HAMILTON — While the South Hunterdon varsity girls’ basketball team can finally exhale, it will take a little longer for their counterparts at Nottingham High. The Northstars, who had not lost more than three games in a row all season, looked to be in good shape with the Eagles visiting Saturday in the midst of their own nine-game losing streak. The good news for South Hunterdon was that 5-foot-9 senior guard Sophie Hinman was returning to the lineup after recovering from a foot injury. Not only did Hinman start alongside 6-1 senior guard/forward Kadie Fleming, the team’s leading scorer, but she immediately showed why she had been missed by scoring 11 points in the first quarter, including three 3-point field goals, to spark her team to a 45-22 victory. It was the first win for head coach Kelly Caulin-O’Connell’s 4-9 team since Dec. 21 when it came from behind to defeat Steinert. “Sophie brings a very balanced atmosphere to the court, and she executes the basics well,” Caulin-O’Connell said. “She and Kadie have played together for a while, so they were so happy to be back together out there.” Hinman, who has 660 points for her career, went on to score 18 points with four 3-pointers and 10 rebounds against the Northstars. Her production took a lot of the load off Fleming, who had surpassed her mother Tuesdee Sneddon’s scoring mark with the Eagles in her previous outing. The recent Moravian University commit scored 14 of her game-high 23 points (to give her 1,280 on her career) in the second half to break open a game where Nottingham still had hope with 7:25 left in the third quarter, trailing, 20-14. Fleming added 12 rebounds and seven blocked shots to further frustrate the Northstars. “Our coaches kept telling us, ‘It’s only four possessions (to take the lead),” Nottingham 5-2 senior guard Gabriella Nobile said. “So we were telling each other to bring the energy.” That’s an area with which Nobile is familiar. She has taken over a role as the sixth player with the club because head coach Kyle James likes the kickstart that she can provide. “It would be nice to start, but either way, I try to bring as much energy as I can whenever I enter the game,” Nobile said. “And my teammates always support me, even when we’re struggling.” In a game where leading scorer Emma Wilke was held scoreless for the first time all season, Nobile was a necessary spark off the bench. She hit two 3-pointers upon entry to keep the home team as close as 19-8 in the first quarter. “It was nice making those first two shots. It gave me confidence,” said Nobile, who went on to a team-high 13 points. “That’s the most I’ve ever scored.” In a game where both teams only had three players (per side) score, Nobile’s production was a breath of fresh air for the 3-11 Northstars, who dropped their fourth consecutive contest, a game in which they were whistled for 17 fouls, while South Hunterdon was only called for three over the entire 32 minutes of play. SOUTH HUNTERDON (45) Hinman 7-0-18, Vavrence 0-0-0, Martinez Guzman 0-0-0, Spreen 2-0-4, Geurds 0-0-0, Woodside 0-0-0, Fleming 8-5-23, O’Rourke 0-0-0, Rzasa 0-0-0. Totals — 17-5-45. NOTTINGHAM (22) EWilke 0-0-0, KWilke 0-0-0, Nobile 4-2-13, Gresavage 0-0-0, ZWilliams 0-0-0, Jacobs 1-0-2, Smolka 0-0-0, Stines 3-1-7, McDonald 0-0-0. Totals — 8-3-22. S.Hunterdon(4-9)               19    1    9    16    —    45 Nottingham(3-10)                 8    4    5      5    —    22 3-point goals — Hinman 4, Fleming 2 (SH), Nobile 3 (N).