HOPEWELL TWP. — The Hopewell Valley High varsity girls’ basketball players are starting to get to the level at which they want to play. Their mission is a work in progress, but, with the help of a strong defense, head coach Coleen Ross’ Bulldogs are starting to show that they are better than some may have thought at first glance. Saturday Hopewell worked out an early hole to defeat South Hunterdon, 33-26. It was the Bulldogs’ second win in a row (a first for this season) and fourth in 12 games. “Hopefully, this is a good sign,” Ross’ daughter, Delainey, a 5-foot-8 junior forward with the team, said. “We’ve had a strong defense. We’re still working on our offense, trying to keep everyone moving and not be statues out there.” The hard work was clear as Hopewell Valley rallied from a 12-8 deficit after one quarter to stymie an Eagles’ squad which currently has a shortened bench because of illnesses under the direction of head coach Kelly Caulin-O’Connell, who used to coach Delainey. Utilizing a smothering fullcourt press with Ross on the inbounder, the Bulldogs tied the game 3:15 into the second quarter, then saw the lead change hands three times before South Hunterdon (3-7) took a 17-16 edge into the locker room. Spurred on by the change of events, Hopewell came out even more determined in the second half, limiting the Eagles to nine second-half points and making it very hard to get the ball past halfcourt. “We always seem to start slow,” the younger Ross said. “We had more energy in our press and were more hungry in the second quarter.” Delainey Ross kept the Bulldogs at that level by scoring nine of her team-high 11 points in the second half, while also grabbing seven of her 13 rebounds and seven of her nine steals to finish just shy of a triple-double. It was a tough turn of events for the visitors who had the game’s two top scorers in 6-1 senior guard/forward Kadie Fleming and 5-4 junior point guard Lucy Spreen. Fleming, who has 1,226 points on her career, connected for nine of her 12 points with three 3-point field goals in the first half, then only managed to hit 3-of-4 free throws in the second half. Spreen scored eight of her 12 points in the first half before her time on the floor was limited from the third quarter on after she was called for her fourth foul with 4:59 left. Five-foot-eight junior guard Katie Reinhart added 10 points for the home side, which started playing better with the help of 26 steals in the game. SOUTH HUNTERDON (26) Vavrence 1-0-2, Dewald 0-0-0, Spreen 6-0-12, Geurds 0-0-0, Fleming 3-3-12, O’Rourke 0-0-0. Totals — 10-3-26. HOPEWELL VALLEY (33) Reinhart 3-2-10, DRoss 4-3-11, Nunnally 1-0-2, Danieluk 1-2-4, Ritter 2-0-4, MacQueen 0-0-0, Kurian 1-0-2, Eugene 0-0-0. Totals — 12-7-33. South Hunterdon (3-7)                12    5      5    4    —    26 Hopewell Valley (4-8)                    8    8    10    7    —    33 3-point goals — Fleming 3 (SH), Reinhart 2 (HV). NORTH HUNTERDON 44, ROBBINSVILLE 31 ANNANDALE — Ava Aldarelli scored 16 points, but could not get the Ravens past the Lions. ROBBINSVILLE (31) GBottoni 2-0-4, Aldarelli 4-7-16, Singh 0-1-1, Pierini 3-0-7, Klinger 0-0-0, Godwin 0-0-0, Griffin 1-0-3. Totals — 10-8-31. NORTH HUNTERDON (44) N/A Robbinsville (5-5)                          7      8     8    8    —    31 NorthHunterdon(4-5)                  12    11    12    9    —    44 3-point goals — Aldarelli, Pierini, Griffin (R). HUNTERDON CENTRAL 66, HAMILTON WEST 25 FLEMINGTON — The Red Devils held the Hornets to single-digit scoring in each quarter to spoil a 14-point outing from Zairra Galloway. HAMILTON WEST (25) Galloway 4-5-14, Conte 1-3-5, Celio 0-0-0, SRoberts 0-6-6, Scelza 0-0-0, Tran 0-0-0, Harlan 0-0-0, Vargas Gutierrez 0-0-0, Vanselous 0-0-0. Totals — 5-14-25. HUNTERDON CENTRAL (66) Costantini 7-0-17, Schwartz 3-4-10, Ramos 5-5-16, Kellogg 9-3-21, Nassir 1-0-2. Totals — 25-12-66. Hamilton West (5-7)                     6      7      5      7    —    25 HunterdonCentral(4-5)               25    12    18    11    —    66 3-point goals — Galloway (HW), Costantini 3, Ramos (HC). PRINCETON 55, TOMS RIVER NORTH 47 TOMS RIVER — Anna Winters’ season-high 25 points lifted the Tigers over the Mariners. Katie Sharkey added 16 points for Princeton. PRINCETON (55) Grippo 1-0-2, Winters 10-2-25, Sharkey 7-0-16, Romain 1-1-3, Bornstein 2-1-5, Hunt 1-0-2, Cao 1-0-2. Totals — 23-4-55. TOMS RIVER NORTH (47) Sarluca 5-6-18, JBrown 4-4-12, Bozicev 2-0-4, DeCesare 1-1-4, Abdelaal 2-0-6, Lamicella 1-1-3, Mahon 0-0-0. Totals — 15-12-47. Princeton (8-2)                 16    8    16    15    —    55 TomsRiverN(4-6)              13    6    15    13    —    47 3-point goals — Winters 3, Sharkey 2 (P), Sarluca 2, DeCesare, Abdelaal 2 (TRN). TRENTON 49, CAMDEN 35 CAMDEN — Jamirah Glanton’s 22 points led the Tornadoes past the Panthers to their seventh victory. Angie Pacheco chipped in 11 points for Trenton. TRENTON (49) GSmith 3-1-8, Glanton 8-6-22, Harrison 0-0-0, ASmith 0-2-2, Pacheco 4-2-11, Brown-Johnson 1-0-3, Presha 1-0-2, Herbert-Wheeler 0-1-1. Totals — 17-12-49. CAMDEN (35) Higgs-Salaam 5-5-16, King 2-1-5, Boyles 3-1-7, Barge 3-0-6, Reddick 0-1-1. Totals — 13-8-35. Trenton (7-3)               17    11      9    12    —    49 Camden (4-5)                5      3    19      8    —    35 3-point goals — GSmith, Pacheco, Brown-Johnson (T), Higgs-Salaam (C). COLTS NECK 76, HIGHTSTOWN 40 TOMS RIVER — Hayley DeKok’s 16 points and Penelope Swarn’s 11 points could not save the Rams against the Cougars in the Coaches vs. Cancer event at Donovan Catholic. HIGHTSTOWN (40) Nagle 4-0-9, Swarn 5-1-11, Weissenberger 1-0-2, YMoore 1-0-2, Frascella 0-0-0, Wersching 0-0-0, Gulli 0-0-0, DeKok 5-4-16, Sweeney 0-0-0. Totals — 16-5-40. COLTS NECK (76) Dichter 4-0-8, Caffiero 5-0-10, Donahue 5-0-12, Wallace 7-2-16, Jasina 4-4-12, Lombardo 0-2-2, Calhoun 0-1-1, Bryce 4-2-10, Rothenberg 0-0-0, Watkins 2-0-5. Totals — 31-11-76. Hightstown (7-5)              10      8      7    15    —    40 Colts Neck (7-1)               18    23    17    18    —    76 3-point goals — Nagle, DeKok 2 (H), Donahue 2, Watkins(CN).