BASKETBALL: Hopatcong Boys Rout Rivals

Vinny Marinoni drained a corner 3-pointer and started jogging upcourt before the smile fell from his face. The bucket didn't count. His teammate set an illegal screen, the referee said.

"Come on," Marinoni said, half-smiling, to the referee. "You're going to take that one away from me?"

It was about the only long-range bucket that didn't contribute to Hopatcong's blowout 58-24 win over rival Lenape Valley Tuesday night at . The Chiefs sank 11 3-pointers as they pulverized the Patriots and improved to 2-4 with a big Northwestern Jersey Athletic Conference Freedom Division matchup against Newton looming Thursday.

Hopatcong, which had lost two straight and taken last in its own Christmas tournament last week, knows it probably won't shoot as well as it did Tuesday against the Braves, head coach Jim Tobin said. So defense must be the priority to getting back into the division race after falling to Hackettstown earlier in the year, he said.

"We've got to go over there, take care of business," Tobin said.

"I told the kids before the season that we're not going to score the ball like we did the last two years. And it's not just about Matt Tobin," Jim Tobin said, referring to Sussex County's all-time leading scorer who graduated from Hopatcong in June. "So that means you've got to play the other side of the ball. If you play defense, you're going to be in the game. If you don't play defense and you don't shoot the ball, you don't win that ball game."

Marinoni, a senior guard, finished with 14 points. Senior guard Dan Sullivan netted a game-high 17 points—all in the first three quarters—for Hopatcong, which also received eight points from senior forward Hunter Guard.

Tom Hoyt led Lenape Valley with six points.

The victory was a result of Hopatcong finally playing as a team, Marinoni said.

"We just worked together," he said "Everbody was on the same page.

Sullivan agreed.

"The passes were on target, we ran our plays crisper," he said. "We were just executing everything."

Tobin said he hoped the win, during which Hopatcong jumped out to a 18-4 first-quarter lead and never looked back, would instill confidence in his players.

"We haven't been playing well," he said. "I thought they came out and executed the game plan pretty well (Tuesday). They came out with some confidence and they felt good about themselves—something that hasn't happened within the last several weeks. So hopefully this is a springboard going forward."

Hopatcong jumped ahead early, letting Sullivan fire away from the right wing. After Marinoni erased Lenape Valley's only lead—2-0 after a quick Johnny Leyden layup—with a 3-pointer, the Chiefs got rolling, scoring 18 unanswered points. Sullivan drilled a pair of threes and finished the quarter with eight points.

The Chiefs were far from done.

Hopatcong brought it to the Stanhope school, finishing the first half ahead 22 points. By the end of the third, the Chiefs were ahead, 40-20, and its student section, which was decked out in all white, cheered wildly.

Sullivan, who sank another pair of 3-pointers in the third, is one of Hopatcong's main deep threats, a spot-shooter who can go on scoring streaks. But he said something felt different Tuesday. He found his stroke after swishing his second trey.

"Just shoot everything that's open," Sullivan said he thought to himself after the bucket.

That seemed the rest of Hopatcong's mantra for the night, too. Guard also connected on a pair of threes. Ryan Clarke and Jon Parker each scored five points for the Chiefs, who also benefitted from plenty of Lenape Valley turnovers.

"It's a good win for the kids," Tobin said. "Hopefully the feel good about themselves."

What did you think of the win? Tell us in the comments.