Buffalo Boys Basketball Takes Hopkins Down to the Wire in Double Overtime

The Buffalo Boys Basketball team took the fourth-ranked Hopkins Royals to double overtime before losing 103-95 at Hopkins High School on Friday, February 7th.

 Senior Matthew Willert dominated with a school record-breaking 54 points. Willert broke his own 49-point record he set just a week earlier.

The Buffalo Bison were in control the entire game. Almost every score from the Royals was a three-pointer or a well-defended shot. Hopkins’ Kerwin Walton was a  challenge for Buffalo, scoring 39 points. On the other hand, Willert’s 12 three-pointers kept the Bison neck-and-neck with one of the top teams in the state.

The Hopkins Royals went on a 17-0 run with 10 minutes left in the game and took the lead for the first time in the game. It stayed neck and neck the rest of the game until Hopkins missed a layup to win the game and instead sent the game into overtime. 

It looked like all was lost for the Bison at the end of the first overtime until Sophomore Zach Zrust made 2 clutch free throws to send the game into double overtime. Hopkins then took over the game with 2 steals, eventually breaking away from the Bison and sealing the win. The Buffalo Bison fell short to the Hopkins Royals 103-95.

Photo by Jillian Elton, Tatanka Yearbook