Guarding Their House

By Joe Scalzo

Hubbard pulls off big upset

HUBBARD — Twenty minutes before Friday’s game, the Hubbard High parking lot was full, as was the middle school parking lot and the surrounding blocks.

“Our coach was saying how people in the community were like, ‘Oh, I’m going to watch Poland; I hear Poland’s gonna be good,’” said Hubbard senior Sam Bellino. “Out of our whole community, I think we [the team] were the only ones who thought we could win this game.”

He’s exaggerating, of course, but considering the Bulldogs hadn’t lost a game to a Mahoning Valley team in nearly two years, there were plenty of people taking a wait-and-see attitude.

Their doubts were erased as Bellino, fellow guard Kurtis Drummond and the rest of the Eagles beat Poland at its own game, rallying for a 81-78 victory.

“If we play as good as we played tonight, I don’t think anyone in the area can beat us,” said Bellino, who had 19 points, six rebounds and five assists. “Poland is a great team. I respect Poland a lot.

“It was good to win a game we weren’t expected to win.”

Drummond added 26 points, seven rebounds, three steals and three assists for Hubbard (7-2), which outscored Poland 40-35 in the second half. The two guards repeatedly broke through the Bulldogs’ full-court pressure, which was the key to victory, Poland coach Ken Grisdale said.

“They’ve got two really nice guards and one of the things we know is when teams only have one good guard, it’s a lot easier for us,” said Grisdale. “They were able to get a lot of easy looks and they hit the glass pretty hard, especially in the first half.

“They were well-prepared and they executed their game plan. They did a great job all around.”

Bobby Thompson added 10 points, including the game-clinching free throws with nine seconds left that gave the Eagles an 81-76 lead. Cory Farcas had 10 rebounds and gave Hubbard a physical presence inside to help offset Poland juniors David Baker and Ben Donlow.

“When we saw them on film, we said we’re not going to slow down,” said Hubbard coach Rick Fox. “With our guards, we thought we could break their press.”

Added Bellino, “I’ve been hearing, ‘Don’t run with them. They’re gonna outrun you. They have a deep bench.’ But we ran with them. They did a good job but we came out on top.”

Junior guard Niko Fatimus had 23 points to lead the Bulldogs (7-2), whose other loss came against Canton GlenOak. Donlow added 15 points and 12 rebounds, while Luke Wollet and Ben Brocker each had 12 points. Fatimus scored 14 points in the second quarter and the Eagles centered their defense around stopping him in the second half.

“They did a nice job of knowing what we wanted to do with the ball,” Grisdale said. “They had an athlete on Niko at all times.

“We need to come up with a couple other ways to score besides through him.”

The game was close throughout, with Poland trailing by just one (77-76) with 1:28 left. But a turnover, a missed free throw on the front end of a one-and-one and a missed shot down the stretch doomed the Bulldogs.

Poland had an awful night shooting, hitting just 27 of 74 from the field. (Grisdale still wasn’t sure how his team scored 78, saying, “That’s what I’m sitting here scratching my head about.”) And while it was just one game, it could be a preview of things to come in the Division II district tournament.

“You never know what happens, man,” said Fox. “We’re just gonna enjoy this one.”

scalzo@vindy.com