Hopewell Boys JH Basketball

HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP– After competing throughout the month of June playing multiple games per week, the Drill for Skill “The County” 7th and 8th Grade teams held their playoff games this afternoon at the Hopewell Junior High School.

Teams for Hopewell, Blackhawk, Western Beaver, Central Valley, Beaver and Moon competed today for the Championship.

For the second consecutive day, a Hopewell team has won a championship.

Yesterday, it was the Hopewell 10-year-old All-Star baseball team and today, it was the 8th grade Junior High basketball team.

HOPEWELL 8TH GRADE BOYS’ BASKETBALL:

It was ironic that on the last day of the regular season, Hopewell’s 8th grade team lost to both Blackhawk and Western Beaver. Today, it was a different story as the Vikings beat both those teams to win the championship.

In the first matchup against Western Beaver, Hopewell came out with energy and intensity, jumping to a quick 10-point lead thanks to relentless effort on the boards and solid team play. Despite the early advantage, Western Beaver battled back, and we found ourselves trailing at halftime. However, our team never backed down. Fueled by determination and strong rebounding, the Vikings stayed composed, matched their physicality, and fought our way back to a well-earned victory. It was a true test of toughness and grit, and our players rose to the challenge.

Hopewell Township- The Drill for Skill “The County” 7th and 8th Grade Summer League continued yesterday at Hopewell Junior High School.

During the month of June, teams from Moon, Blackhawk, Beaver, Blackhawk, Central Valley and Western Beaver have played each other in a number of games per day.

Thursday was the last collection of games before the playoffs begin next week.

The Hopewell Vikings 8th grade team took on Blackhawk and Western Beaver and ended up losing both games.

Vikings Sports Now was there for their second game against Western Beaver and has this recap.

HOPEWELL VS. WESTERN BEAVER 8TH GRADE:

*The story of this game was after jumping out to a big lead, Hopewell got away from what they were doing and took a lot of unnecessary and forced shots, which led to an offensive drought. Late in the game, they got back in it but unfortunately, it was too late as they dropped a 34-33 decision. One other thing to point out and this isn’t an excuse but a fact. This was obviously the case for both teams but whether it was due to the extremely high temperature in the gym, Hopewell didn’t seem to have their legs and looked tired. Not an excuse, just an observation.

1ST HALF:
*When Hopewell was getting the ball down low and passing in the paint, they were effective. First basket of the game came from an offensive rebound in the paint from Kaleb Gonzalez. Hopewell 2-0.

*Some nice athleticism shown by big man Christian Fisher on this play as he grabbed an offensive rebound and dribbled the length of the court, ran past defenders and finished strong for a layup, Hopewell 4-2.

*Hopewell runs in transition, Ryder Kostrick with the miss but Fisher is there for the offensive rebound and 2, Hopewell 6-2.

*Fisher misses a shot in the paint, but Vin Smetana is there for the offensive rebound and converts a layup, Hopewell 8-3.

*More rebounding for Hopewell as this time it was guard Brandon Cecchini battling against the big men for a rebound, kicks it out to David Johnson at the top of the key and he knocks down a 3, Hopewell 11-3.

*Hopewell out in transition again, Gonzalez with some nice dribbling and dishes off to Fisher, who converts in close, Hopewell 13-8.

*With 1:00 left, Cecchini uses his quickness to drive into the paint and passes off to Fisher, who finishes, Hopewell 15-11.

*Then with 8 seconds left in the half, Cecchini hits a 3-pointer from the top of the key, Hopewell 18-15.

Halftime: Hopewell 18 Western Beaver 15

2ND HALF:
*Fisher with a miss but Kostrick leaps for an offensive rebound and converts in close, Hopewell 20-17.

*Nice passing by Hopewell, Smetana rotates it over to Kostrick who finds Fisher in close for 2, Hopewell 22-21.

*Noah Honess dribbles towards the basket and then passes back to Gonzalez, who shows his range but knocking down a foul line jumper, Western Beaver 26-24.

*Western Beaver went up by 6 but Hopewell went on a run to make things close. On this sequence, Kostrick grabs a defensive rebound and races down the court and finds Fisher for 2, Western Beaver 31-27

*Kostrick gets in the paint and is fouled shooting. Ryder goes to the free throw line and converts both free throws to get Hopewell within 2, Western Beaver 31-29.

*After Western Beaver hits a 3 from the corner, Hopewell continued to scrap. With :18 seconds left, Fisher grabs another offensive rebound and makes a 2 plus a foul, Western Beaver 34-31.

*Fisher goes to the line and misses a free throw, but Kostrick is there for the rebound and layup, Western Beaver 34-33.

*Hopewell forces a turnover and has a chance to win it with :05 seconds left but unfortunately, they also commit a turnover.

FINAL SCORE: WESTERN BEAVER 34 HOPEWELL 33

Good luck to both the Hopewell 7th and 8th grade teams in the playoffs which begin next week. We’ll post a schedule when it becomes available.

Something new implemented this season by new Hopewell Boys HS Basketball Coach Doug Biega and that’s getting players involved in summer league competition.

Not only are the high school players competing but so are the boys’ junior high players.

As I’ve written many times, the only way to have a successful program is to players at all ages getting developed so that you can have waves of players to step in due to graduation and injuries.

That’s finally being done with Hopewell boys’ basketball. Coach Biega has hired two talented coaches and more importantly teachers to run the Vikings Junior High program: Patrick Phillips and BJ McBryde.

Over the weekend, the 7th and 8th boys were involved in summer league competition.

Here’s a general assessment of how things went.