Sullivan, Guard Lead Chiefs to Playoff Win [VIDEO]

It looked like the biggest moment of Hopatcong's season.

The students' section in 's gymnasium erupted when Dan Sullivan caught the ball on the right wing and drained the fourth-quarter three-pointer that gave the Chiefs a comfortable lead en route to a 48-41 win over No. 9 Westwood in the North 1, Group 2 first round Tuesday.

But it wasn't even Sullivan's—let alone Hopatcong's—top feat, head coach Jim Tobin said.

The senior guard's defensive showing against the Cardinals' (13-13) leading scorer, Jake Kandel, who finished with 14 points, was the real highlight, Tobin said.

"The intensity on defense is what I was looking for," said Tobin, who switched Sullivan to Kandel in the second half after the shifty Westwood guard caused the Chiefs (14-12) trouble early.

Hopatcong, however, will need more of that kind of effort when it travels to No. 1 Pascack Hills for Thursday night's second-round matchup. The Cowboys dropped No. 16 Ramsey, 60-49, at home Tuesday.

The Chiefs are 6-5 on the road this season.

"You never know what's going to happen," Tobin said. "If we go down their focused, you know what, they've got to beat us. We're going down their with the idea that we can win the game."

Sullivan, who netted a game-high 18 points Tuesday as the Chiefs outscored the Cardinals 21-15 in the final quarter, agreed.

"They're going to be tough," he said, referring to Pascack Hills.

Senior forward Hunter Guard continued his march toward 900 career points. Guard scored 15, including 10 in the fourth, for 883 career points. Senior Vinny Marinoni finished with eight points on two threes and a layup.

Hopatcong spent most of the third quarter battling from behind, entering the fourth down a point. That's when things turned around for the Chiefs, who opened the period with a six-point run and twice led by as much as seven.

Sullivan's three-pointer with 6:11 left in regulation handed Hopatcong a 34-29 lead and sent the crowd into a frenzy. Then Guard sank a quick shot along the baseline for a seven-point advantage.

Guard said the Chiefs rely heavily on Sullivan's hot hand.

"I'll give him the shot 10 out of 10 times if he's open," Guard said.

Still, the Cardinals, who forced a tie heading into halftime despite going into the second quarter behind, weren't quite finished.

Kandel quickly nailed a layup followed by a contested three-pointer, chopping Hopatcong's lead to 36-34 with 3:21 remaining. And after sophomore Pat McNamara drilled a top-of-the-key jumper, Westwood senior guard Amal Pillai hit a layup to bring his team back within two points.

But Guard made sure that was as close as the Cardinals would get, fighting for a pair of layups to inflate the Chiefs cushion to six points. Forcing to foul to stop the clock, Westwood then watched Hopatcong net 6 of 7 free throws within the last 45.2 seconds to ice the game.

Cardinals head coach John Santulli said he couldn't fault his team's determination.

"With our team, it's never a question of our effort," he said. "We always play as hard as we can. Quite honestly, our goal is to play harder than the other team. I think their size just wore us down over the duration of the game.

"And they hit some big shots in the second half."

Tobin also said the Chiefs' second-half effort turned the tide.

"I'm proud of them," he said.