A slow start on the offensive end of the court and a collapse of same in the late third and early fourth quarters doomed Hopkins and its four-game winning streak on the basketball court.
The Vikings lost 53-48 to visiting Wyoming Tri-Unity Christian and saw their overall season record slip to 7-8 on a festive Winter Follies night.
Hopkins failed to score until four and a half minutes into the ballgame and fell behind 9-0. Tri-Unity canned four three-point shots and streaked to a 20-8 advantage by the end of the first period.
The Vikings’ defense found more intensity and held the Defenders scoreless for about a six-minute stretch in the second quarter, but couldn’t capitalize because of offensive troubles of their own.
Making matters worse, Tri-Unity seemed to come up with a nasty knack of picking up steals off the dribble than what is customary in a varsity basketball contest. So Hopkins was able to outscore the invading opponents by just an 8-6 count and trailed 26-16 at intermission.
Sophomore center Nolan Smith caught fire offensively in the first couple of minutes of the second half, drilling a couple of three-pointers and scoring another time inside. The burst resulted in tightening the count at 29-26.
Justin Weick followed with a layup and freshman Drew Weber a short jumper to tie the ballgame at 30-30 with just a little more than a minute left in the third period.
But Trinity’s Braydon Ophoff answered with a timely three and his teammates managed to pull off a brief run to take a 37-30 lead into the final eight minutes.
Midway in the fourth quarter Drew Klassen buried a clutch three to enable the Defenders to pull ay to a double-digit lead, 43-33, with 4:14 showing on the clock.
At that point, Hopkins had gone through nearly half of the final stanza failing to score a field goal and managing only three free throws.
It was Tri-Unity’s inconsistent performance at the free throw line and the Vikings’ helter-skelter attempts at a comeback near the end that tightened the contest to the final five-point spread. Weick and Hunter Llewellyn both swished threes down the stretch, but it was too late.
Smith dropped in a career-high 17 points, eclipsing his previous career high of 15 just a week before. Weick finished with nine points.
Collin Rosendall had 18 points and Ryan Hoogenstyn 13 for Tri-Unity Christian, which improved its season record to 10-6 with the victory.
PHOTOS: Victoria Roys and Caleb Ryan were selected queen and king to reign over the Hopkins Winter Follies festivities.
Josh Sapp (23) finds himself surrounded by three Defenders as he tries to drive to the hoop.
