MANKATO — It seemed only fitting that St. Clair senior guard Brooklin Hinze’s 2,000th point would come off a move she developed back when the 5-foot-8 phenom began her illustrious career as an eighth grader.
Hinze tallied 26 points, eight rebounds, four assists and three steals Friday night as the Cyclones upended Nicollet 76-61 in a season-opening girls basketball game at Bethany Lutheran’s Sports and Fitness Center.
“When Brooklin first started out she was a get-to-the-basket kind of kid,” St. Clair coach Brian Noyes said. “Over the years she has really worked on her perimeter game and now that part of her game is as impressive as her driving skills. She works a ton on her footwork and the Euro step is a huge part of her game so it seemed logical that the huge basket came off that move.
“We’re super proud of Brooklin, but were also super proud of her teammates because it wouldn’t be possible without them. It’s certainly a tremendous individual accomplishment but it’s also an impressive team thing too.”
Leading 31-30 at the break, Hinze’s 14-point flurry to begin the second half helped the Cyclones expand their margin to 58-42 on her memorable basket — a slashing drive to the cup — with 11:16 remaining. Seven seconds later, Hinze turned a Raiders’ turnover into her final basket of the contest.
“I knew once the first basket would go I’d start rolling from there,” Hinze said. “I know coach had a lot of faith in me when he started me back in eighth-grade, which gave me a lot of faith in myself. I’ve put a lot of time in during the summer and that’s kept me loving the game. I am a very competitive person so I would do anything to win and that helps my drive. Being the most competitive kid on the floor makes me play my hardest.
“I play with a lot of energy, so that helps me get me and my teammates going. I want to be a leader and give all my energy every night. This means a lot to me because I’ve put in a lot of time and to see that time pay puts a smile on my face. My teammates mean everything to me and how they get me the ball and believe in me. They’re the ones I’d like to thank tonight. I’ve worked on the Euro and it has become my signature move so scoring my 2,000th point on the Euro is something I totally expected.”
Senior guard Aubree Mathiowetz drained six 3-pointers and scored 19 points for the Cyclones, who also received 13 points from senior guard Brooklyn Meng. Mathiowetz chipped in six rebounds while junior guard Haddie Jobe added a pair of 3-pointers, four rebounds and four steals. Nicollet held a 40-33 rebounding edge while committing more turnovers 26-12. St. Clair connected on 29 of 73 from the field for 39.7 percent compared to the Raiders’ 25 of 52 for 48 percent.
“We’ve put a lot of work on pressing up and down so even though it was a slow start at the beginning we figured out what we needed to fix at halftime,” Hinze said.
Sophomore forward Cheyenne Klockziem scored 20 points and grabbed off 10 rebounds for the Raiders while freshman guard Jazmyn Goettlicher put through 14 points and junior forward Megan Soost ended up with 13. Freshman guard Zoie Rengstorf nailed a trio of 3-pointers in the contest.
“Nicollet did a nice job of attacking our press in the first half,” Noyes said. “We made some adjustments and the kids responded to go on a nice run in the second half. We like to talk about spurt ability and that’s what we had.”
St. Clair plays a 2:30 p.m. game today against Le Sueur-Henderson at Bethany.