Hopewell Boys Youth Basketball
In Dramatic Fashion, Hopewell 4th Grade Boys Travel Team Win PBC Championship!
NEW BRIGHTON- What a championship game tonight between the 4th grade boys from Hopewell and Beaver Falls!
The Hopewell Vikings took on the Beaver Falls Tigers for the PBC Mid Division Championship at New Brighton High School and the two teams played like champions.
Beaver Falls took control of the game early, and Hopewell responded with a huge 3rd quarter, but the Tigers didn’t quit and regained the lead late in the 4th quarter.
But as he did the entire second half, Hopewell’s Wes Gigliotti stepped up and with his team trailing, Wes nailed a 3-point shot with :30 seconds left to win the championship!
Congratulations to both teams for the performance they put on tonight and especially to Hopewell for never letting the moment be too big for them. When they were down and looked to be out, the Vikings responded like champions.
1ST QUARTER RECAP:
-First basket of the night for Hopewell came from No. 3 Bryce Croner who knocked down a jumper in the lane. 2-2.
-The only other basket in the quarter came from Gigliotti, who hit a corner jumper. Beaver Falls 8-4.
End of 1st Quarter: Beaver Falls 8 Hopewell 4.
2ND QUARTER RECAP:
-Croner once again got Hopewell on the board at the start of a quarter as he hit a deep shot off the glass. Beaver Falls 8-6.
-Later in the quarter, Croner comes up with a steal and finds Gigliotti, who connects on a shot just inside the 3-point line. 8-8.
-Beaver Falls would score the next 6 points of the quarter to lead by six at the half. The last 2 minutes of the quarter was a turning point of the game as Beaver Falls had a number of opportunities to extend the lead to double digits but
Hopewell played tough in the paint and did a great job rebounding, despite being undersized.
Halftime: Beaver Falls 14 Hopewell 8.
3RD QUARTER RECAP:
-No. 34 Nate Newberry got Hopewell on the board in the 3rd quarter with a strong drive to the hoop. Beaver Falls 15 Hopewell 10.
-Then it was time for Gigliotti to take over. First Wes hit a deep 3 point shot to cut the deficit to two points. Beaver Falls 15 Hopewell 13.
-Off an inbounds play, Gigliotti got open and hit a shot from the corner to tie things up. Hopewell 15 Beaver Falls 15.
-Hopewell took their first lead of the game on two made free throws from No. 4 Myles Fisher. Hopewell 17 Beaver Falls 16.
-Then to end the quarter, Gigliotti came up with a steal and converted a layup to stretch the lead to three. Hopewell 19 Beaver Falls 16.
End of 3rd Quarter: Hopewell 19 Beaver Falls 18.
4th QUARTER RECAP:
-With Hopewell trailing by 1, it was Gigliotti again as this time he knocks down another 3-pointer. Hopewell 22-20.
-With Hopewell up 2 and :54 seconds left; Beaver Falls makes an acrobatic shot plus the shooter got fouled. He stepped up to the line and calmly sank the free throw to give BF the lead. Beaver Falls 23 Hopewell 22.
-After a timeout to come up with a way to break the Beaver Falls full court press, Hopewell did just that. Croner got the inbounds pass in the middle of the floor, dribbled a bit and got the ball up to Gigliotti, who with 30+ seconds left, with ice in his veins, hit a deep 3-pointer to give Hopewell the lead and ultimately the championship. Hopewell 25-24.
-Hopewell forced a turnover on Beaver Falls next possession and it then came down to Hopewell being able to break the Beaver Falls press and not turn the ball over. Hopewell did that and added a free throw with 1 second left from Croner to ice the win.
FINAL SCORE: HOPEWELL 26 BEAVER FALLS 24
Congratulations to Coach Gigliotti, Coach Ambrose, Coach Newberry and the entire Hopewell 4th grade team for this hard-fought win.
Hopewell Sports Nation was at New Brighton and will have a lot more coverage from this championship game. HSN’s photographer Dave Bulebush was there and will have a photo gallery of his best pictures from the game. We recorded the entire game for you to watch and we’ll have an interview with Dave and Wes Gigliotti.
