Mike Vukovcan HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP- What a night, what an atmosphere, what a game tonight at Hopewell High School.
The Hopewell Vikings hosted Central Valley in a huge section matchup, with important playoff ramifications on the line.
Central Valley entered tonight in second place with a section record of 5-2, while Hopewell sat at 4-4. Although not guaranteed, there’s a chance that the winner of this game could finish in second place in the conference.
Because of all of this and the proximity of Central Valley, the gym was packed tonight, in fact it looked to be a standing room only room.
And what these fans witnessed was a high-quality basketball game between two good teams.
Hopewell led for a large portion of the game, but CV bounced back to take a lead and looked to have Hopewell on the ropes. However, the Vikings showed their toughness, a high-compete level and guts to make a lot of important 4th quarter shots.
In the end, Hopewell recorded one of their biggest home wins in many years as they defeated Central Valley for the second time this season, this time by the score of 69-66.
Congratulations to Coach Doug Biega, his coaching staff and his players as they’ll be headed to the playoffs for the first time in 16 years.
1ST QUARTER RECAP:
*Justin Shegog with a miss, James Armstrong with one of his many rebounds tonight and a layup, Hopewell 2-0.
*Brody Rock with a nice baseline jumper, Hopewell 4-2.
*Nice transition offense, as Jack Biega got the ball at midcourt and raced to the basketball for a layup, plus is fouled, Hopewell 7-2.
*Same thing, Shegog with a rebound, up to Biega, who once again makes a layup and is fouled, Hopewell 9-2.
*Shegog with a steal, up to Rock who dribbles in the lane and finds Tre Cameron with a behind-the-back pass for a layup, Hopewell 11-2
*Shegog gets on the scoreboard with a strong take and 2, Hopewell 13-8.
*Armstrong with a steal and with a hard pass to Rock who converts a layup, Hopewell 15-8.
*Armtrong with a strong screen, Jeremy Benninghoff rolls off it and to the hoop for 2, Hopewell, 17-8.
*:07 seconds left, Benningham cuts to the hoops, gets the ball and scores, Hopewell 19-12.
END OF 1ST QUARTER: HOPEWELL 19 CENTRAL VALLEY 12
2ND QUARTER RECAP:
-Central Valley got back in the game and were the better team in the 2nd quarter as Hopewell was very sloppy with the ball. However, Armstrong kept Hopewell in the game as he scored all 10 of their points.
*Armstrong with a miss but bulldozes his way in to get his own rebound and makes a layup, Hopewell 22-19
*Nice inbounds play as Armstrong kisses it off the glass for another basket, Central Valley 26-24
*The Hopewell guards dump it down low in the middle to Armstrong, who spins for 2 and ties the game back up, 26-26
*:58 seconds left, Armstrong is fouled shooting and makes 1 of 2, Central Valley 30-27
*Near the end of the quarter, Armstrong is fouled again and knocks down both free throws, Central Valley 30-29
HALFTIME: CENTRAL VALLEY 32 HOPEWELL 29
3RD QUARTER RECAP:
*Cameron with a strong drive to the paint and is fouled shooting, Central Valley 35-31
*Armstrong with a hook shot in the paint, Central Valley 40-34
*Shegog with a block, gets it to Cameron, who finishes a layup, Central Valley 40-36
*Rock with a 3-pointer from the wing, Central Valley 42-39
*Rock with a miss, Benninghoff with a rebound and layup, Central Valley 42-41
*Benninghoff with a steal and then fires a baseball pass up to Rock, who catches it and makes a tough layup, Hopewell 43-42
*Armstrong with a rebound, runs the break and fires a pass to Rock in the corner, who drains another 3, Hopewell 46-43
*Rock with a steal and is fouled, goes on to make both free throws, Hopewell 48-43
*Rock with a spin move in the paint, it falls and he’s fouled, Hopewell 51-47
*Set play, in bounds to Armstrong, who immediately finds Rock in the corner for another 3 pointer, Hopewell 54-47
*:20 seconds left, Biega gets aggressive, drives the middle and converts in the lane, Hopewell 56-4
*Rock with 16 points in the 3rd quarter
END OF 3RD QUARTER: HOPEWELL 56 CENTRAL VALLEY 50
4TH QUARTER RECAP:
*2:19 left, Rock is fouled shooting and makes 2 shots, Hopewell regains the lead and wouldn’t trail again, Hopewell 61 Central Valley 60
*Armstrong with rebound, dribbles up and passes off to Rock, who puts it off the glass for 2 more, Hopewell 63-60
*Hopewell breaks the press and Shegog is fouled shooting, makes both free throws, Hopewell 65-61
*:39 left, CV miss, Shegog rebound, up to Rock who makes another tough shot, Hopewell 67-61
*Once again, Hopewell breaks the press and Benninghoff finishes the layup, Hopewell 69-63
Central Valley had the ball down 3 points with 5 seconds left in the game and here is the end of the game
FINAL SCORE: HOPEWELL 69 CENTRAL VALLEY 66
Vikings Sports Now was in the locker room as Coach Biega addressed his team after the game.
