Vikings win upset thriller to advance to district finals

This wasn’t the way it was supposed to turn out in the Division 2 district basketball tournament at Hopkins this week.

Hopkins, now 9-7 overall, pulled an upset over 10-2 Otsego Thursday night in the tourney semifinals on a buzzer-beating three-point bomb by senior Colin Weber. After taking the in-bounds pass, Weber fired his prayer at the hoop from the left corner and it barely went in ahead of the game-ending buzzer.

At first, the scoreboard showed a 61-61 tie and promise of overtime, but further review determined Weber’s shot was a three-pointer, not a two. So Hopkins was declared the winner.

The Vikings have come into the tourney on a mission, not playing any games for nearly two weeks because of the Coronavirus, which shut down the Hopkins girls’ varsity in the district opener last Monday, though the junior varsity gamely gave it a shot against West Michigan Aviation Academy.

The Viking boys Tuesday evening defeated a Hastings outfit they lost to during the regular season and they were underdogs against top-seeded Otsego Thursday night.

Hopkins and Wayland will meet at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Vikings’ court to decide the district championship.