Eagles keep TAC hopes alive

Robert Wigfall made big plays down the stretch for Hubbard.

By DOUG CHAPIN

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

CORTLAND — Hubbard High stayed alive in the Trumbull Athletic Conference boys basketball race with a clutch 57-49 road victory Tuesday night over Lakeview.

Senior guard Robert Wigfall made two free throws with 2:27 remaining to give the Eagles (11-4, 7-2 TAC) the lead for good, then made a steal and layup with 36 seconds left to play to help clinch the victory.

“There were six games left going into the game and we were two games behind Newton Falls,” Hubbard coach Rick Fox said. “So the loser was going to be three back with five to play. No one thinks Newton Falls is going to lose three games.

“We told the kids, we had to come here and play hard. The last time Hubbard won here might have been eight years ago. It’s a hard place to play, but the kids played hard.”

Hubbard had four scorers in double figures. Sophomore guard Kurtis Drummond came off the bench for 16 points. Corey Hitt tallied 14 points, Wigfall finished with 12 and Marc Kanetsky scored 11 points and dished out five assists. The Eagles only attempted 35 shots, but made 21 for a sizzling 60 percent.

“We moved the ball well, we made hard cuts and we told the kids to be patient, the buckets would be there,” Fox said. “Plus, they are a very unselfish group of kids.”

Robert Franks led Lakeview (9-6, 6-3 TAC) with 18 points, eight rebounds and four steals. Jon Kittle added nine points and Dan Whaley dished out five assists.

“I thought at times we were playing too fast on offense,” Lakeview coach George Lanterman said. “We talked about that at halftime and during a couple of timeouts. I thought when we came out and slowed down and reversed the ball around, we got it inside.

“We didn’t necessarily get shots inside because they were doubling down on our posts, but we were getting kickouts and reversals and looks and stuff like that. It seemed like when we were able to slow down offensively, we did OK.”

Franks scored 16 of his points in the first half as Lakeview held first-quarter leads of 8-0 and 20-9. A Kanetsky 3-pointer in the final seconds made the score 20-12 at the quarter break. Lakeview’s largest second-quarter lead was nine points, the last time at 25-16 with 5:27 on the clock. But the Eagles tied the game at 27-27 at halftime and neither team led by more than five in the second half until the final seconds.

“When they came to our place [a 55-44 Hubbard victory], we took the ball out of Kittle’s hands,” Fox said. “But things change, and I saw in the boxscores that Franks has picked up his scoring as the season has gone on. He came up big in the first half, but our kids hung in there. At halftime we told the kids we had to get on Franks, and we were able to stop him.”

The lead changed hands five times in the fourth quarter until it was tied at 49 with 3:19 remaining. Wigfall then made his key free throws after a foul was called as he took a jumper in the key, a call which drew protests from the Lakeview bench.

Kittle missed a 3-point attempt at the other end and Kanetsky rebounded for Hubbard. As the Eagles ran time off the clock, Drummond lost control of the ball for a turnover. But then Wigfall stole a Lakeview pass and converted the layup for a 53-49 lead with 36 seconds left.

Hubbard turned up its defense a notch, preventing Lakeview from getting a good look. Drummond rebounded a miss and was fouled with 13 seconds to play, making both free throws to clinch the win.