Hopewell Boys Junior High Basketball Teams Take on Eden Christian
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.
