‘You mean the Purple one?’ How Hopewell landed a game with powerhouse Camden
CAMDEN >> Hopewell Valley boys basketball coach Matt Stein thought he would take a shot in the dark when he emailed famed Camden High to put out a feeler about perhaps setting up a preseason scrimmage.
He got an email back asking him why he thought his Bulldogs would be a good match for the powerhouse South Jersey program. So he answered explaining how he had a tough, veteran group that he thought had a chance to compete deep into the Central Group III playoffs and perhaps beyond. Then nothing but radio silence. So Stein and his team went about their business. They racked up win after win after win and in need of a game this week after Wednesday’s originally scheduled opponent Piscataway canceled on them last week, Stein and athletic director Tripp Becker circled back to gauge Camden’s interest. There was a reply this time. Stein would take the Bulldogs to Dajuan Wagner Court at Clarence Turner Gymnasium for a late-season contest against the No. 3 team in the state. Camden, sitting at No 4 in South Jersey Group II, was looking for Power Points — the Panthers are unbeaten against New Jersey opposition but four of their wins are outside the state and therefore don’t count toward Power Points — and a 17-win team ranked No. 2 in Central Group III satisfied that requirement.
It also served as an opportunity for Hopewell to see high-level opposition ahead of a Friday showdown against Nottingham, the Mercer County Tournament in which it will be the No. 1 seed and the state playoffs.
“Our big thing was to show ourselves that we can play with anybody,” Stein said. “We knew it was going to be a big challenge. We wanted to come in here and not be afraid, timid and being confident and believing in each other.”
Stein said he broke the news to the team before a practice last week by telling it that Allentown was up first on Tuesday and then Camden and Nottingham on Friday.
“I just kind of slid that in there,” he said.
Wait, hold up! “You mean the purple one?” someone asked.
“I’ve been telling coach Stein to schedule a lot of games throughout the season because we want to play,” senior forward John Michael Vlasac said. “I’m always texting him because Piscataway canceled and he’s like ‘I’m trying to find a game.’ Then he starts practice and is like: ‘We’re playing Camden.’ Everyone was like: ‘What?’ Then it’s like, they are another team in our way.”
Ultimately, both got what they were looking for. Camden won its eighth straight game with a 74-51 victory, while Hopewell, despite having its eight-game winning streak snapped, got the high-level experience it craved.
“We want it to prepare us for states and Nottingham on Friday and the MCT,” said Vlasac, who scored a team-high 19 points. “If we can hang with this team, we can hang with everyone.”
The Bulldogs (17-3) quickly looked like they were going to be overwhelmed when they fell behind, 11-2, but they found their footing by the start of the second quarter and only trailed by five with 1:15 left in the second quarter.
Led by Kentucky commit Billy Richmond’s 29 points, the Panthers (19-2) kept Hopewell at arm’s length and with the lead at 14 with six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, Richmond hit the gas with back-to-back-to-back buckets that put the game away.
“Our big thing was make them beat us from the outside. I know at the end of the fourth quarter things kind of spiraled,” Stein said. “We were down nine at halftime and 14 with six minutes left, but then they got some fastbreaks. They played their behinds off and that’s all we can ask for.”
Terron Murray finished with 15 points and Alijah Curry — the eighth-ranked senior in the state by 247 Sports — added 12 for Camden, which also made 10 3-pointers.
Jude Berman netted 12 points for Hopewell.
While this presented a unique opportunity for the Bulldogs, Friday’s game at home against Nottingham is the most important on the schedule to date. The winner takes the CVC Valley Division title outright after Ewing lost to Notre Dame on Wednesday night. That was a fine balance to strike. “We didn’t want to come here and roll over and die,” Stein said. “Letting people know that we aren’t afraid. We haven’t had a chance in past years to play a team like Camden. Having a chance to come out here and compete, and at the same time not over-exerting ourself and being worn out for Friday.”
Any chance Camden returns the game?
“Don’t think so,” Stein said with a laugh.
Oh well, on to Nottingham. “They got a lot of shooters. They are dogs. Dom Raymond is a great player,” Vlasac said. “We’re going to hang with them.”