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Howland rallied in the second half, but Struthers prevailed in the Division II opener.
Gallery
By John Kovach
Howland rallied in the second half, but Struthers prevailed in the Division II opener.
BOARDMAN — Sometimes big leads don’t matter at tournament time.
That’s because there is no tomorrow for the losing team in the second season.
But sometimes comebacks aren’t good enough either, no matter how big they are.
Such was the case in the Division II sectional opener Monday night between Struthers and Howland at Boardman High gym.
Howland fell behind by as many as 20 points in the second quarter, but rallied to take a one-point lead into the final period.
However, with the Tigers leading, 67-66, Matt Durkin of Struthers hit a four-point play — a 3-point goal from the far left corner and foul shot — with 15.8 seconds left to lift the Wildcats past the much-taller Tigers, 70-67, and into a sectional final.
Durkin finished with a game-high 27 points, including three 3-point goals and eight points in the final quarter, to lead Struthers (8-13), which advanced to play Hubbard (14-7) on Friday at 6 p.m.
The Eagles advanced with a 66-49 win over Southeast on Monday.
Howland took a 67-66 lead with 1:50 left on Matt Haering’s foul shot, but couldn’t come up with a key defensive rebound.
But the Wildcats eventually managed to get the final rebound and pass the ball out to Durkin for the game-winner.
“We were one rebound away from a victory. They missed [some shots] and all we needed was a rebound,” said Howland (13-8) coach Don Andres, whose Tigers beat Struthers by three points the last time they played. “We came back but we were too far behind and just couldn’t finish.”
Nate Jacubec added 17 points for Struthers, including two foul shots with 3:12 left on a technical foul that gave the Wildcats a 66-61 lead.
But Drew Guido and Ryan Glinn added back-to-back goals to pull Howland within 66-65 and set up the close finish.
Coach Joe Savko of Struthers said his team built the early lead “by taking good shots. We had good possessions. When we rush we don’t score well.”
But then Howland, trailing 40-23 at the half, applied its full-court press, created turnovers and outscored the Wildcats in the third 29-11 behind Jared Kirin and Tyler Scott.
Kirin had 13 of his 24 points in the third, while Scott had 10 of his 17. Drew Guido added 14 points for Struthers.
“They put a diamond full-court press on us [which] hurt us,” said Savko. “It’s hard for the little guys to throw over the big guys with their long, outstretched arms. It’s not a difficult press to break if you do the right things , but we made [some mistakes].”
But after Howland got back into contention, Struthers managed to handle the press better.
“We just played hard. We weren’t scared. We feared the press early on, but we gained more confidence on the press,” said Savko.
Like Struthers, Hubbard also built a big lead in its game over Southeast — with an 18-point command, 36-18, early in the third quarter.
But the Pirates outscored the Eagles in the third quarter 20-9, pulling to within 40-38 late in the third.
However, Hubbard regrouped offensively in the final quarter behind Kurtis Drummond, who scored nine of his team-high 24 points in that final span.
Bobby Thompson contributed 17 points for the Eagles, who also got strong play off the bench by Danny Duvall and Mike Lopuchovsky with all five of their points coming in the final period.
“The two sophomores, Duvall and Lopuchovsky, energized our team. They were all over the court, diving for loose balls,” said Hubbard coach Rick Fox. “Some of the older guys picked up on their play because they didn’t want to be outdone by the younger guys.”
Joey DeJacimo scored 19 points, including 12 points in the third quarter to spark Southeast’s comeback. He had four 3-point goals — three in the third. Ozzie Thomas added 10 points.
kovach@vindy.com