Hopkins sinks Maple Grove in Class 4A final, sets record for girls basketball state championships

When Hopkins leading scorer Tatum Woodson got out of surgery after tearing her ACL in December, she already had multiple texts from teammates letting her know that coach Tara Starks had them working harder than before.

Now, Hopkins is officially record royalty.

With Saturday’s 81-67 Class 4A championship win over No. 1 Maple Grove, the No. 3 seed Royals set a record for most girls basketball titles in Minnesota history with nine — breaking their deadlock with Rochester Lourdes, which won its latest title in 2005.

After winning a 2022 championship, the Royals finished as runner-up the past two seasons. But thanks to graduations (of Florida standout Liv McGill) and injuries (to senior Woodson and sophomore Ava Cupito), only two of last year’s top seven Hopkins scorers featured in this year’s postseason.

That mean little to Starks.

“You got to show them that you believe in them, and then they’ll start to believe that,” she said.

“I’m not the team,” Woodson said. “They work their butts off. They don’t need me.”

Instead, patient returners and core underclassmen stepped up.

Sophomore forward Erma Walker fought through pain and had her way in the paint, scoring a game-high 28 points on 13-for-15 shooting and grabbing eight rebounds.

“I just basically told my kids they didn’t have an answer for her,” Starks said. “Erma is strong, so you’ve to put a strong physical body on her.”

Sophomore guard Jaliyah Diggs scored 15 points and had a game-high seven assists. Seniors Lauren Hillesheim, London Harris and Maliyah White all scored in double figures. White hit back-to-back threes that helped Hopkins pull away in the second half.

That late surge was needed, too, after an early Hopkins lead. Seeking its first state title, Maple Grove tied the game 46-46 with 12:55 to play. Michigan State commit and Crimson all-time leading scorer Jordan Ode had 26 points and 12 rebounds.

Scrappy in its defense, dictating what Maple Grove head coach Mark Cook called “90 feet of chaos,” Hopkins held Maple Grove to 1-for-7 shooting on three-pointers. The Royals, meanwhile, shot 9-for-18 from beyond the arc and 57% overall.

The Royals (27-5) were one of only two teams to beat Maple Grove (28-3) this season, in addition to Class 2A champion Providence Academy.

“Everybody was saying that we’re not going to make it,” Harris said. “A lot of people were having doubts about us, but we still live by, ‘We’re still Hopkins.’ ”