Hopewell Boys Junior High Basketball

Sewickley- Despite some ups and downs throughout the season, one thing is certain, the Hopewell 7th Grade Boys basketball team has talent and will be a entertaining group of players to watch develop over the upcoming seasons.

This team interesting and has a chance to be successful because of so many players with different skillsets.

Nico Amadio is the consummate point guard, Christian Fisher is a developing big man with skill and you can’t teach his size, Kaleb Gonzalez is a bruiser that will battle and compete against anyone in the paint, Ryder Kostrick is the most athletic player on the court that can do it all, Vin Smetana is talented enough to be a starter but currently provides instant offense off the bench, when given the chance Connor Reed and Noah Honess can knock some outside shots, Kaein Dowling and Dylan Ankrom both had plenty of moments this year and will get better, David Johnson was a perfect compliment to Amadio as the backup PG and Enzo Leopardi is a player I like and feel like has a nice future as a compliment to Fisher.

We saw all of these skills in today’s season finale against Quaker Valley, in a 41-21 win.

1st Half Recap-

*Gonzalez with a nice assist to Fisher to open up the scoring, Hopewell 2-0.

*This time, Gonzalez with the steal and races to the other end for the layup, Hopewell 4-0.

End of 1st Quarter- Quaker Valley 5 Hopewell 4

*Hopewell breaks the press as Kostrick gets a feed, drives to the hoop, scores and his fouled, QV 8-7.

*Hopewell converts inbounds play as Johnson finds Dowling for 2, Hopewell 9-8.

*Nico gets in the paint and gets it to Fisher, Hopewell 11-9.

*With 1:30 left in half, Leopardi with the offensive rebound, gets it out to Kostrick who swings it to Dowling in the corner for 3, Hopewell 14-9.

*With :10 seconds in the half, Dowling makes a great save on the sidelines, while in the air, passes to Kostrick in the corner for 3, Hopewell 17-9.

Halftime: Hopewell 17 Quaker Valley 9

2nd Half Recap-

*Hopewell made an effort to get it inside in the 2nd half and it worked. On this play, it was Amadio to Fisher, Hopewell 19-9.

*Same exact thing on next possession, Amadio to Fisher,

*Kostrick grabs the long rebound, sprints to the other end and finishes with a nice Euro Step, Hopewell 23-12.

*Amadio pushes it up court in transition, gets it to Gonzalez at the top of the key, KG then finds Fisher down low, Hopewell 25-15.

*Following that basket, Amadio with quick hands gets the steal and layup, Hopewell 27-15

End of 3rd Quarter- Hopewell 27 Quaker Valley 15 

*Gonzalez displaying his strength as he challenges a QV big man, keeps control of the ball, falls away and makes the shot and is fouled, Hopewell 30-15.

*Smetana with quickness drives down the middle of lane and his shot falls in, Hopewell 32-15.

*Johnson replaces Amadio and immediately contributes with an assist to Gonzalez, Hopewell 35-15.

**Later, Johnson with the steal, misses a layup, but Gonzalez cleans things up with a layup plus is fouled, Hopewell 37-15.

**Nice press break by Hopewell as Leopardi gets it to Johnson who finds Fisher for 2, Hopewell 39-15.

**Last basket of the season comes on an inbound pass from Johnson to Kostrick, Hopewell 41-17.

Final Score- Hopewell 41 Quaker Valley 21

When you reach a certain level of athletics, let’s be honest, you want to win.

No one likes to lose and as a wise man from Hopewell always reminds me, ‘Winning Is Fun’.

Wins have been hard to come by as of late for the Hopewell boy’s 7th and 8th grade basketball team.

This afternoon those two teams traveled to Avonworth for their next to last game of the season and both teams came up on the short end of the scoreboard.

Instead of giving you a game recap like I normally do, I wanted to change things up and come at it with a different perspective. Something that is more important than plays from a game and that’s something that will hopefully serve these kids well down the road.

As I was watching both of these games, something really stood out to me and it’s something that frankly has been a pattern all season.

No matter the situation, no matter the circumstances of their roster for that particular game, no matter the skill level of their opposition, the kids on both these Hopewell teams don’t quit and they continue to battle until the final buzzer.

Today against Avonworth was a perfect example of this.

Let’s start with the 7th grade team, which has been struggling as of late. After trailing by 2 at halftime, the Vikings had a rough 3rd quarter and trailed by as many as 15 or 17 points midway through the 3rd quarter.

With the way things have gone lately, it could have been very easy for them to give up or not have the same compete level as they did at the start of the game.

To their credit, that wasn’t the case, and they continued to play hard and the momentum started to change.

Before you know it, after trailing by a ton, Hopewell trailed by just 4 points with less than 2 minutes left in the game.

Unfortunately, the deficit was too large to overcome, and they ended up losing by 5 points. Despite the loss, many people in that gym, including the Avonworth, fans were impressed with the fight in this Hopewell 7th grade team.

When recapping the 8th grade game, it was different in terms of closeness of the final score but not in the compete level of the players.

The 8th grade team has gone up against some talented teams this season from Montour, Moon, West Allegheny, Eden Chrisitan and today against Avonworth. Most games, this team is outmatched in terms of talent level and particularly in the size department but to their credit, every player on that roster scraps and battles. I mean every player.

That might not sound like anything major to some people but trust me it is.

Unlike some other sports, you can’t fake effort in basketball. If you’re dogging it or going through the motions, it’s very easy to spot that. That doesn’t happen with this team.

Despite trailing by large deficits in many of the games this season, this team fights you for 24 minutes That’s a credit to them for having pride and wanting to do well and wanting to do better.

At points of this game and others when trailing big, players are still encouraging each other after making a positive play, kids are diving on the floor for loose balls, kids are diving into a pile to try and get a jump ball called.

If the buy in wasn’t there from the players, these types of things wouldn’t be happening. But they are because the kids on both these teams have character and play with pride.

Wherever that comes from, whether it’s a personal pride, whether it’s playing hard to represent Hopewell, whether it comes from home or from a different sport that they compete in. Whatever the case, that’s an impressive quality and frankly, in the long run that’s more important than the result of today’s games.

Keep competing guys and giving the effort that you’ve given all season and the before long, the result on the scoreboard will change.

HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP- For the second time in a week, the Hopewell boy’s junior high basketball team went up against West Allegheny.

On Tuesday, West A came away with the sweep and unfortunately, that was the case again on Friday afternoon.

In the 7th grade contest, the Viking players battled hard despite being shorthanded. As far as the 8th grade team, they competed very hard against an extremely physically big West A team. Credit to the Hopewell front court that gave big time effort in trying to battle down in the paint. The final score might not have been what they had hoped but the compete level was certainly present for both the 7th and 8th grade teams.

In the 8th grade game, West Allegheny came away with a 56-31 victory. Looking at Hopewell’s scoring, Roman Crisci led the way with 11 points, Zack Sampson with 5, Josh Gill with 4, Ryan Gaguzis with 4, Allen Boggs with 3, Andrew Arzberger with 2 and Braxton Pinto with 2.

Congratulations to Allen Boggs on his 3-pointer at the end of the game, which made a lot of fans and his teammates happy as they left the school.

7TH GRADE RECAP:

1st Half Summary-
*Kaleb Gonzalez, who was Hopewell’s best player today, received a pass and powered in for 2 points, Hopewell 2-0.

*With 1:42 left in the quarter, Vin Smetana, who got the start, connected on a 3-pointer from the corner, West Allegheny 7-6.

End of 1st Quarter: West Allegheny 11 Hopewell 6

*Although they struggled at time handling the West A press, on this sequence they didn’t as Nico Amadio beat the press and found Kaein Dowling, West Allegheny 16-8.

*Two more points down low for Gonzalez, West Allegheny 21-10.

*Kaleb goes on a mini run here as this time, he receives a pass from Amadio and converts, West Allegheny 21-12.

*Next possession, two more in the paint for Gonzalez, West Allegheny 21-14.

Halftime: West Allegheny 24 Hopewell 14

2nd Half Summary-
*Connor Reed with a nice cross court pass to Smetana, who drives inside for the layup, West Allegheny 26-19

*Reed, who’s been a nice weapon this season from the outside, hits a 3-pointer.

*Gonzalez scores his team-high 10th point on another basket down low, West Allegheny 28-21.

From that point, West Allegheny went on a 11-1 run to end the game.

FINAL SCORE: West Allegheny 39 Hopewell 22

*Hopewell has the weekend off before returning to action next Tuesday when they host Montour.

Hopewell Township– The Hopewell 8th Grade Basketball team has been endured in a losing streak that’s been difficult to break.

This can be difficult for teenage kids knowing that they’re putting in the work but aren’t getting any positive results in the standings.

Despite this, credit these players for continuing to scrap and battle every game and never giving up or going through the motions. In the sport of basketball, it would be very easy to see if the players were not engaged or competing, but this teams credit that has not been the case.

This afternoon against Moon was a perfect example of this. Despite falling behind 14-0 to start the game, the Vikings continued to play hard and after falling behind by fourteen, Hopewell played on even ground with Moon as they each scored 33 points the rest of the way.

Unfortunately, the 14-point hole was too much to overcome as Moon went on to defeat Hopewell, 47-33.

1st Half Recap:
*Trailing 14-0, Andrew Arzberger scored the Vikings first points of the game as he brought down an offensive rebound and went up strong for a layup, Moon 14-2.

*Later in the quarter, Roman Crisci made the basket of the game as he drove the lane, dribbled behind his back and as he fell backwards, threw up a shot in the lane, Moon 14-4.

*After another defensive stop, Zack Sampson knocked down a corner jump shot, Moon 14-6.

*The first quarter ended on an 8-0 Hopewell run when the Vikings broke a Moon trap with nice passing as Crisci dribbled it up, passed over to Luke Vukovcan, who found Sampson with a nice bounce pass under the basket for a layup, Moon 14-8.

End of 1st Quarter- Moon 14 Hopewell 8

*The run extended to 10-0 as Josh Gill came up with a steal, dribbled down, took a midrange jumper, missed it, but Sampson grabbed the offensive rebound and put it in for 2, Moon 14-10.

*After a Moon 3-pointer, Hopewell got 3 points of their own as Braxton Pinto found Vukovcan down low, who made the shot and was fouled, Luke went on to make the free throw, Moon 17-13.

*Moon ended the quarter on a 7-0 run as Hopewell struggled with Moon’s full-court press, which was the Vikings biggest problem all game. A LARGE MAJORITY of Moon’s baskets came from their defensive pressure. If Hopewell would have been able to beat the press and allow Moon to run a halfcourt offense, the final score would’ve been a lot closer.

Halftime- Moon 24 Hopewell 13

2nd Half Recap:
*Moon started the 2nd half on an 8-0 to extend their lead to 20 points.

*The first points of the half came courtesy a 3-pointer from Sampson, Moon 32-15.

*More Sampson as the Vikings break the press as Vukovcan dribbles up and fires a pass into the corner to Sampson who drains another 3, Moon 35-18.

*Later in the quarter, same things, Vukovcan dribbles up and gets it down to Pinto, who converted a nice up and under shot, Moon 40-20.

*Then at the end of the 3rd quarter, Ryan Gaguzis heaved up a shot from just inside the midcourt line for a buzzer beater 3-pointer, 23-44.

End of 3rd Quarter- Moon 44 Hopewell 23

*Sampson goes misses a jumper, but Arzberger grabs the offensive board and finishes the layup, Moon 44 Hopewell 25.

*Sampson with a nice turnaround jump shot from the baseline, Moon 44 Hopewell 27.

*Following a Moon 3-pointer, Vukovcan hits one of his own from the top of the key, Moon 47 Hopewell 30.

*As the 3rd quarter buzzer was about to go off, Jaxsen Covalt drained a 3-point shot from near midcourt, Moon 47 Hopewell 33.

FINAL SCORE: Moon 47 Hopewell 33

The 8th grade boys will return to action on Monday as they’ll host a talented Eden Christian Academy team at the Junior High School.

Hopewell Township-Early on it certainly appeared as though the Hopewell 7th grade basketball team was going to be able to avenge their earlier season loss to Moon.

However, a basketball game is four quarters and credit the Moon Tigers players for continuing to compete despite falling behind big early.

The Vikings led for most of this game but down the stretch, Moon made more plays and played cleaner basketball which allowed them to come away with a 40-33 win.

Although it was in a losing effort, credit to Ryder Kostrick for a fantastic game and being the best player on the court.

1sT Half Recap:
*Hopewell is most efficient when they’re able to get the ball down low in the paint, which is how they scored their first points as Christian Fisher softly banked in a shot from the low blocks, Hopewell 2-0.

*Hopewell ran a nice fake give-no-go between Fisher and Nico Amadio with Fisher keeping the ball and driving in for a layup, Hopewell 4-3.

*Following a defensive rebound, Kostrick keeps it himself and drives in for a layup and is fouled shooting, Ryder goes on to make 1 of 2 from the line, Hopewell 5-3.

*Following that missed free throw from Kostrick, Kaleb Gonzalez grabs the offensive rebound gets a shot up, he misses but Fisher grabs the rebound and puts it in for a layup, Hopewell 7-3.

*Later in the quarter, Connor Reed banks in a 3-point shot, Hopewell leads 10-3.

*With 1:04 left in the quarter, Gonzalez is fouled while shooting and makes 1 of 2 from the line, Hopewell 11-3.

*With seconds left in the quarter, Gonzalez drives the paint and finds Fisher in the opposite block and Christian lays it in for 2 more, Hopewell 13-3.

End of 1st Quarter- Hopewell 13 Moon 3

*Hopewell would only score one basket in the second quarter which comes off a steal from Amadio who passes to Kaein Dowling for the layup, Hopewell 15-3.

Halftime- Hopewell 15 Moon 10

2ND HALF RECAP:
*After Moon gets within one, Hopewell scores courtesy a strong take to the basket by Gonzalez, who is fouled shooting, Kaleb makes 1 of 2, Hopewell 16-14.

*Next trip down, Kostrick drains a 3-pointer from the wing, Hopewell 19-14.

*Later, Kostrick with the steal and goes in for a left-handed layup, Hopewell 21-14.

*More Hopewell defense as Amadio applies the pressure and forces a turnover, Kostrick picks up the loose ball and takes it in for the layup, Hopewell 23-16.

*Transition offense as Kostrick pulls down the defensive rebound and dribbles all the way down and is fouled shooting, Ryder goes 2 of 2 from the line, Hopewell 25-18.

*Kostrick then converts on a great, acrobatic shot in the lane, Hopewell goes up 8 points, 27-19.

*However, from that point, the Vikings would only score 6 points the rest of the game and Moon ends the quarter on a 6-0 run.

End of 3rd Quarter: Hopewell 27 Moon 25

*Hopewell extends the lead to 4 points as Fisher grabs an offensive rebound, passes out to Kostrick who then passes back inside to Dowling for 2 more, Hopewell 29-25.

*Moon would then finish the game on a 14-4 run to earn the victory.

FINAL SCORE: Moon 40 Hopewell 33

The Junior High teams will have 3 games next week as they host Eden Christian Academy, travel to South Fayette and then travel to Avonworth.

HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP- The Hopewell Boys 7th Grade Basketball team looked to end a mini losing streak this afternoon as they hosted Eden Christian in a makeup game.

Over the Vikings last few games, a similar pattern has occurred as they start out strong, while tailing off in the 2nd and 3rd quarters before finishing strong in the 4th quarter.

Today, Hopewell’s goal was to play 4 complete quarters and to give back in the win column.

While they didn’t play their most crisp game offensively, they did play well defensively and played well enough offensively to come away with a 30-17 victory. Congrats Vikings!

Here’s a game recap along with some video highlights:

1ST HALF RECAP:
*Kaden Gonzalez, who played a strong game at both ends of the court, got things started today as he took the ball from the top of the circle and dribbled straight down the lane for a layup, Hopewell 2-0.

*Later, Hopewell’s 3-point threat Connor Reed connected on a shot from beyond the arc, Hopewell 5-0.

*Later, Reed with a nice pass into the paint to Gonzalez, who did his thing and put it off the glass for 2, Hopewell 7-2.

*Last basket of the quarter for the Vikings came from point guard Nico Amadio who drove home for 2, Hopewell 9-4.

End of 1st Quarter: Hopewell 9 Eden Christian 4.

*Vin Smetana came off the bench and provided instant offense as he grabs a rebound and converted a basket in the lane, Hopewell 11-7.

*Nice ball movement for Hopewell as Ryder Kostrick gets it to Noah Honess, who buries a shot from the corner, Hopewell 13-9.

*Smetana with more offense as he makes a sweet move in the lane with a jump step and finishes for two, Hopewell 15-9.

*Then Honess feeds it inside to Kaein Dowling, who finishes, Hopewell 17-13.

Halftime: Hopewell 17 Eden Christian 13.

2ND HALF RECAP:
*Hopewell executes a nice inbounds play as Nico gets it to Kostrick for a layup, Hopewell 21-15.

*Dowling with a long, length of the court baseball pass to Reed, who makes a terrific, acrobatic layup, Hopewell 23-15

*Later, Kostrick grabs the defensive rebound and fires it down the court to David Johnson, who finishes the layup, Hopewell 25-15.

End of 3rd Quarter: Hopewell 25 Eden Christian 15

*Reed with some nice defense as he comes up with steal, he then gets it to Kostrick, who finds Gonzalez underneath for 2, Hopewell 27-15.

*Then near the end of the game, Gonzalez shows his range as he makes a deep 3 from the wing, Hopewell 30-15.

FINAL SCORE: Hopewell 30 Eden Christian 17

Immediately after the 7th grade game, the Hopewell 8th grade boys took on Eden Christian.

The problem for Hopewell today was they were just ice cold from the field. Although they had plenty of open looks, they weren’t able to convert. Unfortunately, it was just one of those games.

Final Score: Eden Christian 48 Hopewell 21

Here’s a look at the Hopewell Box Score: Zack Sampson 8 points, Luke Vukovcan 4 points, Josh Gill 3 points, Reed Budavich 2 points, Andrew Arzberger 2 points, Roman Crisci 2 points.

A thumbs up to the defensive work and job on the boards by Arzberger and Vukovcan, who both competed and battled against bigger players for 4 quarters.

Next up for the 7th and the 8th grade teams is a matchup tomorrow on the road against South Fayette.