Hopewell Valley boys basketball
By: Mike Molaro
The hour-plus bus ride home provided the Hopewell Valley Central High School boys basketball squad with plenty of opportunities to replay Monday’s 59-56 loss at Holmdel.
With the county and state tournaments looming large, the Bulldogs (15-5 overall, 9-3 in the Colonial Valley Conference) are fine-tuning their game and paying attention to the little details that sometimes are the difference between winning and losing.
"We didn’t give a full 32 minutes," HoVal coach Tony Mormile said following the setback to Holmdel. "We played well for 20 of the 32 minutes. This is the time of year when you want to go all out. For us not to do that is a little disappointing. We started slowly and never could make that up."
HoVal, which secured the third seed and a first-round bye in the Central Jersey Group III section of the state tournament, found a couple of positives to build upon off the Holmdel loss.
"Sometimes in the state tournament you have to take long bus rides, so this will help us get acclimated to that," Mormile said. "Also, our first opponent in the states will probably be either Ocean or Long Branch. Seeing a shore team (Holmdel) will help us with that kind of style and that type of basketball."
Senior center Brendan Rutledge led the Bulldogs with 20 points, and senior guard Jeff Molinelli added 13. Holmdel led 15-8 after the first quarter.
Molinelli hit for a game-high 16 points, Rutledge scored 14, and senior guard Dave Coville chipped in with eight as HoVal downed Group IV opponent Hunterdon Central 54-48 last Friday on the road.
The Bulldogs, who have won four of their last six games, used a 21-14 third-quarter surge, keyed by Rutledge’s eight points, to take the lead for good. Molinelli popped in nine fourth-quarter points to stave off any thoughts of a home team rally.
"We started well," Mormile said. "Hunterdon Central shot the ball well. It was just a matter of getting Jeff and Brendan the ball in the right spots.
"We’ve had trouble on the road on Friday nights this season, but we’ve won our last two (at Ewing and at HC)."
HoVal has stacked its out-of-league schedule by choice, including Sunday’s contest against South Jersey Group IV opponent Winslow in the Cherry Hill East Invitational. These games don’t always result in wins, but they may provide dividends down the road.
"We are playing a hard schedule," Mormile said. "We want it to pay off for us. The guys are seeing what they need to do to be a successful team."
An hour-plus bus ride is a great opportunity for that.
NOTES: The Bulldogs, looking to clinch the CVC Patriot Division crown, are seeded second in the Mercer County Tournament and played host to seventh-seeded Steinert on Wednesday at The Dawg Pound in the quarterfinals. The Spartans defeated 10th-seeded Princeton Day 66-38 Monday.
"Steinert is a big, physical team," Mormile said. "They also have a lot of good shooters."
The MCT semifinals are Friday at Mercer County Community College.