Wayzata overcomes Hopkins again, moves on to boys basketball state tournament

Entering the final minute of the Class 4A, Section 6 championship Tuesday, a spot at state on the line, Hopkins was riding a burst of momentum. The Royals had played catch-up against Wayzata for most of the game, until Hopkins senior forward JJ Semanko hit a corner three to tie it with a minute to play.

The home crowd in Hopkins’ sold-out gym roared. The Royals had a shot.

But Wayzata junior guard Christian Wiggins had an answer, like he had all second half. He made his sixth three-pointer with 48.6 seconds left to play, then put a finger to his lips. Silence. Trojans fans buzzed, but the Hopkins side grew quiet.

“It was a little too loud in here,” Wiggins said afterward, grinning.

Hopkins was forced to foul late, and Wayzata booked its fifth consecutive trip to state with a 76-72 victory. In a matchup of two of Minnesota’s best teams — Hopkins is second in the Star Tribune’s Minnesota Top 25, Wayzata eighth — the No. 2 section seed came out on top.

Wiggins, who has offers from such schools as Wisconsin and Iowa, is the Trojans’ leading scorer, averaging 19.7 points per game.

But it has been against Hopkins when he’s shined brightest, finishing with 31 points Thursday, 23 in the second half. Three of his season’s four highest-scoring performances have come against the Royals.

“He’s playing with the confidence you don’t see 17-year-olds play with,” Wayzata head coach Bryan Schnettler said.

Wayzata (25-4) and Hopkins (26-2) have competed for trips to state since 2014, but the Trojans won the past four section titles and reached the championship game all four years, winning in 2021 and 2023.

Hopkins claimed its 10th and latest state title in 2019.

The Royals trailed 30-16 with six minutes left in the first half. Trojans senior power forward Wyatt McBeth scored nine of his 11 points in the first half.

McBeth also came up with a key block late in the second half, when the Trojans needed a defensive stop.

“Wyatt is playing like a senior that doesn’t want his career to be done,” Schnettler said. “He has this refuse-to-lose mentality, and it’s a beautiful thing when you have that in your senior leaders.”

A burst of scoring from Royals seniors Davie Hart and Anthony Smith, who finished with a team-high 21 points, helped Hopkins retake an early second-half lead. But Wayzata kept the Royals close, holding their No. 2 scorer, junior Jayden Moore, to just two field goal attempts. The Royals also sacrificed points at the free throw line, where they went 17-for-30.

Trojans junior guard Isaac Olmstead hit two big shots, including a corner three (one of Wayzata’s 14 three-pointers) that kept the game in control late.

The two teams each won their home game in the regular season, with Wayzata handing Hopkins its only two losses of the season.

Online tickets for their third matchup sold out in under an hour — with the exception of Hopkins’ baseline seating, which was given to the teams’ bands, instead of the student sections, after last game ended with Hopkins students following Trojans players toward the locker room after Wayzata skipped the handshake line.

Instead, the student sections, both dressed in dark clothes for a “blackout” theme, filled sections of the courtside bleachers. When they filed in, it was tough to tell the difference between the two groups, but on the way out, it was easier.

Wayzata, smiling. Hopkins, hoping the streak ends next year.

“It’s a big rivalry game,” Wiggins said. “We know the importance of it, and we know the importance of tonight, just getting to state.”