Mike Vukovcan To say that they’ll be a big-time atmosphere at Hopewell High School would be an understatement.
Hopewell vs. Central Valley with a lot on the line, enough said.
For the third time this season, these two programs will play, this time the winner advances to the PIAA 4A basketball playoffs.
The first two games during the regular season went down to the wire and I would expect the same thing tonight. Back on January 9th, Hopewell jumped out to a big lead and held on to beat CV, 61-57. Then in the rematch on February 3rd, this was a battle for 4 quarters with each team holding the lead at various points of the game but in the end, Hopewell won 69-66.
The reason these games have been so close is that these programs are led by two outstanding coaches in Doug Biega and Brandon Ambrose. Plus, the rosters have talented players with James Armstrong, Brody Rock, Justin Shegog and others, while Central Valley has a deep talented roster led by sharpshooter Wyatt Clark and Adam Shroads.
Both coaches know the other teams’ personnel very well and what each other are attempting to do to attack them, so it’ll be interesting to see what adjustments if any are made for this third matchup.
The challenge for Coach Biega and his staff might be to get this team back down-to-earth following Monday’s emotional win. Also, the Vikings will have to realize that this CV team will be extremely motivated due to the fact that this is a senior ladened team and they know this has the potential to be the last high school basketball team that they ever play. Needless to say, that’s a huge motivation.
That being said, don’t think this Hopewell program doesn’t realize what’s on the line. This team full of sophomores would love to have the experience of playing in a PIAA playoff basketball game. They’re not ready to end the season.
“Looking forward to the opportunity that a game like tonight offered in the continued rebuild of our program,” Coach Biega tells VSN. “To even be playing basketball in late February here is awesome for these kids.”
“It should be a good atmosphere based on opponent proximity and a chance at competing in a state tournament is always fun.”
Just a warning, if you plan on going to the game, this will be a standing-room only crowd and parking will be an issue. Get there early and you are permitted to park in the lower student parking lot.
