No. 1 Hopkins 52, White Bear Lake 34

Nia Coffey tallied 14 points and nine rebounds and Ms. Basketball finalist Brianna Williams added 11 points and seven rebounds as top-seeded and top-ranked Hopkins rolled past White Bear Lake in the Class AAAA semifinals at Target Center. The Royals (28-2) again limited an opponent on offense, forcing the Bears (26-4) into 30 turnovers and taking advantage with fast-break points, outscoring White Bear Lake 30-13 in points off turnovers. Ebony Livingston was the top scorer for Hopkins, netting 15 points. Rochelle Regnier led the Bears with 13 points.

To read the MN Girls Basketball Hub / Star-Tribune recap of the game, please click on this link.  To see the FoxPreps photo gallery, click on this link.

No. 2 Eden Prairie 49, No. 3 Lakeville North 32

Morgan Van Riper-Rose's buzzer-beating three-pointer before halftime started a 28-4 Eden Prairie run that put away the Class AAAA semifinal against defending champion Lakeville North at Target Center. Trailing 22-16 as the first half wound down, Van Riper-Rose drained a turn-around trey to give the Eagles (25-4) momentum. Teammate Shayne Mullaney ran with it after the break, scoring the first eight points of the second half as the Eagles took flight. Mullaney led Eden Prairie with 14 poits, while Aubrey Davis, Van Riper-Rose and Jackie Johnson (12 rebounds) all had 10 points each. Apiew Ojulu paced North (28-3) with 12 points and eight rebounds. Miss Basketball finalist Rachel Banham had 10 points, but shot 4-of-15 from the field.

To read the MN Girls Basketball Hub / Star-Tribune recap of the game, please click on this link.  To see the FoxPreps photo gallery, click on this link.

No. 1 Hill-Murray 68, No. 4 Alexandria 41

The state's lone remaining unbeaten team moved one step away from a state title by rolling past Alexandria in the second half of the Class AAA semifinals at Target Center. Top-ranked Hill-Murray (30-0) had four scorers in double figures -- Corrine McCallum (18 points), Bethany Doolittle (14), Claire Van Dyk (12) and Tessa Cichy (12) -- and shot an amazing 56.5 percent from the field (26-of-46). Lauren Trumm (15 points) and Sam Trumm (11 points, eight rebounds) led the way for the Cardinals (25-4).

To read the MN Girls Basketball Hub / Star-Tribune recap of the game, please click on this link.  To see the FoxPreps photo gallery, please click on this link.

No. 3 DeLaSalle 55, No. 2 Benilde-St. Margaret's 46

There will be no repeat champion in Class AAA. In the second semifinal Thursday afternoon at Target Center, third-seeded DeLaSalle bulled past Benilde-St. Margaret's by a 55-46 margin.  Mariah Adanene led the Islanders (26-4) with 20 points, while sophomore post Tyseanna Johnson was a beast with a double-double (19 points, 10 rebounds). The Red Knights (25-6) were paced by Khadijah Shumpert (16 points, nine rebounds) and Grace Couglin (13 points). The difference was shooting, as Benilde had more rebounds (32-30) and more shot attempts (45-38) but was just 33.3 percent from the field (15-of-45). DeLaSalle shot 47.4 percent (18-of-38).

To read the MN Girls Basketball Hub / Star-Tribune recap of the game, please click on this link.  To see the FoxPreps photo gallery, please click on this link.

Hancock 58, Goodhue 54

In a back-and-forth Class A quarterfinal at Williams Arena, Hancock upset top-ranked Goodhue after trailing by seven points at halftime. The Owls (27-2) outscored Goodhue (27-5) in the second half, 31-20. Kendra Schmidgall racked up a double-double for Hancock with 19 points and 10 rebounds, while Ilissa Koehl had 19 points and Courtney Greiner chipped in with 11. Three players scored in double-figures for Goodhue -- Chanel Robert (12), Mikayla Miller (12) and Courtney Hinsch (11).

To read the MN Girls Basketball Hub / Star-Tribune recap of the game, please click on this link.

Maranatha Christian 49, Minneota 43

Marantha Christian's defense held Minneota to just 25.0 percent shooting (15-of-60) and overcame a huge game by Ashlynn Muhl to stop the Vikings in the Class A quarterfinals at Williams Arena. Muhl was a force for the Vikings (25-2), powering her way to 33 points and 23 rebounds (12 offensive), but it was not enough as the remainder of the team shot only 4-of-40 from the field. Alexis Long led Maranatha (21-9) with 12 points, while Onye Osemenam had seven points and 11 rebounds.

To read the MN Girls Basketball Hub / Star-Tribune recap of the game, please click on this link.

Mt. Iron-Buhl 66, Northern Freeze 60

Charlotte Overbye's dream senior season continues, as she scored a game-high 25 points to pace Mt. Iron-Buhl to a victory over the Northern Freeze in the Class A quarterfinals at Williams Arena. The Rangers (27-3) trailed 59-58 with 2:53 to go after Liza Hoglo (21 points, 14 rebounds) hit two free throws for the Freeze (28-2). But MIB outscored the Freeze 8-1 the rest of the way. Dakotah Winans added 14 points for MIB.

To read the MN Girls Basketball Hub / Star-Tribune recap of the game, please click on this link.

Nicollet 60, Sebeka 56

Nicollet built up an eight-point halftime lead and held on to defeat Sebeka in the final Class A quarterfinal game at Williams Arena. The Raiders (17-8) were paced by Anna Skrien's 16 points, while Kayla Wenner (12 points, nine rebounds) and Tailor Raymond (10 points, 10 rebounds) also contributed to the victory. Sebeka (23-7) rallied for 38 second-half points, but couldn't come all the way back from a 16-point deficit with 10:54 remaining. Katie Huttunen led all scorers with 26 points, while Alicia Boe had 14 points and six assists.

To read the MN Girls Basketball Hub / Star-Tribune recap of the game, please click on this link.

Minnesota Girls Basketball Hub
The crew at the the MN Girls Basketball Hub, in conjunction with the Star-Tribune, is featuring coverage at the tournament this season. Check out their main tournament page to keep on top of all the action.

John's Journal
For those interested in former Star Tribune writer John Millea and his thoughts with the MSHSL, he's blogging from the girls' state tournament this weekend.  Just go to the main MSHSL site and hit the tab for "John's Journal." 

Fox video interviews
The FoxPreps.com gang is doing a great job on their website, covering the 2011 state tournament.  Click on the link for additional news and interviews from the games.