The Lakeville North Panthers defeated third-seeded Hopkins 65-61 Wednesday night without the services of their top scorer and rebounder.  Six-foot-4 senior Connor Flack couldn't play due to a back injury suffered in the section final against Rochester John Marshall last week.

Six-foot-3 junior Drew Stewart jumped off the bench to score 15 points and six rebounds, 6-foot-6 junior Carter Brooks tallied 17 points and bulled down 10 rebounds and sophomore Nathan Reuvers opened some eyes with an 11-point, seven-rebound performance.

Even more impressive was his second block of the game. It came late when Hopkins came from 14 points down to tie the game and were down by two when 6-foot-2 sophomore Ishmael El-Amin (former Minneapolis North star Khalid El-Amin's son) stole the ball at the timeline and looked like he was going in for a easy layup. The 6-foot-8 Reuvers flew down the floor to get the rejection of the night. There was a foul on the rebound, but Hopkins only got a point out of the trip and the Panthers hung on for the win thanks to clutch free throw shooting by Brooks. Six-foot-2 senior Marquise Walker also had an impressive second half for Lakeville North, with all 10 of his points coming in that half.

The Royals were held to 37.7 percent shooting and were eight of 28 (28.6 percent) from beyond the arc. Seven for 17 shooting at the free throw line didn't help Hopkins any either. The Panthers were 10 of 14 from the charity stripe.

It should be noted the Royals were without the services of 6-foot-7 junior Amir Coffey (son of former Gopher and Timberwolves player Roy Coffey), who injured his knee early in the season after averaging 24 points and seven rebounds a game. El-Amin led the Royals with 17 points in 30 minutes. Hopkins finishes their year 23-7.

You might recall Lakeville North beat Hopkins in the title game last year 84-82. The 19-11 Panthers will face fellow South Suburban Conference foe Apple Valley on Thursday at 8 p.m. at the Target Center.

KDHL's 67th year of baseline to baseline coverage of the boys tournament continues with all the semifinal contests Thursday and Friday and the state championship games on Saturday.

Coach Oxton instructing his Panthers.
Coach Oxton instructing his Panthers.
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