Lawrence pulls away from Hopewell for first win

HOPEWELL TWP. >> Jeff Molinelli had watched his team do some good things in its first two games without a win to show for it.

The veteran coach was hoping the consolation game of the Molinelli Holiday Classic — named in honor of his late father John — would be the jumping off point for his Lawrence High boys basketball team.

Kareem Hemsley scored 17 points to lead four players in double figures and the Cardinals pulled away from Hopewell Valley in the fourth quarter to win, 59-44, and get that first victory on Saturday afternoon.

“We had to get our first win of the year,” Molinelli said. “We worked really hard because we didn’t want to start 0-3. To get one win and now go into the grind of January was big for us.”

Aaron Jones and Diesel Barnes added 11 points each and Shaun Johnson scored 10 for Lawrence (12). The Cards used a 9-0 run in the fourth quarter to stretch the lead after the Bulldogs (1-3) got within three.

Hemsley scored twice at the rim with a Johnson 3-pointer sandwiched in between. Gabe MitchellWhite put the exclamation point on the spurt with a steal and dunk.

“Credit to the guys because we didn’t panic when it got within three,” Molinelli said. “We kept playing good defense and made it tough for them to reverse the ball. We got a ton of easy shots off our defense.”

John Broz netted 14 points for Hopewell, which scored the first 10 points of the game. It was a similar start to the Bulldogs’ semifinal setback against Pennington when they bolted to a 15-0 lead.

Hopewell went cold after the hot start, shooting 5-for-23 (1-for-11 from 3) in the second half.

LAWRENCE (59)

Johnson 4-0-10, Hemsley 7-0-17, Rodriguez 0-0-0, Aiyar 0-0-0, Jones 4-0-11, Oliver 0-6-6, Barnes 3-5-11, Mitchell-White 2-0-4. Totals: 20-11-59

HOPEWELL VALLEY (44)

Broz 4-4-14, K. O’Reilly 1-0-3, Loughery 2-2-6, Rodriguez 3-2-8, Whitlock 2-4-9, Harrison 1-0-2, Angelakis 1-0-2, B. O’Reilly 0-0-0. Totals: 14-12-44 Lawrence (1-2) 1420916—59 Hopewell Valley (1-3) 14 12 12 6 — 44 3pt goals: Johnson 2, Hemsley 3, Jones 3 (L); Broz, K. O’Reilly, Whitlock (HV).