Mike Vukovcan After a tough scrimmage on Saturday against perennial winning programs in Mt. Lebanon and Montour, the Hopewell HS Boys basketball team improved exponentially tonight as they took on West Allegheny and highly ranked 6A powerhouse Imani Christian.
The Hopewell defense was smothering in the first quarter of action as they held West Allegheny to just 11 points. The Vikings were led in scoring by Brody Rock with key contributions from Jeremy Benninghoff.
In the second quarter, the Vikings held a 9-7 lead late against Imani Christian. Again, Benninghoff led a tough defensive effort. Rock, Jack Biega, Nick Adams, Justin Shegog and Tre Cameron all defended their positions well; Imani made a late shot to end the quarter to win 11-9.
The rest of the scrimmage was filled with situational substitutions and back-and-forth among the three schools.
The Vikings competed hard tonight, which all Coach Biega asked for. Hopewell got Cameron back tonight from an ankle injury suffered two weeks ago and are set to get James Armstrong back in the starting rotation tomorrow. Armstrong has been rehabilitating an injury that he received during the last few games of the Hopewell football season.
The process continues and will count when Hopewell opens the 2025-26 season when they travel to take on highly regarded Shady Side Academy on December 2nd. The Hopewell home opener will take place on Friday, December 5th as they host Beaver Falls.
