Hopkins doesn't allow comeback
12/30/2010, 10:35pm (CST)
By Amelia Rayno, Star Tribune
The Royals had a 25-point halftime lead over Chicago Hyde Park, but knew from watching the previous night that the lead wasn’t safe.
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Hopkins’ Joe Coleman steals the ball from Hyde Park’s Marcellis Davis. Kyndell Harikness, Star Tribune
Chicago Hyde Park had been down by 17 points just a night earlier, and came back to upset St. Paul Johnson, so when Hopkins had the Thunderbirds suppressed by 25 at halftime.
Hopkins continued the tear in the second half and finished the job, crushing the Thunderbirds 101-53 in the Best Buy Holiday Classic championship game at Augsburg College.
"They are the type of team that can come back, but I didn't think they had a lot left in the tank," Novak said. "But I thought we handled them pretty well and made it a little tougher for them to come after us."
After Hyde Park jumped out to an early 7-2 on a sunk 20-foot three-pointer by Marcellis Davis (one of his three three-pointers on the night), the Royals took over.
They took their first lead of the game, 10-9, on free throws, and then Joe Coleman (who finished with 31 points, and 25 in the first half) went on a eight-point tear, including a steal, a dunk and a flying block, to highlight the 14-0 run that put the Royals up 18-9.
"I just wanted to make sure we got a few stops in a row," said Coleman, who won MVP for the tournament. "We knew they'd beat Johnson the night before."
And the Royals never let up. By halftime, Hopkins had stretched the advantage to 57-32, and went to running time with a 40-point lead with about 10 minutes left, leaving Hyde Park stunned.
"We didn't know very much about them before, but we sure do now," said Thunderbirds coach Lamonte Bryant, who noted that Coleman looked like a man playing among boys at times. "They got our attention."
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