HAMILTON — The Hopewell Valley High boys basketball team has the word “Grit” embroidered on its warmup jerseys.

The Bulldogs needed it Thursday night in taking a 54-44 victory at Nottingham, snapping the Northstars four-game winning streak.

“That’s’ what we build our whole team around,” said Kyle Yadamiec, who led all scorers with 16. “No one’s got much size, no one’s got much talent, we really don’t play outside (the high school) season but we stay together, play hard, dive for loose balls all the time. We really center our team around grit.”

And they had it when it counted most.

Hopewell was without second-leading scorer Jude Berman (sprained ankle, day-to-day). Top scorer Ty Becker was held to five but did play a strong floor game. Nottingham cut a 10-point halftime lead to one on two different occasions, and had two straight opportunities to go ahead but missed the last shot of the third quarter and the first shot of the fourth.

On the verge of crumbling in one of the toughest Colonial Valley Conference environments, Hopewell responded,

“They dug deep,” said coach Matt Stein, who has a team that was racked by graduation off to a 6-2 start. “Grit was the theme coming into the season. Play hard, play together. We knew they would go on some kind of run, but we stayed strong and stayed together, that’s the biggest thing.”

After the Northstars (6-2) misfired to start the fourth quarter, Yadamiec hit two of three free throws. Harry Bisset, who had 15, responded with a 3-pointer for Nottingham to cut the deficit to 41-39.

It would be the closest the Stars would get from that point.

Emily Rybovic, who had 10, drained a three. Dante Vazquez (9 points) hit two free throws to make it 44-41 before Hopewell went on a 9-0 run to open a 12-point lead with under a minute remaining.

Becker hit a big three to provide breathing room and start the run. Christian Heide made two free throws and on two straight possessions the Bulldogs withstood Nottingham’s extended zone pressure to find Josh Ballek underneath for open layups. Hopewell hit three of its nine 3-pointers in the final quarter when it outscoring Nottingham 17-8 after scoring just five third-quarter points.

“We just had to make sure we were in the right position and stay together no matter what happens,” Stein said. “Hopefully we get Jude back sooner than later but other guys stepped up. Yaddy had a heck of a game, so did Ty. Josh Ballek had a heck of a game, Christian Heide starts now, so it’s a plethora of guys.”

Grayson Vlasac was the guy in the first half, scoring 10 of his 12 points during that time as Hopewell held a 30-17 lead at one point. The Bulldogs shot 12-for-20 in the half.

They cooled in the third quarter, committing six turnovers and shooting just 1-for-5. Nottingham took advantage and got within 35-34 and 37-36 as Hopewell had more difficulty getting it inside after the Stars went from a 1-3-1 to a 2-3 zone.

“It’s gonna happen,” Stein said. “You go cold, you gotta mix it up, find that extra pass. They did toward the end that’s how we ended up building that lead.”

“They made it a little more intense, the noise kind of ramped up a little,” Yadamiec said. “Sometimes it’s hard to get it inside. Coach Stein kept saying stay together, quick ball movement, don’t be selfish. The more we passed the ball the more good shots we got.”

The most impressive aspect was the Bulldogs composure as the lead dwindled.

“Our coach always says it’s a game of runs,” Yadamiec said. “We’ll have our runs, they’ll have theirs. It’s just whether we can respond. If we stay composed and play together as a team we should be able to survive that adversity.”

Stein said he is proud of his team after winning both games without Berman. He called the latest victory “absolutely” the best win of the year.

“It’s a tough place to play, Nottingham is having a heck of a season, they’re playing well,” the coach said. “We lost Jude but the next guy up has been unbelievable.”

This time it was Yadamiec.

“Yeah it was me this game but we play as a team all the time,” the senior said. “Credit to my teammates, passing the ball, quick ball movement. We really are a team. My shots fell tonight but in other games other guys step up.”

It has led to a surprise start for Hopewell, which graduated three of its top four scorers from last year’s 22-7 team.

Expectations from outsiders were not high at the outset.

“People don’t have to expect much but we knew coming into this season we had what it took,” Yadamiec said. “A bunch of us have played together all our lives and we’ve always been a winning team”

So far, they are keeping that tradition alive.

HOPEWELL VALLEY (52)

Becker 2-0-5, Vlasac 4-2-12, Rybovic 4-0-10, Yadamiec 5-2-16, Heide 1-5-7, Ballek 2-0-4, Troiano 0-0-0. Totals: 18-9-54

NOTTINGHAM (44)

Coleman 1-0-3, Rumph 0-0-0, Roberts 0-0-0, Bisset 6-0-15, Vazquez 3-3-9, Dormevil 3-2-8, Cox 3-3-9, Antoine 0-0-0. Totals 16-8-44

Hopewell Valley (6-2) 16 16 5 17 – 54

Nottingham (6-2) 12 10 14 8 – 44

3-point goals: Becker, Vlasac 2, Rybovic 2, Yadamiec 4, Coleman, Bisset 3.