Hopewell Junior High Basketball
Huge Bounce Back Win for Hopewell 7th Grade Basketball Over South Fayette
Hopewell Township- Being able to rebound from a disappointing performance is a sign of not only a talented team but players with a right mindset.
The Hopewell Vikings 7th Grade basketball team were in a position today where they were out to the test and needed to show up.
The Vikings were coming off their first loss of the season Tuesday against Moon and hosted a talented South Fayette team.
The opponent was going to be challenging enough but Hopewell went into this game without a key player along with only having Ryder Kostrick only 50% because of an ankle injury.
To make matters worse Hopewell had a cold-shooting 2nd quarter and found themselves trailing by 7 points in the middle of the 3rd quarter.
But that’s when Hopewell’s character showed and they dug deep to end the game on a 24-8 run to defeat South Fayette, 38-29.
1st Quarter Summary-
*Kostrick with great vision to whip an across the block pass to Christian Fischer, who finished, 2-2.
*Next possession, Kostrick keeps it himself and lays it in for 2, Hopewell 4-2.
*Nico Amadio with a quick pass to the corner to Vin Smetana, who shot a 3-pointer, Fischer grabbed the offensive rebound and finished the layup, Hopewell 6-2.
*Fischer again, this time with a great move in the paint, as he got his defender up in the air and blew right by him for 2 more, Hopewell 8-7.
*Amadio with his best pass of the day deep in the paint to Fischer, who was fouled shooting. Christian made two free throws, Hopewell 10-7.
*Amadio with a steal at midcourt and then tosses a long pass to Fischer, Hopewell 12-10.
End of 1st Quarter: Hopewell 12 South Fayette 10
2nd Quarter Summary-
*Not much happening for Hopewell this quarter as they scored only one basket on a nice screen and roll from Amadio to Kaleb Gonzalez.
Halftime: South Fayette 20 Hopewell 14
3rd Quarter Summary-
*The basket that got Hopewell going was a screen and roll between Amadio and Gonzalez, South Fayette 21-16.
*Right after that, the Hopewell press forced a turnover and Kostrick got the steal and layup, South Fayette 21-18.
*Another big moment as Enzo Leopardi grabbed an offensive rebound off a missed free throw and put it back in for two, South Fayette 21-20.
End of 3rd Quarter: South Fayette 21 Hopewell 20
4th Quarter Summary-
*Hopewell retook the lead on an offensive rebound by Leopardi and putback, Hopewell 22-21
*Hopewell then trailed again by 4 points but fought back.
*They got within 2 on two free throws by Connor Reed, South Fayette 26-24.
*With 3:20 left in the game, Amadio drove the lane, he missed but Fischer was there for the offensive rebound and layup, 26-26.
*The Vikings took the lead for good on a beautiful shot fake by Fischer, who drove in strong for 2 more, Hopewell 28-26.
*Gonzalez then came up with a steal and layup, Hopewell 30-26.
*South Fayette attempted to press, and it didn’t work as Amadio gets it to Gonzalez, who knocked down a mid-range jumper and is fouled, 32-26.
*Nice transition offense as Fischer grabs rebound, gets it to Amadio who locates Kostrick for the layup, Hopewell 34-26.
*Smetana pulls down an offensive rebound and passes to Amadio for 2, Hopewell 36-28.
*Then at the buzzer, Amadio races to the other end for the layup, Hopewell 38-29.
Final Score- Hopewell 38 South Fayette 29.
Congrats on the win Hopewell, which improves their record to 4-1.
Hopewell is off until January 7th, when they’re home to take on Avonworth.
As far as the 8th grade team, they were without leading scorer Zack Sampson and struggled, losing 51-13.
