Anthony Edwards missed Sunday’s All-Star game in San Francisco due to a groin injury, or maybe it was a cold? Multiple things were reported in the immediate aftermath. The guard’s injury designation ahead of Minnesota’s bout in Houston was “questionable” with a hip ailment.

Fear not, Timberwolves fans. Edwards appears to be quite alright. And yet it still wasn’t enough for Minnesota on Friday in the Wolves’ 121-115 loss to the Rockets in their first game post All-Star break.

Edwards scored 37 points as he continues to be a thorn in Houston’s side. He dropped 41 against the Rockets in Minnesota just two weeks ago, and Houston was similarly at a loss for answers on Friday. The guard knocked down tough triples, yes, but the majority of his success took place on his jaunts to the rim, where Houston had no one to deter him.

Perhaps Minnesota thought it was playing in an all-star affair to open the game.

That was about the level of defensive effort and execution the Wolves exhibited in a first frame in which Houston scored a jaw-dropping 48 points. Minnesota was without Rudy Gobert, who missed the game with back spasms. Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo remain out for the Wolves, who did get Mike Conley back from a finger injury.

“They got hot from three early. We’ve got to pressure more, apply the pressure so they don’t feel comfortable to shoot those three, obviously,” Wolves big Naz Reid told reporters. “We let them be comfortable.”

Yet even with the poor early defense, the Wolves were only down 10 at quarter’s end, thanks to a strong offensive showing themselves.

Minnesota tightened up the defensive effort from there, surrendering just 20 points in the second quarter to trim Houston’s lead to one by halftime. It was a back-and-forth bout the rest of the way, with the two teams trading jabs.

But Houston (35-21) outexecuted Minnesota (31-26) in the closing stretch of the contest, as Houston generated good offense and Edwards developed tunnel vision in the face of multiple Houston defenders that led to a number of difficult shots and, as a result, misses.

Edwards scored just three points in the final frame, going 1 for 6 from the field. Edwards did not score over the game’s final seven and a half minutes.

Alperen Sengun had 24 points and 13 rebounds for Houston, while Jalen Green led the Rockets with 35 points. Minnesota hosts Oklahoma City on Sunday.

Reid had 22 points and eight rebounds for the Wolves on a night where he struggled with foul trouble. Jaden McDaniels added 21 points, six rebounds and two steals.

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It felt like a matter of when, not if, Edina would finally break through Friday.

Through two periods, the bulk of the second Class 2A girls state hockey semifinal at Xcel Energy Center on Friday against Holy Family had been played in the Fire end, yet the game remained scoreless.

Cate McCoy changed that 39 seconds into the third period for Edina and the Hornets went on to a 1-0 win.

The top-seeded and defending champion Hornets (25-3-1) will face No. 3 Hill-Murray in Saturday’s 7 p.m. final. The Pioneers beat Rosemount 5-2 in the other semifinal.

The Hornets have won five titles since 2017, including a 2-0 win over Hill-Murray in 2024.

McCoy’s third goal of the tournament — she had two in a quarterfinal win over Farmington — came by redirecting a shot from the point by Libby Moe into the top corner of the Fire net. It was her 19th goal of the season.

The Fire had two shots in the first 12 minutes of the third period, and equaled that on a late power play, but couldn’t beat Reese McConnell then or with a 6-on-4 advantage in the final minute after another penalty. McConnell made a huge pad stop on Josie Linn with about 20 seconds left to ice the win.

The Edina senior earned her sixth shutout of the season by making a 12 saves. Nora Hannan had just seven in the Hornets’ 3-1 quarterfinal win.

Kayla Swartout had 26 saves for Holy Family Catholic (22-8-0), which was in the tournament for the first time.

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Minnesota human rights law lets transgender athletes compete in sports consistent with their gender identity and it supersedes President Donald Trump’s recent executive order banning transgender athletes from women’s sports, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said on Thursday.

Ellison’s opinion comes after the Minnesota State High School League asked his office for formal advice on the matter. The state high school league is currently being investigated by the Trump administration after the league said it would follow state law regarding transgender students.

Trump signed an executive order, but Ellison said that because it lacked congressional authority or a statutory mandate, it did not take precedence over state law.

Specifically, he concluded that the Minnesota State High School League would violate the Minnesota Human Rights Act if it went along with the Trump order and prevented transgender athletes from participating in high school sports or other activities.

The high school league on Thursday acknowledged receiving Ellison’s opinion but had no other immediate comment.

League officials have said that the Minnesota Human Rights Act and Equal Protection Clause of the Minnesota Constitution prohibit discrimination against persons based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

The high school league policy has been in place for a decade. While the initial policy was controversial, supporters say it’s operated quietly and successfully over the decade. The league is a nonprofit voluntary association that governs interscholastic sports and other activities at high schools in Minnesota.

League officials last week signaled it would stay in place following Trump’s executive order but noted they would “continue to review the existing state laws alongside the new Presidential Executive Order.”

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Days after the high school league’s announcement, the federal Education Department said it needed to investigate. In a statement, Craig Trainor, the Education Department’s acting assistant secretary for civil rights, dismissed the high school’s league’s intention to follow Minnesota law and constitution as “meaningless virtue-signaling.”

The fourth-ranked Gophers women’s hockey team entered the final weekend of the regular season on Friday night at Ridder Arena coming off what could prove to be the most important 20 minutes of its season.

Playing on the road last weekend, Minnesota scored twice in the third period to beat St. Cloud State 2-1 and end a four-game losing streak that included three one-sided losses. For the comeback to prove pivotal, however, the Gophers would have to step up against the No. 6 Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs, a team they had swept in November, in hopes of building
momentum for the postseason.

Overcoming a slow start and surviving a late scare, the Gophers got the job done Friday night, beating the Bulldogs 3-2.

“After losing four in a row, which I later found out was for first time in program history, we knew it was going to be hard to try to get out of it,” Gophers coach Brad Frost said. “Getting two in the third against a very good defensive team kind of springboarded us and got us going back going in the right direction.”

Gophers fifth-year senior forward Natalie Mlynkova, who missed the last two games due to an undisclosed injury, provided what proved to be the winning goal in the second period, which gave the Gophers a 3-1 lead. The transfer from Vermont said the importance of Friday’s game was not lost on the players.

“We’ve been facing some adversity for sure,” Mlynkova said. “Better that it came now than in the playoffs. Everything happens for a reason, and I think maybe we needed that little warning.

“We took it to heart, and I hope we can learn from it and move on.”

Mlynkova’s goal was her 14th of the season, a total that undoubtedly would be higher if not for a series of injury and health issues.

“She’s such an impact player,” Frost said. “I think she’s one of the best in the country when she’s healthy.”

Like the Gophers (24-9-1, 18-8-1 WCHA), Mlynkova might be trending in the right direction just in time.

“I told the girls in the locker room that I feel better today than I have in the last five months,” she said. “It’s been a heck of a year for me personally; lots of adversity. I’ve been playing through things for a very long time, and eventually it took me out of the game.

“I just hope I’m on the right track now. I’m building to being 100%, and I’m very close to that. No doubt, I’m going to be there very soon.”

Despite being outplayed during the first half of the first period on Friday, the Gophers took a 1-0 lead at 14:52. Emma Kreisz carried the puck out of the right-wing corner in the Duluth zone and flipped backhand past Bulldogs goaltender Eve Gascon for her seventh goal of the season.

“We were turning some pucks over, and we needed to filter pucks to the net instead of trying to make passes,” Frost said. “But getting that first one was big.”

The Bulldogs tied the game just over two minutes later when Olivia Wallin picked up a loose puck in the slot and slid it past Gophers goaltender Hannah Clark.

The Gophers scored the only two goals of the second period. Ella Huber collected her 12th of the season at 6:40 before Mlynkova scored what can only be described as a goal-scorer’s goal. Taking a pass along the right-wing board in the Bulldogs’ zone, she cut into the slot, held the puck for an extra beat and ripped a wrist shot past Gascon.

“I try to have the poise when I have the time to do that,” Mlynkova said. “I was just glad that I was able to finish on my shot there and it helped us to get the win.”

The Bulldogs (19-12-2, 14-11-2) cut the Gophers’ lead to 3-2 at 16:52 of the third period and pulled their goaltender in the final minute, but the Gophers defended well in the closing seconds.

While their focus will be on taking care of business against the Bulldogs on Saturday, the Gophers also will have an eye on Ohio State’s game against St. Cloud State.

“There’s always national tournament implications when you play top opponents like this,” Frost said. “And also (in the conference); if we win and St. Cloud wins, we can move up to the two spot.

“We’re guaranteed the three spot, which is good, but any time you can move up in the standings or in the national picture we want to do that.”

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