TACOMA – Truth be told, Keena Hopkins wasn’t even supposed to be on the floor.
Not at crunch time, not with the game on the line.
But the Monroe High School sophomore was on the floor in the closing seconds of Friday afternoon’s game against Richland, thanks to an unfortunate ankle injury that sidelined teammate Chelsea Drivstuen with just over a minute to play.
Hopkins took advantage of the unfortunate circumstance and delivered.
The sophomore guard drove and hit the game-winning shot as time expired, giving Monroe a 46-44 victory to send them to the fourth-place game of the 4A state tournament. The Bearcats (23-4) will face Prairie today at 1:30 p.m.
“It’s nice to know we’re still playing,” said senior Kirsten Thompson, who led Monroe with 15 points and 10 rebounds. “Before the game, I was like: please, I don’t want it to end.”
Thanks to the heroics of Hopkins, Thompson and three other Monroe seniors lived for one more day.
Had everything gone according to plan, Drivstuen would have been on the floor, Hopkins would have remained on the bench, and Thompson probably would have taken the last shot. But Hopkins had the ball at the top of the key, the score tied at 44 with six seconds left, and the 6-foot-6 Thompson was unable to force her way into the paint.
Hopkins never hesitated. She dribbled the ball into the lane, planted her pivot foot and made a nifty move, then tear-dropped the final shot off the glass. After the Bearcats had seen a six-point lead dwindle away over the final 21/2 minutes, Hopkins had come to the rescue.
“I knew we had one shot left, but I didn’t know if I was going to take it,” said Hopkins, who scored eight points in the win. “My mind went blank. I just kind of went for it.”
While her jubilant teammates stormed the floor, Hopkins kept her emotions in tact. The mild-mannered soph barely cracked a smile.
“One of my teammates came up to me afterward and asked: ‘Do you realize what you just did?’” Hopkins said a few minutes after hitting a game-winner in the state tournament. “I guess it was exciting.”
As exciting as the finish was, the Bearcats’ start left a lot to be desired. Monroe had more turnovers (seven) than points (six) in the first quarter, yet trailed by just two points because of solid defensive play.
Led by sophomore point guard Sarah Morton’s five points and three steals, the Bearcats recovered from the slow start for a 17-2 run. They led 24-17 at halftime.
Richland, which hit just 16 of 56 shots for the game, had the hot hand coming into the third quarter. The Bombers (23-5) rallied to score 12 of the first 16 points of the second half, eventually building up a 35-32 lead early in the fourth quarter.
But Monroe responded with a run of its own, scoring nine consecutive points to build up a 41-35 lead with 2:37 to go.
Richland hit its final three shots, including an 8-foot jumper by Kayla McKeirnan to tie the score at 44 with 43 seconds left.
Monroe brought the ball up court, then got a new shot clock with 25 seconds left after a pass went off a Richland player’s foot. The Bearcats worked for the last shot, with Thompson taking the ball on top of the key and eventually passing to Hopkins with six seconds left. She made her move, unleashed a shot with one second left on the clock, and hit a game-winner for the first time in her young career.
“Keena loves pressure,” said Morton, who had 10 points. “She’s someone you can count on. I knew she was going to make the shot.”
Monroe618814-46
Richland891611-44
Monroe-Morton 10, Thompson 15, Muhammad 2, Battle 6, Hopkins 8, C. Drivstuen 5. Richland-McCoy 22, Conrad 13, McKeirnan 5, Briggs 2, Landon 2. 3-point goals-Conrad 3, McCoy 2. Records-Monroe 23-4, Richland 23-5.
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