2019 State Championship Game: Hopkins vs. Stillwater. Paige Buecker's Flu Game

On March 16, 2019 Paige Bueckers woke up sicker than a dog. The problem was, at 8:00 that night, her Hopkins team was playing Stillwater in the Minnesota State Championship. The HS junior showed up pale at that morning's walk-thru barely able to go through the motions. After the walk-thru, Bueckers headed home to down fluids and rest. She vowed to play in that night's game. Just as Michael Jordan had in the 97 NBA finals with the Jazz, Paige Bueckers was going to have her flu game. At halftime the scoreboard had Stillwater up 29-27. This was the first game of that season where Hopkins did not have a halftime lead. That changed 5 minutes into the second half when Hopkins took the lead riding one of the biggest waves of momentum ever in a championship game, outscoring Stillwater 47-16 in second half. The final would be 74-45. Paige's point total was 13, but she had 8 assists 6 steals, and 5 rebounds. Amaya Battle had 9 points going 5 for 6 from the FT line, with 8 rebounds, 10 assists, and 4 steals. Taylor Woodson scored 9 going 4 of 5 in field goals. KK Adams had 12 points -- all coming from four momentum swinging threes. Senior Dlayala Chakolis sent herself off to Hampton University with a state championship, 13 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, and a 1 steal for the ages. 9th grader, Maya Nnaji would be the high scorer for Hopkins and also named player of the game by the broadcasters with 18 points and 10 rebounds. This would be Hopkins Girls Basketball's 7th state championship and their first since 2015. This teams' 32-0 record would earn them a 12th in the nation ranking by ESPN.

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