Hopkins Becomes Third Minnesota School To Win Three Straight Boys Basketball Titles

After splitting the first two meetings between the schools, Hopkins defeated Eden Prairie 64-52 on Saturday and won its third consecutive Class AAAA Minnesota boys basketball title at Target Center in Minneapolis.

Senior wing Joe Coleman, a Minnesota commit and Minneapolis Star Tribune player of the year, scored 22 points and grabbed eight rebounds for Hopkins, which is now 92-3 over the last three seasons. Northern Iowa commit Marvin Singleton was a force inside for the Royals, finishing with 15 points.

Playing less than 24 hours after a four-overtime semifinal victory, Lourdes of Rochester ran out of gas in the fourth quarter as Perham pulled away for the school’s first Class AA Minnesota boys basketball title, winning 45-37 on Saturday at the Target Center in Minneapolis.

Inspired by teammate Zach Gabbard, who was in attendance for the semifinal victory on Friday after nearly dying following cardiac arrest during a January game, Perham (31-1) went on an 18-2 run to turn a 23-22 deficit midway through the second half into a 41-25 lead with three minutes remaining.

In a game dominated by second-half momentum swings, Springfield ruined Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa’s undefeated season and took home the school’s first Class A boys basketball championship with the 70-58 victory at the Target Center in Minneapolis.

Neither team gained an advantage early in the battle of schools looking for their first state titles as Springfield (26-3) clung to a 27-26 lead over Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa (32-1) at the half. That was unfamiliar territory for a B-B-E, a team whose win margin was 25 points per contest entering the title game.