Poland back in final

By Pete Mollica

The Bulldogs used a big third quarter to defeat Hubbard, 76-63.

BOARDMAN — Poland High boys basketball coach Ken Grisdale needed to get his team’s attention during halftime of Tuesday night’s Division II district semifinal contest against Hubbard.

Grisdale’s halftime talk seemed to do the trick as the Bulldogs came out in the third quarter and took control of the contest en route to a 76-63 victory over the Eagles. They earned a berth in Saturday’s district championship game against the winner of tonight’s Streetsboro-Mooney game.

“I wasn’t upset with their effort in the first half, but I was with the execution,” Grisdale said. “We had three players doing what they were supposed to do and two that weren’t and we made the adjustments.”

The Bulldogs (18-4), who held a 39-35 halftime lead, opened the third period with a 16-3 run, took control of the contest and never let the Eagles back in the game.

“We came out and executed much better in the third quarter,” Grisdale said.

Leading the way for the Bulldogs was junior Ben Donlow, who had a game high 24 points and also added 16 rebounds and was virtually unstoppable.

“Ben is very capable of doing just that and tonight he was a force on the glass on both ends of the court,” Grisdale said.

Hubbard (15-8), which owned one of the four victories over the Bulldogs this season, played Poland on even terms for the entire first half.

“We played well in the first half and we were able to handle their pressure and get some easy baskets,” said Hubbard coach Rick Fox.

“In the third quarter we made some poor passes and had some costly turnovers and let them get control,” he added. “But give the kids credit; they came back in the fourth quarter, cutting the lead to 13, but then we just ran out of gas.”

The Eagles were led by junior Kurtis Drummond, who finished with a team-high 20 points, while sophomore Mike Lopuchovsky added 16.

The first quarter was a typical battle with the score being tied three times and the lead changed hands six times over those eight minutes.

Nick Wollet’s basket with two seconds left gave the Bulldogs a 19-18 lead at the end of the quarter.

Poland increased its lead to 26-20 early in the second quarter and led by as many as seven (37-30) before the Eagles closed the gap to 39-35 at intermission.

Donlow and Niko Fatimus got things going quickly for the Bulldogs in the third quarter scoring, 14 of the first 16 points in the run. Fatimus had eight, including two 3-pointers and Poland quickly was in control, 55-38.

The Bulldogs led by as many as 20 points (60-40) before the Eagles made a run early in the final quarter. They scored eight straight points to get to within 13 points (63-50), but the Bulldogs would not let them get any closer.

Fatimus finished with 18 points, including four 3-point goals, while David Baker also reached double figures with 10.

If the Bulldogs end up playing Streetsboro in Saturday’s final it would pit the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in the tournament.

But Grisdale wasn’t looking ahead.

“Mooney can be a tough team to beat if they can control the game like they did last week,” Grisdale said. “Whoever we play I’m sure it will be a whale of a game.

Poland has won the last two district championships.

mollica@vindy.com