Just who are these Lady Vikings, anyway?
They start the season with a 
nice win over Fennville, get clobbered by Covenant Christian, lose by more than 20 to Hamilton and lose respectably to Thornapple Kellogg. But Friday night they beat Allendale 44-39, a feat not accomplished around here for a long time.
So Hopkins halted a three-game losing streak, and it didn’t come easily. Coach John Robinson’s group was a miserable 2-for-11 at the free throw line in the first half and 10-for-31 for the game. The Lady Vikings were guilty of plenty of turnovers and mistakes.
Yet Hopkins never trailed, except once very briefly, after the first minute of the contest. And you can thank that to defense and the stalwart rebounding of center Megan Schulz.
Robinson changed up his defenses in the first quarter, going from a traditional zone to a full-court press and then a 1-3-1 zone that stretched out front to near half court. Allendale rarely got a decent look at the basket and was held to seven points in the first period and had only nine on the scoreboard with 2:40 left in the half.
The Falcons were not to be denied for any longer, however, owing to the efforts of 5-11 junior forward Brooke Modderman, who isn’t only tall, but also shoots a deadly three-pointer.
Though Hopkins led 20-9 with just over two and a half minutes until intermission, its 18 percent performance at the line and Modderman’s heroics enabled Allendale to creep to within five points, 22-17 at the half.
Until then, the Vikings were sparked by Schulz’ nine points working close to the hoop and some nice followups by Bailey Ballard, who had eight.
Hopkins made another run in the third quarter and went up by 11 again, 31-20, but then came a flurry of turnovers and a three and a breakaway layup by Modderman to bring the gap to just four at the end of the third period, 33-29.
Allendale’s Lexy Wilson started the fourth stanza with a three and then Modderman came up with a two-point hoop to give the Falcons their first, and it turned out to be only, lead of the evening, 34-33, with 6:34 showing the clock.
The Lady Vikings then regained their defensive chops and refused to allow Allendale to score a basket until Modderman nailed her last three of the night with less than a minute to go.
Down the stretch, as bad as Hopkins was in the free throw department, it was three clutch charity tosses by Kilbane and a couple by “Hurrying” Heidi Gilder, plus a couple of defensive steals by Julia Forbes that kept the Falcons at bay.
Schulz, Kilbane and Ballard each dropped in 12 points. Modderman finished with 18, though collectively the Vikings limited her exposure the ball in the last six and a half minutes.
So Hopkins enters the holiday break with a 2-3 overall record.
PHOTO: “Hurrying” Heidi Gilder tries to get around an Allendale defender and get the basketball inside to Megan Schulz (33).
