Mike Vukovcan As the saying goes, teams want to be playing their best at the end of the season, which is certainly what’s happening with the Hopewell HS Boys basketball team.
Following their 62-47 win over Sto-Rox on Saturday afternoon, Hopewell has now won 4 games in a row and 7 of their last 8 games.
The victory over Avonworth on Friday was impressive considering it was over a program that had dominated them last season, beating the Vikings 85-71 and 85-54. Also, entering this season, Avonworth’s combined record over the last 4 seasons was 64-38.
Like with the win earlier this month over Central Valley, this was proof to the players on the roster that they could compete against quality programs in Class 4A. With the win, Vikings have improved their overall record to 11-7, their most wins since the 2012-13 season when they won 12 games.
The game against Sto-Rox could’ve been a trap game for a number of reasons: 1) they were coming off an emotional win against Avonworth less than 24 hours prior 2) the game tipped off at 12:30 pm with the game against Avonworth being very physical 3) Hopewell had already beaten Sto-Rox this season so would they be mentally invested in this game?
The answer was although it wasn’t easy, Hopewell did what they had to do to stack another win.
Leading the way against Sto-Rox was James Armstrong with 25 points, followed by Justin Shegog with 16 points, Brody Rock with 11, Tre Cameron with 8 and Jeremy Benninghoff with 2.
Hopewell now has 4 games left in the regular season, all of them being section games.
As of now, the next scheduled game is set for Tuesday at Beaver but let’s see if weather impacts that game.
Last 4 games: Tuesday, January 27th at Beaver, Friday, January 30th at Quaker Valley, Tuesday, February 3rd vs. Central Valley and Friday, February 6th vs. Ambridge.
CLASS 4A/SECTION 2 STANDINGS
Quaker Valley: 6-0
Central Valley: 4-2
Hopewell: 3-3
Avonworth: 3-3
Beaver: 1-5
Ambridge: 1-5
*Note: Top 4 teams qualify for the playoffs
