Clark leads Lakeview over Hubbard, 58-53

By Greg Gulas

HUBBARD — Justin Clark scored all 16 of his points in Friday’s second half as the Lakeview High boys basketball team defeated Hubbard, 58-53, in an All-American Conference White Tier game.

Clark also canned four of his team’s six buckets from beyond the arc.

The win gave the Bulldogs the series sweep over Hubbard as they won for the first time on the Eagles’ hardwood during Coach George Lanterman’s tenure.

“It felt just like tournament atmosphere tonight,” Lanterman said. “Both teams were aggressive the entire game on both the offensive and defensive ends of the court.

“Justin has developed into a real leader for us this season. He’s been solid all year and we trust him enough to get him the ball when we need to make a play.”

Clark, who was held scoreless by a stingy Eagle defense in the first half, scored eight points in each of the final two stanzas.

“This win is special because it’s the first time in my varsity career that I can say we won on Hubbard’s court,” Clark said. “We wanted to win this one badly for [Lanterman] as well.

“Even though the league crown was already clinched, it wasn’t tough for the team, especially the seniors, to get up for the game.”

Lakeview (15-4, 7-1) scored seven of the game’s first nine points, fell behind by an 8-7 count midway through the first period. When Robert Franks made a bucket and then added a three-point play, the Bulldogs built a 19-12 advantage.

As offensive as Lakeview was in the first period, Hubbard (13-7, 4-4) was just as defensive in the second quarter, outscoring the Bulldogs, 10-5 behind Kurtis Drummond’s six points as they cut Lakeview’s lead to 24-22 at intermission.

Drummond led all scorers with 20 points, narrowly missing a double-double as he added nine rebounds.

“This was a game that could have gone either way,” Hubbard coach Rick Fox said. “Kurtis is just a junior and has been starting for us since midway through his freshman year.

“We lost Sam Bellino to an injured leg, but players like Bobby Thompson, Kory Hopkinson and the rest of the team have filled in admirably in his absence,” Fox said.

Thompson added 12 points and 13 rebounds for a double-double.

Drummond’s seven points helped Hubbard build a 42-40 lead, but Franks, who finished with 10 points, had four points and four assists in the final quarter to help Lakeview seal the victory.

The Bulldogs were 22-of-53 from the field and 6-of-17 from beyond the arc while the Eagles could manage just 19-of-46 field goal attempts, connecting on just 1-of-10 3-pointers.

The Eagles held a 33-25 edge in rebounds but committed 17 turnovers to 10 for Lakeview.