Quakers surprise Eagles, 59-51

Jordan Strabala’s 28 points powered Salem’s road victory.

Vindicator staff report

HUBBARD — On a day of transition in Washington D.C., the Salem High boys basketball team was doing the same in Hubbard’s gym.

The Quakers had no delusions about being the underdog against 8-2 Hubbard prior to Tuesday’s All-American Conference White Tier game.

But a 24-point fourth quarter and 28-point performance by left-handed guard Jordan Strabala shifted the balance of power — at least for a night — to the Quakers (6-4, 1-0), who won, 59-51.

Senior center Phil Bennett said his team’s quick transition offense enabled Salem to pour on the points during a 16-2 run in the final period.

“It was getting everything done quickly and that kept them off-balance and opened up that back door,” the 6-2 Bennett said of the path to their points in the final 61‚Ñ2 minutes after Hubbard held a 40-37 lead.

Bennett, who finished with 11 points, said he was surprised to beat Hubbard, but he also noted that the Eagles were a good matchup for the Quakers.

“Hubbard is a great transition team, but our defense did it for us tonight and limited them to minimal transition points by keeping them at halfcourt.”

Bennett was part of the momentum shift and actually punctuated the eruption when, following a timeout, took an in-bounds pass and made a layup at 1:00 to complete a press-breaker.

“We’re finally starting to see those backdoor seams that coach has been trying to get us to see,” Bennett said. “Jordan dumped in a bunch of points in the second half and it sparked our defense as well, which is what we wanted tonight.”

Coach Will Klucinec’s game plan to disrupt Hubbard’s offense, especially Sam Bellino and Kurtis Drummond, worked enough to give the Quakers some breathing room in the end.

“We were trying to disrupt their offense, but, luckily, we had a nice little lead and able to make some shots down the stretch,” Klucinec said.

He stressed the importance of Strabala’s contribution.

“Not only did he have to chase Bellino all night, but he had enough gas to produce offensively,” Klucinec said. “Anytime Jordan gets in that zone, he’s probably one of the best in the area. We haven’t seen that from his this year, but that’s helped him grow as a person and a player.”

Strabala made all but 11 of his points in the final frame, when he converted nine of nine goals.

Hubbard coach Rick Fox said his Eagles couldn’t stop Salem.

“We figured they’d come ready to play us zone tonight,” Fox said. “We told the kids what they needed to do, but they didn’t respond to it the first half. We played a pretty decent third quarter, but in the fourth we kind of eased up.

“We told the kids that if you give them a little opening, they’re going to beat you. They made their shots and we struggled to get shots off.”

Drummond had 19 points and Bobby Thompson 12 for the Eagles (8-3, 0-1).