, they know they have to come to the court focused the next two weeks. The Royals face Edina on Jan. 31 before a marquee matchup with Minneapolis Henry on Feb. 4.
“Right now I think we are a good team, but that’s all we are,” Novak said. “There are times when our level raises up, but there are also times when it goes down.”
Royals Take Control of Classic Lake
By Matt Thomas (From 01/28 edition of The Lakeshore Weekly News)
Now that every team in the Classic Lake Conference has had a shot to knock off the Hopkins Royals things have become crystal clear. The Royals are unquestionably the top team in the conference after beating their six counterparts by an average of 37 points per game.
The latest victims last week were the Wayzata Trojans and the Minnetonka Skippers who fell at the hands of the Royals by 36 and 34 points respectively.
The Trojans actually held the Royals to just 24 points in the first half on Jan. 21 and trailed by only 11 at the break. A halfcourt zone defense by the Trojans limited the number of touches for Royals junior Leslie Knight.
The Royals were subsequently forced to take several perimeter jump shots on successive possessions and the shots were not falling.
Royals freshman guard Abby Greene hit two three pointers early in the first quarter to give the Royals a 17-6 lead.
Both teams struggled to find quality shots in the second period as the Royals shot just 33 percent compared to 38 percent for the Trojans.
“We needed to stop turning the ball over because we had nine turnovers at halftime,” Knight said. “They were playing that zone and we weren’t executing our offense like we could have.”
The Royals must have figured something out at halftime because they started the third quarter with an 11-2 run that pushed the lead out to 20.
Knight, senior Jordan Barnes and sophomore Kaitlyn Lillemoe combined to score 15 of the Royals 17 third quarter points.
The Trojans meanwhile had difficulty creating open shots for their leading scorer, Jowan Ortega. Ortega was limited to just seven points on 4-9 shooting from the field.
With a 41-20 lead in their hands, the Royals continued to pour it on in the fourth quarter. Greene hit three more three pointers in the fourth quarter to end the night with 15 points on 5-7 shooting from beyond the arch.
Knight shrugged off some early missed lay-ups to finish with a game high 16 points on 5-8 from the floor and a perfect 6-6 from the line.
Barnes finished with 11 points on 5-10 from the field, while Lillemoe also had 11 points on 4-10 from the field.
The Royals followed the trouncing of the Trojans with a 73-40 victory over Minnetonka.
Knight led the Royals with 20 points, while Lillemoe and Barnes added 14 and 11 points. Barnes scored the 1,000th point of her career on Jan. 17 in the Royals 79-36 victory at St. Louis Park.
“I think it really means a lot and it’s a really nice thing to achieve,” Knight said, who also has over 1,000 points in her career. “I don’t think anybody on this team cares that much about their points, but its still a nice thing to be recognized for so we were happy for her.”
Some would think that the Royals might lose focus with so many lopsided victories in their favor, but last year’s State Tournament semifinal loss to Blaine still lingers in the team’s memory.
“If we make it to state we know there are going to be tougher teams like Eastview, Lakeville and Elk River,” Knight said. “We just have to keep that in mind and keep working hard.”
The closest any conference team has come to knocking off the defending conference champions came back on Jan. 3 when Edina came within 17 points of the Royals.
The Royals were scheduled to play a non-conference game with Minneapolis Henry on Jan. 27. The team will then head back into conference play when they host Cooper on Jan. 31.
posted by PulseofMN at 12:11 PM
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