Mike Vukovcan Hopewell Township- The Hopewell Girls entered tonights game Central Valley with two ways to make the playoffs- 1) beat Central Valley and they’d qualify 2) Beaver beats Hampton.
The first option didn’t happen as Hopewell competes hard but lost 53-47. Luckily for the Lady Vikings, they received help from Beaver as they defeated Hampton, 61-36.
That means Hopewell has qualified for the WPIAL Playoffs and will find out their opponent this weekend.
In terms of tonight’s game, the game was pretty much decided in the first quarter.
When you’re going up a CV head coach Chris Raso, one of the best basketball coaches (boys or girls) in the WPIAL, you need to take advantage of opportunities and Hopewell didn’t do that.
In the first quarter alone, Hopewell missed at least 6 wide open shots from the paint and missed 10 free throws in the first half.
Instead of trailing by 14 points at halftime, this very easily could’ve been a 2/3 point game which would’ve made the 2nd half much more interesting where Hopewell outscored CV, 29-21.
Credit to CV for being the better team for the length of the game and that’s why they came out on top tonight.
Two players for Hopewell that really stood out to me tonight were Alyssa Spang and Maya Richburg. Spang was a monster on the boards and competed hard in the paint and defensively.
Although she didn’t lead them in scoring, Richburg was one of the best players on the floor tonight for Hopewell.  She was completely locked in physically, emotionally and played with a great passion making a number of winning plays for the Lady Vikings.
1st Quarter Recap-
*Off the opening tip, Richburg got the tip and drove the left wing for a layup, Hopewell 2-0.
*After a defensive rebound, Caylee Sundy raced up the court and fed Avery Boyd with a perfect bounce pass for a layup, CV 15-6.
End of 1st Quarter: CV 15 Hopewell 7
2nd Quarter Recap-Â
*As she did a lot tonight, Boyd drove to the paint for 2, CV 15-9.
*Sundy with a great across the block pass to Boyd for a layup, CV 26-14.
*Boyd with a nice steal at half court as she jumped up to intercept a pass, she then fed Sundy for a layup, CV 28-16
*Sundy with a rebound, pushes it up court, finds Richburg , who was fouled shooting. Maya went 2-for-2 at the line, 18-28.
Halftime: CV 32 Hopewell 18
3rd Quarter Recap:
*Sundy with a rebound, takes it to other end and finds Boyd for 2, as she drives the wing, CV 35-20
*A few minutes later same exact thing, Boyd 2 more, CV 35-24
*Nice passing at top of key for Hopewell as Richburg eventually gets it to Sundy, who drains a 3, CV 41-29.
*Once again more ball movement, this time the ball eventually gets inside to Spang, who finishes, CV 45-31.
*Then a true buzzer beater as Sundy throws up a shot from midcourt and it goes in!
End of 3rd Quarter- CV 47 Hopewell 34
4th Quarter Recap-
*Hopewell transition, Sundy to Addison Blosnick for 2, CV 47-36.
*With 4:19 left, ball goes inside to Blosnick who gets it out to Sundy for 3, CV 49-40.
*After that shot, Hopewell had 3 or 4 possessions to get closer but couldn’t.
*With 1:16 left, Richburg converts a 3, CV 51-43.
*With :30 left, Hopewell got it to 6 on a Boyd layup but that’s as close as they got.
Final Score: Central Valley 53 Hopewell 47
