Hopatcong Basketball Star Breaks Sussex County's Career Scoring Record

Everyone in Hopatcong’s gym knew it would be Matt Tobin’s night from the opening tip to the final buzzer. They also soon began to realize it would be the Chiefs’ night, too.

Ten minutes before the game, there was an electricity in the air among the crowds from both teams in anticipation of Tobin’s quest to become Sussex County’s all-time leading scorer and Hopatcong's plans to advance to the second round of the North 1, Group 2 playoffs with a win over Pompton Lakes.

Tobin and his teammates didn’t disappoint a near-capacity crowd as the Chiefs downed Pompton Lakes, 68-56, on Monday night.

The senior guard, bound for Division II East Stroudsburg University next fall, broke the record of 2,287 points held by Sparta's Chris Jent on a driving layup with 1:15 left in the opening quarter, and he added 31 more points to highlight his 38-point effort.

In the game’s first two minutes, Tobin drained a long 3-pointer that gave Hopatcong a 5-3 lead, an advantage they only relinquished twice in the game. He later scored the game’s last 10 points over a span of just under three minutes.

The victory elevated the No. 5 Chiefs (19-8) to the second round against No. 4 Elmwood Park on Wednesday.

On his banner night, Tobin didn’t want to share the spotlight alone.

“It’s a great accomplishment and it probably won’t sink in until after the season” said Tobin, who earlier this season broke his father Dennis' all-time school scoring record of 2,091 points. “All season, I have just tried to make the right play every time down the floor. Our coach said it doesn’t matter how we win, but we want to be able to go to practice tomorrow.”

Regardless of the outcome, head coach Jim Tobin appreciates his nephew’s contributions.

“Matt has really stepped it up for us,” Jim Tobin said. “He came in with a purpose this season and wanted those records. Since he broke the 2,000 mark, he has averaged 31 points a game. He just has a different motor than anyone else.”

The Chiefs ran with Tobin’s motor in the first two minutes of a third quarter when he scored eight points, blocked two shots and handed out two assists in a 14-0 flurry that snapped a 29-all tie at halftime.

But No. 12 Pompton Lakes (10-12) responded with their own 17-4 spurt over the final five minutes of the third behind Gianpolo Marchese and Greg LoPotro  (team-high 15 points, 12 rebounds) to close to within 47-46 at the end of the quarter.

“When we called a timeout, we talked about how it could have been the last three minutes of our career together and that really pushed us,” Tobin said of Pompton Lakes’ run. “They had their run, but we hung in there and came out on top.”

‘The first three minutes of the third quarter basically won the game for us” Jim Tobin said. “It was important to the outcome of the game. They came back, but our composure has been good enough all year and we withstood it.”

From there, both teams exchanged baskets in the opening minutes of the final quarter until Pompton Lakes took only their second lead of the game at 54-52 on Cody Nagy’s layup with 4:18 left in the game.

But Hopatcong junior forward Hunter Guard  (team-high 10 rebounds) and Jon Parker (9 rebounds) took control of the boards and helped fuel the Chiefs’ fast break behind Tobin as they closed out the game with 16-4 run, mostly on layups, in the final three minutes.

“We had our big run and then we seemed to shut down a little,” said Guard, who added 13 points. “We got over it and we stepped it up when we had to. Both teams worked hard and put it all on the line.”

“Once Hunter and Jon began rebounding, it opened things up for us,” Jim Tobin said. “We have been getting contributions from a number of people and they have started to find their roles. We have found a way to get it done and our goal was to get 20 wins. We just have to keep it going.”