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Schools

Butler Looks Strong in Season Opener

Bulldogs defense forces 22 turnovers in victory over Hopatcong.

This isn’t last year’s basketball team. And it may be a team that the Bulldogs haven’t seen in a number of seasons.

Butler used a balanced offensive attack and capitalized on some pressure defense to topple Hopatcong, 60-51, in the opening varsity game for both teams on Friday night.

Senior guard James Spadaccini scored 19 points, Nick Costa added 12 and Billy White added 11 to lift the Bulldogs in front of a raucous home crowd in their new gym which flashed brand new Butler sports banners along its walls.

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Hunter Guard scored 14 points to pace the Chiefs, which start a new era following the graduation of Matt Tobin, the all-time leading varsity scorer in Sussex County boys basketball history.

Butler led throughout but couldn’t shake the Chiefs until a 15-9 third-quarter effort gave them a double-digit advantage going into the final period. The Bulldogs kept a comfortable lead for much of the fourth quarter and were happy to begin the season with a “W'”

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“I think everyone was thinking: same old Butler,’’ Spadaccini said. “We came out with confidence and showed them what we could do.’’

“It feels great to kick off the season with a win,’’ Butler coach Jon Simoneau added. “I don’t think that too many people could do that to Hopatcong. We have a shot at being a good basketball team but we have to keep getting better every day.’’

Spadaccini scored 11 of his points in the fourth quarter, including a few on fast-break layups which broke Hopatcong’s full-court pressure. The Butler standout averaged 22 points a game last year. This season he knows he has plenty of teammates to rely upon.

“Everyone on the floor can score 15 points a night,’’ Spadaccini said.

The contest was close during the first half and the Bulldogs held a 32-28 lead at halftime.

An important stretch in the game occurred midway through the third quarter. Hopatcong’s Ryan Clarke made it a 36-33 game at the five-minute mark. However, Butler busted the game open with a 9-0 run. White and Costa hit jumpers, Costa hit a free throw but when he missed his second of two shots on the shooting foul Nick Dalpan put back his miss for another score, Nick Ballestreri had a steal and a layup. The score was 45-33 with only a span of three minutes off the clock. Butler took a 47-37 lead into the fourth quarter.

“All these guys are the stars in a lot of the other sports in Butler,’’ Simoneau said. “We’ve scored more points off defense then we’ve scored in the half court today.’’

Butler has players like White and Dalpan who can get rebounds and score inside and Costa and Ballestreri can score on drives and knock down shots. Spadaccini also raves about the team’s aggressive defense that has kicked up the intensity a notch. On Friday they forced 22 Chiefs turnovers with many of those possessions turning into points.

“Our assistant coach Brandon Mefford is doing a great job,’’ Spadaccini said. “He’s made our defense more aggressive and uptempo. We can be more aggressive and take chances because we know we have some big guys behind us.’’

An early win and a good start and who knows where this will lead the Butler team. The Bulldogs are already talking about the upcoming game against Mountain Lakes, where the rivalry is extending past the football season.

“We played them twice last year and they scored 80 or 90 points against us,’’ Spadaccini said. “We want to bring that down.’’

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