Girls Basketball: Toropiw Spurs Hopatcong to First Victory

Over the last three seasons, Hopatcong senior guard Kristen Toropiw has seen her Chiefs in situations similar to that of Thursday night's against Parsippany Hills.

The Chiefs maintained a lead into the fourth quarter. Toropiw, having seen her team tense up in these moments over her career, decided she wasn't about to let it happen again.

The senior off-guard scored 10 of her game-high 14 points in the second half, propelling the Chiefs to a 35-32 win over Parsippany Hills at

"Over the four years we tend to freak out when it comes to the important things," Toropiw said."Our defense tends to die. We'd get in foul trouble or something. Today, our defense didn't. No one was in foul trouble—I think the most someone had was three—and that was critical because our starters were in. Everyone did their part"

Toropiw iced the game in the closing seconds when, with the Chiefs up three points, she drove to the basket, got fouled, and converted a lay-up with 11.1 seconds left. Despite missing the free throw, Hopatcong held on for the win.

"It was a good win for us," Toropiw said. "It was the first win of the season and it's what we needed. We all worked hard, which is key. We just played well on offense and defense."

The squads played to a 11-11 tie after the first quarter. The Chiefs opened up the second quarter with a 6-0 run, highlighted by a Heather Yaros layup. Yaros, a sophomore, scored eight points and handed out an assist in the first half.

Parsippany Hills withstood the Chiefs' run and answered to close the gap before halftime. Within the last four minutes of the second quarter, the Vikings scored six straight points. But Yaros found a cutting Nikki Kaminski for a layup in the final seconds of the half to give Hopatcong a 23-17 lead.

Both offenses sputtered in the third quarter. Emily Muniz converted a three-point play in the quarter's waning seconds, cutting the Chiefs' lead to 31-26 heading into the fourth.

Dana Marxen's layup cut the Hopatcong lead to 31-28 with 5:32 left in the game. Then, Kristen Toropiw closed it out for the Chiefs. Toropiw made a steal at half court and converted the fast-break layup, giving Hopatcong a five-point lead with 4:38 left.

The teams traded turnovers until Lindsey Marxen's bucket with 57 seconds left, once again cutting the Hopatcong lead to just three points. Toropiw's layup with 11.1 seconds left gave Hopatcong a 35-30 lead and sealed the team's first win of the season.

Hopatcong relied on its defense in the second half to close out the game. Toropiw, Yaros, Jaronsky, and Bibeault all came up with steals in the second half.

 "(Coach Jamie) Douglas is more calm, which is nice," Toropiw said, laughing. "But I guess she can be now because everyone cares and everyone wants it. There's no more worry as to who's going to show up to practice and who's not. We all want to be here."