It was a good all-around day for the Hopewell Boys basketball program.
The Vikings varsity team competed late to earn a 71-57 road win over Ellwood City.
Prior to that, the JV team, which was coming off a season-opening 5-point win over Beaver Falls, easily handled Ellwood City 73-41. This team is comprised of players that aren’t receiving varsity minutes or players that are coming off the bench in varsity. This gives them a chance to play starters minutes and to more importantly develop.
Hopewell score sheet: Justin Shegog with 17, Avery Bokor with 15, Jayvion Lindsey with 12, Jeremy Benninghoff with 11, Zack Sampson with 6, Jackson Yurcina with 6, Aaden Gonzalez with 4 and Kaleb Corso with 1.
HOPEWELL FRESHMAN TEAM RESULTS:
Those weren’t the only Hopewell boys’ basketball games played yesterday was the Freshman team opened their season with a matchup against Avonworth.
The freshman team is made up of 9th graders along with select 8th graders from the Hopewell junior high school.
Once again, the purpose of this is to allow the 9th graders to receive on-court minutes that they likely wouldn’t be receiving with the JV team. In terms of the 8th graders, this allows them to test themselves against older competition.
The encouraging part of yesterday’s results were that despite this team being made up of mostly 8th graders, Hopewell was able to compete with a good Avonworth team, losing 54-48.
Hopewell came out confident, taking a 14–11 lead after the first quarter. Ryder Kostrick scored 7 points in the first quarter, with Roman Crisci adding 3 and both Christian Fischer and Xavier Vallecorsa having 2 points apiece.
The second quarter saw Avonworth find their rhythm from the floor, swinging the momentum and taking a 34-27 lead into halftime.
Hopewell continued to battle, with Enzo Leopardi providing a spark offensively with 5 points, with Fischer adding 4 and Kostrick & Kaleb Gonzalez both adding 2 points apiece.
Hopewell opened the third quarter with intensity, putting together a 9-point run that cut the deficit however the Vikings would close out the quarter trailing 42-36. 36-42. Kostrick would end the quarter with 5 more points and Fischer with 4 points.
The final quarter, the Vikings tried to make a move and gain back their lead, however, they just fell short at the end with some costly turnovers and missed shots. Kostrick once again led the quarter with 4 points. Crisci, Fischer, Gonzalez and Vallecorsa each had 2 points each.
Despite the loss, this opener showed significant potential. With most of the roster consisting of 8th graders playing up—and still learning to gel with older teammates—Hopewell displayed competitiveness and toughness. If the Vikings can reduce turnovers and continue building chemistry, they’ll be in excellent shape as the season progresses.
Game Stats:
Ryder Kostric 18
Christian Fischer 12
Enzo Leopardi 5
Roman Crisci 5
Xavier Vallecorsa 4
Kaleb Gonzalez 4