The Hopkins boys’ varsity basketball team won a tough contest Tuesday night, 68-67 in overtime against non-conference opponent Ottawa Hills.
The home-standing Vikings trailed Ottawa 18-13 at the end of the first, quarter 33-28 at the half, and 45-44 at the end of the third, before knotting the count at 59-59 at the end of regulation.
“We felt we had the size advantage and made a concerted effort to get the ball inside,” said coach Jake Jewett. “We played inside-out almost all game long and hit some big outside shots down the stretch.
“Free-throw shooting was also key. Tyler Zomerlei found himself at the line a ton, and finished with eight-for-nine.
“Defensively, we did a good job of stopping the ball and forcing them to beat us with their outside shooting. Another point of emphasis for us was rebounding and limiting second-chance points, and although there’s a lot of room for improvement for us still, we did a good job of finishing possessions, especially in OT.”
Zomerlei led the Vikings with 27 points, followed by 17 for Drew Weber, 11 for Colin Weber, 7 from freshman Tristen Perry in his first varsity game, and 5 from junior Trevor Smith.
Colton Hooker came up huge in the extra session with the clutch free throw to put Hopkins up by one and eventually win the game.
