What could very well be the best two teams in Minnesota girls basketball will duke it out for one spot in the Class 4A state tournament. In the Section 6 championship game Thursday, March 5, at 7 p.m., No. 1-seeded Hopkins hosts No. 2 Wayzata in a game being streamed exclusively on Strib Varsity.

Visit this link to watch the Class 4A, Section 6 girls basketball championship game between Hopkins and Wayzata.

It’s a repeated rivalry matchup, with, so far, repeated results. The Royals (24-2), No. 1 in Strib Varsity’s Minnesota Top 25, and the Trojans (22-5), No. 3 in the Minnesota Top 25, have met in the last seven Class 4A, Section 6 championship games, with Hopkins winning each matchup as part of its 11-year streak of reaching the state tournament.

Last year, the Royals pulled off a section championship victory despite two regular-season losses to Wayzata for the first time in four decades. Hopkins then turned that spot in the state tournament into the program’s record ninth state title.

This year, the two programs split their regular-season Lake Conference games. Wayzata beat host Hopkins 61-52 on Jan. 23, handing the Royals their only loss against a Minnesota team all season. Hopkins got revenge with a 77-74 road victory Feb. 17. Hopkins enters this year’s matchup with the conference title in hand after Wayzata’s late-season loss to Minnetonka.

Hopkins is led by its double-digit scoring trio of juniors: forward Erma Walker, point guard Jaliyah Diggs and guard Ava Cupito. Diggs scored a game-high 20 points in last year’s 74-60 section championship win and had 31 in the Royals’ regular-season victory over Wayzata.

The addition of Cupito, back from a knee injury that sidelined her last year, and eighth-grade forward Marianna Davis made a strong Royals team even stronger this season.

Meanwhile, Wayzata is likely the best girls basketball program to have not reached state since 2010, stonewalled largely by Hopkins since. This Trojans roster is deep, led in scoring by versatile senior guard/forward Kate Amelotte, a Creighton commit averaging 17.5 points per game after returning from knee surgery last year.

Amelotte is regularly joined in double-figure scoring by junior guard and South Dakota State commit Maren Day, junior forward Annika Kieser and sophomore guard Mallory McBeth — all players who can take turns carrying the scoring load when duty calls.