Hopewell Valley Girls BasketballThe Hopewell Valley Central High School girls basketball team is enjoying one of its best years in quite some time.
By: Matt Nalbone
The Lady Bulldogs completed their busiest week of the year, in which they played four games in seven days, with a 3-1 record and a great individual accomplishment.
Kelly Cramp became only the third player in Hopewell girls basketball history to surpass the 1000 point plateau when she did so in a game against McCorristin Tuesday.
Cramp reached the milestone when she hit a foul shot in the first quarter, causing the game to be halted for a few minutes for a minor celebration. After getting a few gifts, a letter of congratulations was read to her from former Hopewell basketball legend and current commissioner of the WNBA, 1000-point scorer Val Ackerman.
Hopewell (11-5) did go on to win the game, 51-39, against a very tough team.
Cramp finished with 20, despite McCorristin using a box and one defense against her. She has averaged almost 16 points a game the past two seasons and is highly regarded by her coach.
"She is going to get her 15 or 16 each night," coach John McGinley said. "But she is very unselfish, she’s also the team leader in assists, steals and second in rebounding. She is a top athlete that is actually embarrassed by all the attention."
What made it even better for everyone was that the 1000th point came in a victory, one not as easy as it might appear.
"It was a tough game," McGinley said. "We were down 8-0 before we got in our rhythm, we wanted to make sure we won for Kelly."
Earlier in the week, Hopewell had its most important game of the year so far as it traveled to Ewing. The Bulldogs fought hard and beat Ewing, 50-45, for the first time since 1988, and in doing so qualified for the state tournament for the third-straight year.
It was their ninth win of the season and third-straight at the time.
"It’s a tough place to play," McGinley said. "We struggled early as they went box and one on Kelly. Others were open but not comfortable shooting."
Kristen Olson scored a season-high 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting, with 13 of them coming in the first half. Cramp finished with 15 11 of those in the fourth quarter when she took over the game.
She made two free throws to give HoVal a 48-45 lead late in the game, and then stole the inbound pass, dribbling around for a while before getting fouled and making two more foul shots.
The key to the game was a 13-0 run Hopewell went on in the third quarter, fueled by Jackie Kieffner’s five-straight points, including a 3-pointer.
"Once we were in control," the coach said, "we gained confidence and played really well. We then were able to slow the game down and stop them on defense."
Leslie Maurer chipped in with seven points for the victorious Lady Bulldogs.
The next game was vastly different as they had to play a very good Trenton team. The game was almost over as soon as it began as Trenton jumped out to a 20-8 lead and never looked back, eventually winning, 55-23.
Cramp had 14 points for HoVal on a night where no one else scored more then two.
"They are quick and so big," coach McGinley said. "They are a good team and we were happy to hold them to 55 points. We did some good things but everyone was tired. It was exam week and they were a bit drained."
The following day was once again completely opposite from the one before it, as Hopewell took on a young team from Bound Brook. This time it was the Lady Bulldogs scoring fast and playing good defense as they cruised to a 69-22 win.
Cramp had a career-high 38 points, running her career total to 992 at that point, and setting her up for the home game against McCorristin. She drained six 3-pointers on the day on eight attempts, and was 16-of-24 shooting overall.
Olson chipped in with 12 in a game that saw almost everyone get some playing time for Hopewell.
"They were a young team," said McGinley. "They struggled but played hard and it was a nice game for us after Trenton."
Having already qualified for the state tournament, the girls are now looking to get a few more wins and secure a home game for the playoffs.
Their season continues today (Thursday) against Hamilton and then moves on with a game against Princeton on Saturday.