Slow start, fine finish for Struthers

By Chuck Housteau

HUBBARD — The Struthers High girls basketball team started slowly Wednesday against Hubbard.

But who could blame the Wildcats, who recently clinched the school’s first girls basketball league championship in 20 years?

Struthers (14-5, 8-0 All-American White Tier) eventually started playing like champions against the Eagles and pulled away to a 51-36 victory to finish undefeated in the league.

“We were a little flat,” Struthers coach John Grandy said. “I was worried about us coming out slow.

“This was the first time we’ve won a title here in 20 years and these girls haven’t even been around 20 years,” Grandy said.

“I was worried about how we would approach this game, but I found out we have some real character on this team,” Grandy said. “I liked the way we got after it after that first quarter.

“I think the girls really wanted to finish the season at 8-0 in the league.”

Hubbard (6-14, 2-6) came into the contest fired up after introducing six seniors prior to the game on “Senior Night.”

The Eagles battled the Wildcats for the first eight minutes and held a slim 6-5 lead after the first quarter.

“These are the seniors that have been playing here for so long,” said Hubbard coach Russ Stoffer. “This was their night and they hustled and played hard the whole night.”

Struthers finally got its offense going because of its defense.

“We won the game on defense,” Grandy said. “We really put pressure on them. If we play defense and take care of the ball I really believe we can play with anyone.

Dana Mathews got her offensive game going in the second quarter as she scored 11 of her 16 points to ignite the Wildcats.

Defensively, Struthers held the Eagles to seven points in the second quarter and pulled out to a 19-13 lead at the break.

“We really started to take care of the ball after the first quarter,” said Struthers’ only senior Sally Phillips who finished with 11 points and seven rebounds. “Our defense was outstanding for most of the game.”

Junior Helen Hird also had a big game as she scored 12 points and grabbed seven rebounds.

“Once we knew we were in trouble we stepped up our game,” Hird said. “We wanted to finish the game strong.”

Hird and Phillips had big third quarters as Struthers held Hubbard to only four points while pulling away to a 41-17 lead after three quarters.

Hubbard was led by Brittany Bullock who tallied 11 points.

Allie DeLuco added eight points and pulled down a team-high six rebounds.