Spartans retake H/W/S title

Fans experienced yet another edition of the storied crosstown rivalry between Sparta High School and Pope John XXIII Regional High School on Friday, Feb. 21.

The familiar matchup wasn’t played in either school’s home gym but in the Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex Tournament girls basketball championship game at Centenary University in Hackettstown.

Sparta emerged with the nail-biting 40-38 win, claiming its fourth H/W/S title in the past five years.

From the opening tip, the Spartans’ game plan was clear: Don’t let Mia Washington beat them.

The players came out in a box-and-one defense, with junior Moira Sweeney shadowing the Pope John star and daring another Lions player to put the ball in the basket.

Washington had 22 points in the first matchup between the two teams, leading Pope John to a resounding 46-30 win Jan. 25.

First-year Sparta head coach Patrick McCarney knew that if his team was going to lift the trophy, it needed to try something different.

“(Washington) is such a good athlete. She is so fast, and we said, ‘We gotta find a way to keep it out of her hands.’ ”

Despite the coverage, Washington had five of the Lions’ eight points in the first quarter, as Sparta led by two at the end of the period.

The Spartans started to pull away in the second period, behind some hot three-point shooting. Brooke Shust and Katie Sutton hit back-to-back three-pointers as Sparta extended its lead to 22-15 heading into the halftime break.

’Didn’t make plays’

The Pope John offense continued to struggle early in the third quarter.

“We knew what they were doing. It was just a matter of us making plays and we didn’t make plays,” said Pope John head coach Peter Torres. “They outhustled us today. They played really well, I thought.”

The Lions finally got a spark from senior Maddie Tybur, who hit a three to cut the deficit to two as the third-quarter buzzer sounded.

The fourth quarter became a back-and-forth battle. Pope John battled all the way back to tie the game off a floater from Washington, and a game in which Sparta had led all of the way seemed to be slipping away.

Senior Abby Conors stole an errant pass from the Lions and finished on the other end, giving the Spartans a two-point lead with 45 seconds to go.

“One of our main goals before the game (was) we said we had to stay composed,” she said.

After a timeout from Torres, the Spartans once again doubled Washington, successfully getting the ball out of her hands.

This time, Lions freshman Natalija Novkovic got loose in the corner for three, giving Pope John its first lead with 30 seconds left in the game.

After another timeout, Sparta got the ball in the hands of senior Molly Chapman. She drove toward the paint and got fouled, putting her on the line with a chance to win.

Chapman calmly made both, once again putting Sparta on top.

“Just staying calm at the free throw line; free throws are huge,” she said. “We practice them every day so it’s just muscle memory and hitting them.”

Chapman is MVP

Chapman took home H/W/S tournament MVP honors.

“I’m so proud of the team for finishing the game, and winning the MVP is just the cherry on top,” she said.

Pope John had a chance to tie the game in the closing seconds, but a missed reverse layup by senior Katie O’Keefe sealed it for the Spartans.

This is Sparta’s fourth H/W/S title in the program’s history, with the others in 2020, 2022 and 2023. The tournament was not held in 2021.

Pope John won the championship last year.

“It’s definitely a little more satisfying knowing that we avenge a loss earlier and the in-town rivalry, but winning any title is awesome,” said McCarney.

Both teams now set their sights on the state tournament, but Pope John had wanted to repeat as H/W/S champs.

“A lot of the kids, this is their No. 1 goal and you have opportunities and we just didn’t take advantage of it,” said Torres.

Conors said, “There’s no better feeling than beating them, especially in an atmosphere like this and in a championship.”