Gomez, Hopewell glide past Hamilton
LAWRENCE >> The John Molinelli Girls Basketball Holiday Tournament is not one of those high-level affairs that brings in teams from around the country with AAU coaches jamming the bleachers.
But to the teams involved, it’s a pretty big deal considering what it represents — winning a tournament that honors the man who passed away during a Hopewell Valley basketball game while his son Jeff was on the floor playing.
“I was there the night John died so to bring this championship home ... I know it’s a tiny little holiday tournament but it would mean a lot to me, a lot to the school,” said Bulldogs coach Coleen Ross after her Bulldogs took a 46-5 win over Hamilton West Friday in a first-round game at Lawrence High School. “I know for (assistant) Kristy (Sharp) it would be huge for her as well, she was playing during that season. To bring this home would be huge.”
Hopewell (2-1) has its chance at 1 p.m. Saturday when it meets two-time defending champion Pennington in the title game at LHS. The Bulldogs are gunning for their first title since 2010-13, when they won it four straight years.
“I think we have a really good chance of bringing it back to Hopewell,” said guard Franki Gomez, who spearheaded the win. “This is a really good year for us to try to win it. It’s been a while.”
Gomez tallied 19 points on 8-for-11 shooting, added five rebounds, five steals and two assists.
“It’s really my team around me, they get me the ball” she said. “We have Charlotte Hare and Ally Oldfield. If I’m not open for the layup, we can kick it out to get the three.”
“Franki was on fire,” Ross said. “Franki’s stepping up. Sometimes Ally struggles with her shot, that’s when we need someone else to come in and take it at both ends and Franki did that.”
Oldfield had five 3-pointers when HoVal beat Hamilton on opening night, but took just five shots in this one. As Ross noted, Gomez stepped up while Hare contributed 11 points and nine rebounds.
“I think our transition defense kicked it into gear,” Ross said. “We got a lot of points on the board, Franki had an incredible game and our shooting percentage is getting to the side that I like. We’re still missing a few but we saw a much better shot selection today than we had.”
It was a credit to the Bulldogs they continued to build on a big halftime lead rather than let the Hornets back in it.
“We really focused on bringing our energy and not letting up,” Gomez said. “Especially coming into the third quarter out of halftime. We wanted to try to keep the same energy we did in the first half.”
For Hamilton, it was a case of trying something new as the Hornets didn’t want another Oldfield 3-point barrage.
“We came out and played straight man, which is something we hadn’t worked on until the last couple practices,” said coach Joe Radice, who remained upbeat throughout the game. “It’s not something the girls were super comfortable with but we tried to switch things up because they hit a lot of threes on us the first time. A couple quick turnovers gave them easy baskets. When we get down a little bit our heads to start to drop instead of playing harder, it seems we got down and they were able to hit us a little harder this time. We need to keep playing hard.”
HAMILTON (5)
Fonollosa 0-2-2, Kelly 0-0-0, A. Acevedo 0-0-0, Fedor 0-0-0, Sprague 0-0-0, Venceller 1-0-2, Maigue 0-0-0, C. Acevedo 0-1-1. Totals: 1-3-5
HOPEWELL (46)
Oldfield 1-0-3, Hare 5-1-11, Gomez 8-3-19, Martin 1-0-2, Danieluk 2-0-5, Schrader 1-0-2, Kurtz 0-0-0, Morici 1-0-2, Mormile 1-0-2, Capucci 0-0-0, Laitusis 0-0-0. Totals: 20-4-46
Hamilton (0-2) 4100—5
Hopewell (2-1) 1714132—46
3-point goals: Oldfield, Hare.
Follow Rich Fisher on twitter @fish4scores