Mike Vukovcan HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP– The first chapter of the Hopewell Vikings Boys basketball 2025-26 season ended last night now comes the most important part.
The Vikings ended the regular season with Senior Night on Friday night with a 79-55 win over the Ambridge Bridgers. The win improved Hopewell’s record to 14-8 and 6-4 in the section.
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The exciting part is that with that win and Central Valley’s loss to Quaker Valley, Hopewell finishes in 2nd place in Section 2. That means, in all likelihood, Hopewell’s 1st round WPIAL playoff game will be held at Hopewell High School.
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The WPIAL the playoff seedings for both boys’ and girls’ playoffs on Monday. This will be the first time in 16 years that the Boys team will be participating in the WPIAL playoffs.
“Couldn’t be prouder and happier for a group of young men,” Coach Biega tells Vikings Sports Now. “They bought into the grind and commitment that winning demands. This is my 19th year as a varsity head coach, 32nd coaching overall, I’m as proud of this product as any I’ve ever represented.”
Last night was also Senior Night for two Vikings- guards Nick Adams and Riley Biggins. Both players were honored prior to tipoff along with the senior members of the Hopewell cheerleading squad.
“I could not be happier for Nick Adams and Riley Biggins,” said Biega. “They 100% exemplified senior leadership with everything that they did. They were relentlessly positive, the best teammates, the best leaders the best examples of what a high school athlete should be. It’s not always about statistics or numbers.”
“Their parents should be very proud of the young men that they raised. I really wanted these two to experience the highs because they have definitely experienced enough lows during their careers. They deserve this, they deserve to be happy and deserve to be proud. They’re both going to be wildly successful in their professional lives.”
In terms of the game, Ambridge hung around for a little bit but in the end, Hopewell’s multiple scoring options, along with their defense was too much to handle for 4 quarters. Once again, the Vikings got tremendous offensive production from junior Jeremy Benninghoff and sophomore Jack Biega. If that continues in the playoffs along with what they normally receive from the sophomore trio of James Armstrong, Brody Rock and Justin Shegog, Hopewell could be a dangerous team to play.
1ST QUARTER SCORING-
*Armstrong with a nice pull up jumper in the paint, Ambridge 4-2.
*Armstrong drives, kicks out to Rock, who drains a 3-pointer, Hopewell 5-4.
*Tre Cameron with a nice pass to Armstrong, who gets the ball at the foul line and drives in for a strong layup and is fouled, Hopewell 8-4.
*Biega sneaks into the paint for a floater, Hopewell 10-5.
*Rock drives into the paint and hits Armstrong with a nice no-look pass, Boo converts, Hopewell 12-5.
*Cameron with a nice entry pass to Armstrong, who connects on a nice spin-move, Hopewell 16-10.
*Biega grabs the defensive rebound and races down the court for a layup, Hopewell 19-13
*Shegog ends the 1st quarter scoring with a nice fader off the glass, Hopewell 21-15
END OF 1ST QUARTER: HOPEWELL 21 AMBRIDGE 15
2ND QUARTER SCORING-
*Armstrong with a missed shot but Shegog fights for the rebound and is fouled shooting. Justin makes both free throws, Hopewell 23-15
*Biega is fouled shooting and goes 1 of 2, Hopewell 24-15.
*Benninghoff with a miss but Shegog with another rebound and layup, Hopewell 26-17.
*Shegog gets into the paint and connects on a floater, Hopewell 28-19.
*Adams gets on the scoresheet with a field in the lane, Hopewell 30-19.
*Armstrong with a miss but once again, Shegog with a rebound and putback, Hopewell 33-25
HALFTIME: HOPEWELL 34 AMBRIDGE 27
3RD QUARTER SCORING-
*Rock with mid-range jumper from the wing, Hopewell 36-32
*Cameron is fouled shooting and goes 1 of 2, Hopewell 37-32
*Armstrong muscles in the lane for 2 more, Hopewell 40-37
*Shegog with a steal at midcourt, goes in for a layup and is fouled, Hopewell 44-37
*Armstrong with a blocked shot, dribbles up and hands off to Rock who knocks down another 3, Hopewell 47-37.
*Benninghoff with 2 more from mid-range, Hopewell 49-40
*Armstrong with a rebound dribbles up and hits Benninghoff with a great pass for a layup, Hopewell 51-40.
*Benninghoff with a 3-pointer from the corner, Hopewell 56-44.
*Cameron with great quickness, gets inside and drops it off to Armstrong, who finishes, Hopewell 58-44.
END OF 3RD QUARTER: HOPEWELL 59 AMBRIDGE 44
4TH QUARTER SCORING-
*Armstrong 2 off the glass, Hopewell 61-44
*Rock with a 3-pointer from the top of the key, Hopewell 64-44
*Inbounds play, Benninghoff grabs a loose ball and puts it in for 2, Hopewell 69-50.
*Rock with an acrobatic shot in the lane, Hopewell 73-52.
*Benninghoff gets an iso and beats his man to the rim for 2 more, Hopewell 75-54
*Hopewell pulls down 4 offensive rebounds and finally Armstrong gets it to fall, Hopewell 77-56
*In a fitting end to the game, Biggins is fouled shooting and he goes 2 of 2 from the line.
FINAL SCORE: HOPEWELL 79 AMBRIDGE 55
