HOPEWELL — It was a crazy, eventful night for all kinds of reasons. Most importantly for the Hopewell Valley Central High boys basketball team, it was a memorable Tuesday night after the Bulldogs took a 52-49 victory over Trenton to keep themselves in the CVC Colonial Division hunt. HoVal (11-4), Trenton (11-5) and Ewing are all 5-1 with Hopewell visiting Ewing and Trenton visiting Notre Dame Thursday to conclude Colonial play. If Hopewell and Trenton both win, they tie for the title. If Hopewell wins and Trenton loses, HoVal wins the crown. If Trenton and Ewing win, they tie for the title. If Hopewell and Trenton both lose, Ewing takes the undisputed crown. If that subplot isn’t enough, consider that this was just Hopewell’s second win over Trenton in at least 20 games, and its first home win against the Tornadoes in at least 15 years. Then throw in the fact that Hopewell was still without point guard Jude Berman (leg injury) while Trenton showed up without its top two scorers, Aivaye Ingram and Juan Sanchez, who were not present due to “in-house rules,” according to coach Darryl Young. Finally, with 23.9 seconds left and the score tied at 49-49, all heck broke loose when Trenton rebounded a missed HV shot and was fouled. But before shooting the two free throws, Hopewell coach Matt Stein correctly pleaded with the referees that TCHS had six men on the court when it got the rebound. After concurring, the refs awarded Trenton its two shots and gave a technical to the Tornadoes, giving Hopewell two free throws and the ball. Young was adamant afterward that he was calling timeout, “but they wouldn’t give it to me.” It was the game’s deciding sequence as Trenton missed both its free throws (it was 6-for-15 on the night) and Grayson Vlasac capped a banner night by draining both of his. Vlasac would also make one of two with 6.7 seconds left and Trenton was unable to hoist a 3-pointer. Vlasac was unfazed by all the commotion that unfolded prior to his winning attempts. “I just had to settle down, settle myself,” he said. “At the end of the day they’re just two free throws. Go in there and knock them down. I hit them in practice. We shoot them every day. I have to trust I’ll make it.” Vlasac collected 21 points and nine rebounds, scoring 14 in the third quarter when Hopewell cut a nine-point deficit to one. “He’s been huge for us this year,” Stein said. “Last year he was hurt the entire season. Coming out this year and being a leader, he has been incredible and he’s obviously big reason why we won today.” It was a massive win for Hopewell, despite Trenton missing two of the CVC’s top players. “This is definitely up there,” said Stein as to where it ranks in his head coaching career. “Hopewell hasn’t had many wins over Trenton, I’m not sure if we’ve ever had one at home. It’s very special. I know they were down a couple of guys but they’re still a special team over there; Pup does an amazing job. It’s a great job by our guys.” And while Young was incensed at not getting his timeout in the end, he was a gracious loser. “I’m missing 95 percent of my offense and defense,” he said. “But our guys fought hard. I can’t complain about this game. They fought their behinds off; they had a chance to win the game. I can’t take nothing from them. Hopewell came out on top tonight.” The Bulldogs kept the game at a slower pace and did not let Trenton go on any knockout runs. After HV tied it 13-13 and 15-15, the Tornadoes did score 11 straight before Vlasac tallied off a turnover to make it 26-17 at halftime. Kaleb Smith had 12 of his 18 in the half before Hopewell began bodying up on him after intermission. Jaydon English-Fulton scored four of his 16 points early in the third quarter for a 30-19 advantage before Vlasac went to work. The senior guard sandwiched two straight right corner 3-pointers around a Trenton bucket, and Chrisian Heide added a bucket to pull HoVal within five. “I’ve been struggling a bit from three during the season,” Vlasac said. “A game like that you gotta let it fly, trust that you can shoot the ball and it fell in the second half. “It was definitely a momentum shift. But we had big shots from everyone. Hustle plays from everyone, bringing the energy to get back in the game.” Vlasac’s sharp-shooting forced Trenton to go from zone to man-to-man, and the Bulldogs began to dissect with driving layups and backdoor passes. “We tried to make up not having our bigs being here and we just didn’t get it done,” Young said. “The zone was effective at first. We started giving up some three-pointers we didn’t give up in the first half. We got caught flat-footed in the corner and they hit some big threes to get them back in. “When we went back to man, we stressed all night about that curl play and they were hitting us with the curl. That changed the game.” It was like vintage Pete Carril, with layups and 3-pointers ruling the day. “Hard cuts, be patient, be confident with the ball and find (the cutter),” Stein said. “You gotta see the guy right away. Usually we’re delayed a second but if you get him right away, you’re gonna find that guy for a layup.” Hopewell’s tenacious defense forced 10 second-half turnovers while committing just five after turning it over nine times in the first half. After missing three opportunities to take its first lead, Hopewell got buckets from Heide and Ty Becker – who had eight of his nine points in the fourth – for a 41-40 edge. Becker followed with two threes to put HoVal up 44-42 and 49-46. Trenton tied it at 49 on a Jharris Ramos hoop and shortly after that, the chaos began. Hopewell emerged on top to complete a huge second-half comeback. “Our biggest thing is be confident,” Stein said. “Trenton will get you to play their style, but if we can get you to our tempo and under control, then we’ll be OK. The biggest things I wrote on the board today were confidence and togetherness no matter what happens. You know they’re gonna go on runs, you know they’re not gonna let you win. It’s always a dogfight.” It was another all-hands-on-deck effort for HoVal, which got some big shots from Carter Horvath and Emil Rybovic. “This is incredible to get a team win like that, with everyone coming together,” Vlasac said. “It’s so important to get a great team win against a really good team.” Hopewell is in its toughest stretch of the season, losing to Robbinsville and Lawrence (by two) last week and facing Trenton and Ewing this week. So far the Bulldogs have not wilted. “It shows just how much of a team we are,” Vlasac said. “Everyone contributes to our success. There’s not a person that doesn’t contribute. One person goes down, next man up. We’re feeling confident going into Thursday.” TRENTON (49) Smith 7-4-18, English-Fulton 7-1-16, Ramos 4-0-8, Hernandez 0-0-0, Cummings 1-1-3, Graffie 1-0-2, J. Smioth 0-0-0, Jackson 0-0-0, Whitaker 1-0-2. Totals: 21-6-49. HOPEWELL (52) Becker 3-1-9, Vlasac 8-3-21, Heide 4-0-8, Rybovic 3-0-7, Yadamiec 2-0-4, Horvath 1-0-3, Ballek 0-0-0, Schouten 0-0-0. Totals: 21-4-52 Trenton (11-5) 13 13 12 11 – 49 Hopewell (11-4) 13 4 20 15 – 52 3-point goals: Engish-Fulton, Becker 2, Vlasac 2, Horvath, Rybovic. ...read more read less