Hopewell Junior High Basketball
Hopewell 7th Grade Basketball Overwhelm Ambridge, 59-5
Hopewell Township– As the final score of 59-5 would indicate, this was never a game. Actually, it wasn’t a regular season game, it was a scrimmage. However, it was important in the sense that it was the first competitive game for this group of Hopewell 7th grade boys.
It was also the first game for new Hopewell 7th grade coach Dave Johnson, so congrats Coach!!
In a game like this, Coach Johnson didn’t substitute and instead played different groups of 5 players in each quarter. The starters played the entire 1st and 3rd quarters, while his second unit played the 2nd and 4th quarters. The Vikings have a roster of 12 players, so the other 2 players rotated in during the 3rd and 4th quarters.
Plenty of valuable playing time for everyone and plenty for Coach Johnson to be pleased with and build on for the future.
Plenty of players impressed this afternoon but my Top 4 were: Nico Amadio, Kaein Dowling, Kaleb Gonzalez and Ryder Kostrick.
1st Quarter Recap:
-For their first game, both groups of players were extremely impressive with their unselfish passing and execution of getting the ball to the open man in the paint. Obviously, this was something they worked on in practice.
*First basket of the game came courtesy a fast break and Kostrick connecting with Amadio. Hopewell 2-0.
*Nice passing, as Kostrick gets it down to Gonzalez in the paint, who goes up strong, makes the layup and is fouled, Hopewell 5-0.
*Hopewell ran the court extremely well, on this sequence, Kostrick with another nice pass, this time to Amadio. Hopewell 7-0.
*Gonzalez was a beast on the boards, this time he gets his own miss and puts it back in, Hopewell 9-0.
*More work from Gonzalez as he grabs a miss from Christian Fisher and puts it back in, Hopewell 11-0.
*This time it was good defense from Gonzalez and then takes it coast to coast for a layup, Hopewell 15-2.
*More defense, Fisher with a blocked shot, Amadio grabs the loose ball, gets to the other end and makes a nice, unselfish pass to Kostrick for a layup. Hopewell 17-2.
*Another assist for Amadio, as this time he throws a nice over the top entry pass to Gonzalez, who finishes. Kaleb finished with 11 points in the 1st quarter.
End of 1st Quarter: Hopewell 19 Ambridge 2.
2nd Quarter Recap:
*Dowling with his first basket of the game, as he finishes inside. Hopewell 21-2.
*Later, Vin Smetana runs the court and dishes to Dowling, who connects on a layup. Hopewell 23-2.
*Off an inbounds pass, David Johnson dishes to Dowling, who scores again. Hopewell 25-4.
*Later, Smetana showed off his shooting as he hits a 3-pointer for the left wing, Hopewell 28-4.
*Last basket of the half, comes as Dowling comes up with a steal and throws it over the defense down to Smetana, who finishes a layup, Hopewell 30-4.
Halftime- Hopewell 31 Ambridge 4.
3rd Quarter Recap:
-This 3rd quarter was basically the Ryder Kostrick Show as he dominated play.
*The second half opened up with a steal from Kostrick, who passes to Gonzalez, who gets it back to Kostrick for 2 points, Hopewell 33-4.
*Ryder then hits a deep 3-pointer, Hopewell 38-4.
*Fisher grabs another rebound, then passes out to Kostrick, who hits his second 3-pointer, Hopewell 43-4.
*Kostrick grabs an offensive rebound and puts it back in for 2 more, Hopewell 45-4.
*Kostrick defense as he picks up a steal and takes it in for a layup, Hopewell 47-4.
*His last basket of the game, Kostrick with a nice jump stop in the lane and connects, Hopewell 49-4.
-Kostrick finished with an unofficial game-high of 16 points.
End of 3rd Quarter: Hopewell 49 Ambridge 5
4th Quarter Recap:
*A couple of the baskets in this quarter, were when Smetana drove down the middle of the lane and passed off to Dowling. Hopewell 53-5.
*The last basket of the game came as Javy Gomez came up with a steal and drove in for a layup.
FINAL SCORE: Hopewell 59 Ambridge 5
Coach Johnson and his 7th grade squad open up the season for real on Thursday as they travel to Montour.
Good Luck Vikings!
