Mike Vukovcan ELLWOOD CITY– Things are different with the Hopewell Boys basketball program as we witnessed last night against Ellwood City.
In the 2nd quarter, Hopewell trailed Ellwood City by 14 points. In the past, there’s a very good chance Hopewell wouldn’t have recovered and would’ve lost by 30 points.
Not with the 2025 Hopewell Vikings.
With less than 4 minutes left in the game, this contest was tied. In the past, the record over the last decade showed that things likely would’ve fallen apart down the stretch, resulting in a close loss.
Not with the 2025 Hopewell Vikings.
After trailing in the 4th quarter, Hopewell finished the game on a 18-4 run and turned a deficit into a 71-57 win over Ellwood City. With the win, the Vikings improve their record to 2-0.
VSN’S IN-GAME BREAKDOWN:
*Hopewell trailed after the 1st quarter, 19-12.
James Armstrong led the scoring with 8, followed by 2 each from Brody Rock and Riley Biggins.
*Things started to pick up for Hopewell in the 2nd quarter as Armstrong opened up the scoring with a steal and a layup. That was followed by a nice take to the hoop by Jack Biega and then a steal from Rock, who dished off to Armstrong for a nice assist. The first half concluded as Nick Adams drilled a 3-pointer at the buzzer. The Vikings went into the locker room trailing just 30-29.
*Hopewell’s offense picked up in the 3rd quarter as they ended up outscoring the Wolverines, 21-17.
A couple of the highlights were a nice assist from Adams to Shegog and then Biggins connects on a 3-pointer to give Hopewell their first lead, 36-35.
Individual scoring in the 3rd quarter was Shegog with 7 points, Rock with 5 points, Armstrong with 4 points, Biggins with 3 points and Benninghoff with 2 points.
Hopewell led after 3 quarters, 50-47.
*Shegog opened the 4th quarter with a 3-pointer to give Hopewell a 6-point lead, but Ellwood City responded with a 6-0 run to tie the game at 53 all.
After a Hopewell timeout, the Vikings finished the game on an 18-4 run. Adams was tremendous defensively down the stretch while Biggins, Armstrong and Rock controlled the boards.
Rock was big in the 4th quarter with 7 points, Armstrong had 6, Shegog with 5 and Biggins with an important 3-pointer, when Hopewell only had a two-point lead.
FINAL SCORE: HOPEWELL 71 ELLWOOD CITY 57
Armstrong finished with a game-high of 24 points, Rock with 14 and Shegog with 13.
Following the game, Vikings Sports Now caught up with Coach Doug Biega, who credited his seniors for leading the way.
“Our senior backcourt was the key tonight,” said Biega. “Riley Biggins and Nick Adams were absolutely fantastic tonight down the stretch. That allowed James Armstrong, Justin Shegog, Jeremy Benninghoff and Brody Rock to defend with energy. But this game, it was the seniors who pulled us to the finish line for sure. I’m very proud of those guys.”
After a few days off, Hopewell will return to action on Friday night when they host New Brighton at Hopewell High School. Varsity tipoff is set for 7:30 PM, with the JV at 6 PM.
