Nia Coffey Named to USA Basketball Women’s U19 World Championship Team

The Hopkins basketball star will help the team try to win its fifth-straight gold medal.

Hopkins High School basketball star Nia Coffey has been named to the USA Basketball Women’s U19 World Championship Team, USA Basketball announced Sunday. The USA Basketball Junior National Team Committee selected Coffey for the 12-member team following four days of trials May 16 through 19 involving 33 athletes age 19-years-old and younger. University of Miami head coach Katie Meier will head the team. The team will try to win its fifth-straight gold medal July 18 through 28 at the 2013 FIBA U19 World Championship in Klaipeda and Panevėžys, Lithuania. Coffey has had a standout year. She was named the player of this year’s state championship game, chosen as Breakdown Sports USA’s No. 2 player in the state and honored with All State …

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Coffey Receives MVP Award at All-America Game

The Hopkins basketball star put up 12 points in Saturday’s game.

Hopkins basketball star Nia Coffey received the Purple Team’s MVP award at Saturday’s Women's Basketball Coaches Association High School All-America Game, the association announced. The game, played in New Orleans on the same court as the NCAA women’s Final Four, featured the top 20 high school seniors in the country. Coffey scored 12 points, hitting five of nine shots from the field. She also snagged one steal and three rebounds. Despite her efforts, the Purple Team lost to the Black Team 70-74. Coffey entered the game coming off a standout season. She was named the player of this year’s state championship game, chosen as Breakdown Sports USA’s No. 2 player in the state and honored with All State recognition. She also played in the …

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Royals Breeze Past STMA in 1st Round of State Girls Basketball Tourney

Hopkins beat St. Michael-Albertville 77-58.

No. 1 seed Hopkins sailed through the class AAAA quarterfinal of the state girls basketball tournament with a 77-58 victory over St. Michael-Albertville. Hopkins got jumped out to an early lead—scoring 40 points to STMA’s 22 in the first period. The Knights’ second-period total was within a point of the Royals’ 37 points—including five free throws in the final two minutes—but the damage had already been done by then. Hopkins took advantage of STMA’s inability to hold on to the ball, scoring 24 points off Knights turnovers. McDonald’s All American Nia Coffey continued her strong season with a game-leading 22 points. The senior hit seven of 14 from the courts, including three of five three-point attempts, and sank five of seven free-throw …

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Breakdown Sports USA Names Hopkins Girls as Top Basketball Team in MN

The site’s annual state tournament preview, which predicts that Hopkins will win the championship, also named Nia Coffey the No. 2 player in the state.

Hopkins High School basketball teams feature prominently in Breakdown Sports USA’s annual March Madness state tournament preview, which was released Tuesday. The annual publication declared the Royals as the top girls team regardless of class and predicted that they’d win section 6AAAA—“also known as ‘The Hopkins Section,’” the magazine wrote—and then go on to win the class AAAA championship. Hopkins senior Nia Coffey received a slew of individual honors. The senior was named as the No. 2 player in the state, the Class AAAA player of the year, the section 6AAAA player of the year and a finalist for best scoring performance. Senior Taylor Anderson was a finalist for best point guard performance, while Molly and Erin O’Toole, junior and …

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Former Hopkins Star Brianna Williams Leaves UND

She left the team effective immediately and intends to transfer to another school after the spring semester.

Former Hopkins High School star Brianna Williams is leaving the University of North Dakota after two years with the team, coach Travis Brewster announced Tuesday on the UND athletics website. Williams is leaving the program, effective immediately, with fellow sophomore Cy'erra Mills, an Osseo High School graduate. Both intend to transfer to unspecified schools after the spring semester. UND finishes its regular season March 9. Williams played in all 27 games of this season. She made 19 starts and averaged 18.9 minutes and 3.5 points per game. In her freshman season, she played in 19 games and made four starts. At Hopkins, Williams helped the Royals win the 2011 state championship. She scored six points in the final game against Eden …

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Hopkins’ Jakob Ellingson Takes Nordic Skiing Championship

Both boys and girls teams finished sixth in team competition.

Hopkins High School’s Jakob Ellingson capped off his final year of high school Nordic skiing by winning Tuesday’s state championship at Giants Ridge in Biwabik. Ellingson edged out Eden Prairie’s Thomas Bye by 1.2 seconds—finishing with a total time 29:24.4 total. The performance is 38.3 seconds faster than his time last year, when he finished seventh overall. The senior’s performance helped the Royals boys to a sixth-place team finish. Hopkins finished with 325 points—53 points behind the team champion Eden Prairie. Harris Dirnberger, who won the section championship, suffered a spate of bad luck that slowed him down. He was recovering from the flu and skiing with a fever—then his binding broke during the second race and he lost a ski. A …

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Three Hopkins Basketball Players Commit on National Signing Day

Nia Coffey, Erin O’Toole and Mikaala Shackelford all committed to play with Division I schools.

Three of Hopkins High School’s top girls basketball players signed to play at the collegiate level on Wednesday. Guard Nia Coffey signed with Northwestern University. Forward Erin O’Toole signed with the University of North Dakota. And Guard Mikaala Shackelford signed with the University of Illinois. The scholarships the three received are worth a combined $100,000 per year. “These are three student athletes that have made our department very, very proud,” said Hopkins Activity Director Dan Johnson. “They’ve made our school proud with their academic prowess. … And athletically, of course, they’ve been a part of a couple state championship teams and multiple conference championship teams and section championship teams. And we’re hoping for …

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AUDIO REPLAY: Minnetonka Beats Hopkins 35-14 in Round One of Football Playoffs

The Skippers took care of business Friday night in the first round of the Class AAAAAA playoffs with a win against Hopkins. Listen to the game here.

PHOTOS: Hopkins Falls to Edina in Homecoming Game

Despite a 24-14 loss to Edina, Royals fans enjoyed football festivities.

The Royals may have fallen to Edina 24-14, but school spirit remained high in the stands Friday during Hopkins High’s School’s homecoming game. Students kicked off the night with tailgate parties and carried their enthusiasm into the stadium. Cheerleaders, Royelles dancers and the band kept the crowd entertained during breaks in the game. On the field, it went less well. Hopkins’ loss drops its record to 4-2—with an 0-2 record in the Lake Conference. The Royals will round out their regular season with tough games against powerhouses Wayzata and Minnetonka in the weeks ahead. *** Did you catch a favorite homecoming moment this week? Share your photos with your neighbors by clicking “Upload Photos and Videos” above. Click here to check out …

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Two Hopkins Students Among Finalists for ‘Play Ball!’ Awards

Morgan Nybo and Tim Shannon have been nominated for the award.

  (The following announcement comes from Hopkins Public Schools.) Two Hopkins High School students have been nominated for top awards. Morgan Nybo and Tim Shannon are among the finalists for the "Play Ball! Ms. Softball and Mr. Baseball" awards. These senior athletes have been selected by a panel of Major League Baseball scouts and college baseball and softball coaches from around the state of Minnesota. The awards are sponsored by The Minnesota Minutemen Foundation, which provides resources to underprivileged youth athletes in Minnesota, and the Minnesota Twins. Nybo, an NFCA Academic All-American, and pitcher of the third-in-state Hopkins Softball team, is a Section 6 AAA All-Tournament Team selection and 2011 All-Conference Award winner…

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