Wayzata 76 Hopkins 72: Five Things to Know

Ryan James March 11, 2025 @ 09:34 PM

One. Christian Wiggins Christian Wiggins 6'5" | SG Wayzata | 2026 State #80 Nation MN the Star. With Nolen Anderson Nolen Anderson 6'7" | SF Wayzata | 2026 State MN still dealing with a bit of an injury and Isaac Olmstead Isaac Olmstead 5'10" | PG Wayzata | 2026 State MN having to deal with numerous speedy Hopkins guards, the Trojans needed a big scoring night from Wiggins, and they got it!

Wiggins knocked out six threes including some crucial makes down the stretch and his seven straight free throws really put the game away. He scored 31 points on 8 of 11 shooting and then had another 9 of 13 foul shooting. Throw in six rebounds and the fact that he was one of the defenders working to limit Jayden Moore Jayden Moore 6'0" | PG Hopkins | 2026 State MN and Anthony Smith Anthony Smith 6'0" | CG Hopkins | 2025 State MN , this was an amazing performance. The type of performance that really has him looking he’s holding strong as the top junior prospect after a heck of a second half of the season.

Two. The Wayzata Defense. You won’t see much in the box score from sophomore Xaviahn Ivey and junior Sam Mohs but these two were crucial to the win. Wayzata did a lot of switching to keep active lateral bodies on the attack of Jayden Moore Jayden Moore 6'0" | PG Hopkins | 2026 State MN , on the attack of Tre Moore Tre Moore 5'11" | PG/CG Hopkins | 2028 State MN , and on the scoring of Anthony Smith Anthony Smith 6'0" | CG Hopkins | 2025 State MN . It was a total team effort but Ivey, Mohs and Wiggins especially were excellent defensively. And Wyatt McBeth Wyatt McBeth 6'6" | PF Wayzata | 2025 State MN was really good getting length on JJ Semanko JJ Semanko 6'6" | SF Hopkins | 2025 State MN as well as attacking Hopkins players. His two blocks late were huge pieces to the win. Wayzata as a whole help Smith to six makes on 16 attempts, and they held Moore scoreless with five assists before he fouled out.

Three. Gutsy Royals. Hopkins fought back all game. They would take a blow, bounce back. Anthony Smith Anthony Smith 6'0" | CG Hopkins | 2025 State MN helped with that hitting some key threes on his way to 20 points. JJ Semanko JJ Semanko 6'6" | SF Hopkins | 2025 State MN had a rough start but then scored 16. Davie Hart got to the line all game. Tre Moore Tre Moore 5'11" | PG/CG Hopkins | 2028 State MN played much of the contest and was good on defense while recording a 13 point, 10 rebound double-double. And after Jayden fouled out and then Coach Novak got a technical foul, the Royals roared back to tie the game late. Semanko and Tyson Moore Tyson Moore 6'0" | SG Hopkins | 2025 MN made big threes. They came up short but Hopkins took a lot of punches and got back up.

Four. Foul shooting. This is a quick one but a big one. Hopkins lost by four points and there are few things they can point to, but the easiest way to have closed that gap was better foul shooting. And as a team they were 17 of 30 and that was with the help of Semanko hitting all three of his and Hart making 8 of 10. But the guards of the Royals really struggled at the foul line.

Meanwhile, Wayzata shot 12 of 18 which is a make or two short of what you want but just enough to stay in front.

Five. Atmosphere. Atmosphere looked great, sounded great, word from those there said it was great. Hands shaken before and after the game, Hopkins had the security there, had students moved to safer spots, gave the bands the baseline to do there thing, everything seemed to go very well. Coach Schnettler and staff are moving on, Coach Novak did a nice job consoling his guys after the game as they waited for the medals, all around good stuff.