After losing four key seniors from a 21-6 team — including co-CVC Player of the Year JM Vlasac — it looked like the Hopewell Valley Central High boys basketball team might slide back into anonymity this season.
But looks can be deceiving.
Through the season’s first month, the Bulldogs looked good as ever with a 10-3 record that included a nine-game winning streak. Their three losses were to talented West Windsor-Plainsboro North, Freehold Borough and Notre Dame — all by three points. The WWPN loss came on a buzzer beater that traveled three-fourths of the court.
“Horrible,” is how senior center Ethan Rich described the feeling after WWPN. “It’s like it happens in slow motion. You’re sitting there, the kid releases the ball, there’s just no way, and then ‘Oh my God!’ I wouldn’t wish that one on my worst enemy.”
That was followed by the Freehold loss, but it was only a temporary stub of the toe as the Bulldogs rebounded in style. They won the final John Molinelli Tournament and stood at 4-0 in the CVC’s Valley Division through their first 12 games.
“Losing four seniors last year and another starter who transferred to Hun, there were a lot of positions open,” coach Matt Stein said. “The rising seniors took it among themselves and stepped up in a big way. What’s special about them is they all bring something you need to the team.”
The coach added that the aggressive tone set by Vlasac has carried over this year. Having several players from the highly successful football team also helps in toughness and confidence.
“They’re taking the mindset of last year and building off that,” Stein said. “Everybody knows JM was one heck of a fighter. The guys who don’t play football also have a winning mentality.
“The JV guys only lost two games in the past two years. They know they can win there and they wanted to do it on the varsity level. They wanted to make sure people knew last year wasn’t just a one-year thing and they’re trying to keep it going here at Hopewell.”
Rich felt that because last year’s reserves practiced against the starters, it only made them better this season.
“I always had confidence in our team,” Rich said. “Last year in practice, with how successful our (starters) were, we would still keep it competitive and every day we would battle at practice.
“I didn’t have the biggest role ever last year but just being around it helped. JM and all of them showed how badly they wanted to win. They put their body on the line, anything it took to win, and that definitely rubbed off on everyone culture-wise. Everyone wants to win no matter what.”
Stein chuckled when thinking of the way Rich and Vlasac would battle.
“He and JM would go at it last year for sure,” the coach said. “You gotta keep those two away from each other. But JM definitely rubbed off on them.”
The 6-foot-6 Rich was HoVal’s leading scorer (11.6 points per game) and rebounder (7.5) through Jan. 17; emerging as a strong inside presence.
“He understood we lost some height from last year and he’s stepping up scoring and rebounding,” Stein said. “The biggest thing that has been massive about him for us has been his vocal leadership.”
As for on-the-floor leadership, junior Jude Berman is back doing a stellar job at point guard. His role is fairly important as Hopewell had to mesh new varsity starters along with football players who came in late due to state playoffs.
Berman, who was second-team All-CVC last year, leads the Bulldogs in assists and was third in scoring through 12 games with a 9.2 average.
“Having a strong returning point guard is definitely beneficial,” Stein said. “Point guard has almost been an Achilles heel on certain teams I’ve had. When we haven’t had one, teams pressed us all the time but Jude definitely helps us out. He settles us down, makes the correct pass. He gets us in our offense and he does it on the defensive side as well.”
Rich credited Berman with making him a better offensive player.
“It’s perfect having him,” the center said. “I said earlier in the season, he’s the shiftiest guy in New Jersey and I still stand by that. He gets by everyone. A lot of my work around the rim is because of him. He breaks a guy down and it’s a two-on-one. This year he’s been selfless dumping the ball off to me. All our guards have, and Jude especially.”
Senior Milan Desai, the CVC’s Player of the Year in football, has been stellar at off guard. By mid-season he was averaging 10.7 points and a team-high 25 three-pointers.
“He brings a little something whether it’s attacking the basket or an outside shot,” Stein said. “He’s another person who brings physicality. It’s hard to defend him especially when he gets going downhill.”
After seeing some time last season, junior Kyle Yadamiec has provided a toughness at forward and has had a few big scoring games.
“He’s played huge for us,” Stein said. “He does all those little things that don’t show up on the stat sheet.”
At the other forward is sophomore Cooper Briehler, who’s among the team leaders in assists, rebounds and steals.
“He hasn’t scored as many points as he wants to, but defense and rebounding are areas where he’s helped us out,” Stein said. “Hopefully we can get him going because he can knock down shots anywhere on the court.”
Every team needs a key sixth man and the Bulldogs have theirs in senior Dean Mantuano. If Hopewell is off to a sluggish start, he lights a fire. If things are going well, he keeps it that way.
“He’s been a huge spark plug for us off the bench,” Stein said. “He’s been scoring a lot recently but the biggest thing is his defensive presence. When he comes in everything just goes up to another level. He’s diving on the court all over the place. In our game PDS in the last minute, he dove three times in one possession trying to get the ball.”
And yet, despite strong individual play, Hopewell’s biggest attribute is that it plays as a team. There were five different leading scorers through the first 12 games, which Stein said “makes us a unique team.”
“Everyone definitely bought into the fact, we don’t have a Milo De Los Santos who is gonna score 22 points a game,” He added. “Our guys know if you’re not making shots you can count on somebody else so start finding them. We’ve had two games so far where we haven’t hit a three-pointer in the game. Knowing we’re not making threes, we went down to the big man, he had almost half our points in two games this year.”
And the “big man” wants nothing more than for Hopewell to turn around its close-but-no-cigar woes from last year when the Bulldogs came within a win of a division and Mercer County Tournament championship, and two wins from a sectional title.
“That’s the goal,” Rich said. “We said at the beginning of the season, one big goal is to get something on a banner, whether it’s division, conference, sectional, whatever it is. All we have is the division in 2005 and 2008.
“Last year we had all these chances and didn’t get it done. So there’s definitely a chip on our shoulder. It was right there, we weer so close, everyone was working so hard. Everyone wants to get it done this year.”
And Rich knows nothing is decided in mid-January, but hopes the progress continues into the post-season.
“We’re all just trying to stay humble,” he said. “We’re getting better as the season goes on. We’re starting to click with each other. The football guys have gotten back into the flow of basketball. Every day we just kind of figure each other out a little more.”
Hopewell Valley’s Ethan Rich takes a shot against Lawrence at the John Molinelli Holiday Classic, Dec. 28, 2024. (Photo by Mike Schwartz/mssphoto.com.),
