Hopewell pulls away from NBC
HOPEWELL TWP. >> The Hopewell Valley High boys basketball team spent the season’s first 19 hours showing it’s serious about putting to rest the use of one word.
“People think last year was just a fluke and we just got lucky,” said Milo De Los Santos, who scored 18 to lead the Bulldogs to a 61-46 win over Northern Burlington Saturday afternoon. “We want to prove everyone wrong and have a big year. Everyone worked hard in the off season.”
Fluke? If that’s what folks think, Friday night’s win over Princeton and the domination of NBC may soften that stance.
“People are thinking it’s one time, it’s not gonna happen again,” third-year coach Matt Stein said. “Coming here to Hopewell it was about changing the culture, getting them to believe in each other. That’s not a fluke. We’re coming every single year, moving forward. Younger guys are developing so they’re ready to get in there whenever it is. Sophomore, junior, senior, they’re ready to go.”
The Bulldogs are coming off a 21-6 season in which they set a school record for victories. Their final loss came last March to NBC in the NJSIAA Group III quarterfinals. Saturday’s rematch featured two very different teams as NBC also suffered big graduation losses.
For one game, at least, HoVal seems to be ahead in the rebuilding battle. The Bulldogs took a 5-0 lead and led from start to finish, opening their largest lead at 56-35 in the fourth quarter. They led 2011 after one quarter, 35-26 at halftime and 48-33 after three.
NBC (0-2), which got 16 from Lorenzo Repak, cut a 17-point deficit to nine by intermission after Hopewell made seven of its 10 3-pointers in the first half. But the Greyhounds could draw no closer after the break.
“That shows they’re keeping their composure,” Stein said. “It goes to last night when Princeton made runs here and there and we stayed calm and poised. It’s very impressive to see they’re doing it at a young age. In the second half we knew they were gonna try to mix it up, trap a lot more. But they just got to their spots and made their passes.”
“We just wanted to keep the same energy and not let them come back,” De Los Santos said.
Junior John Broz helped provide the early lead by scoring 12 of his 14 points in the first quarter.
“That gives us a lot of energy, a little head start on them,” De Los Santos said of the start. “We like to keep that lead.”
Which they did, thanks to the rebounding and passing of hulking center Pat Johnson (8 boards) and the scoring of sophomores Jake Loughery and Gabe Rodriguez, who had six points each. Rodriguez added seven rebounds.
“Guys are coming off the bench, we have the two sophomores ready to go,” Stein said. “It’s a big thing getting those guys ready, and two games in they showed they’re ready to go. These guys gelled real quickly. Over the summer they worked hard, essentially five days a week, believing in each other, trusting each other. That’s a big thing right now.”
De Los Santos also pointed out that if the 3-pointers aren’t falling, Hopewell won’ fall apart.
“Everyone can shoot very well but we can do everything else too,” the senior guard said. “We don’t have just one shooter. We have slashers, big men, everything.” NORTHERN BURLINGTON (46)
Barron 2-1-6, Dougan 1-0-2, Aravind 3-0-7, Gaffney 2-2-6, Repack, 4-4-16, Woods 1-0-3, Osborne 1-0-2, Richardson 1-2-4. Totals: 15-9-46 HOPEWELL VALLEY (61)
Johnson 0-0-0, De Los Santos 7-0-18, Rodriguez 4-2-10, Broz 5-2-14, O’Reilly 2-2-7, Loughery 2-0-6, Hilliard 1-0-3, Mormile 0-0-0, Whitlock 1-1-3. Totals: 22-7-61
No. Burlington (0-2) 11 15 7 13 — 46 Hopewell 2-0) 20 15 13 13 — 61
3-point goals: Barron, Aravind, Repack 4, Woods, De Los Santos 4, Broz 2, Loughery 2, O’Reilly, Hilliard. ALLENTOWN 58, NORTH HUNTERDON 57 >> R.J. Weise scored 21 points, Brandon Pfeiffer added 17 and the Redbirds (1-1) evened their record.
HUN 53, PERKIOMEN 37 >> Andrew Seager poured in 23 points and the Raiders (4-4) moved back to .500. BURLINGTON TWP. 53, PITMAN 36 >> Wesley Robinson netted a gamehigh 17 points, Emmanuel Ayetigbo had 15 and the Falcons (2-0) soared to a victory.
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