Hopkinson assists Hubbard to third AAC White win


By Jon Moffett

HUBBARD — The only thing Hubbard’s Kurtis Drummond could do was sit in the bleachers — with a crutch underneath each arm — and watch as his team ran out the final seconds of the clock.

A torn meniscus sidelined the senior for Friday’s victory over Liberty High, and maybe for the season.

Hubbard won 78-54.

Head coach Rick Fox said Drummond, who also played football for the Eagles (11-5, 3-2 All-American Conference White Tier), sustained the injury in a game against Warren JFk last month.

Fox said Drummond will likely miss the remainder of the season unless the team makes “a deep run in the tournament.”

But the Eagles weren’t about to let the Leopards (4-15, 2-5 AAC White) walk out of their home gym with an upset.

Five Eagles scored in the double figures en route to the team’s third conference win this season.

Senior Chase Myers had a game-high 19 points, 13 of which came in the first half. Juniors Kory Hopkinson and Mike Lopuchovsky had 14 and 13, respectively while senior Taylor Loveless had 12.

Junior Corey Groscost had 10.

Fox said his team saw the court well and took good shots while operating its offense perfectly.

“We were able to move the ball and get open shots,” he said. “And if you get that open shot, you’re going to be able to knock it down.”

Hubbard took a 34-24 lead into halftime but didn’t let the double-digit lead affect its play.

The Eagles scored 24 points in the third period, allowing only 12.

Fox credited his team’s ability to remain composed.

“We just told them, run the offense, be patient and the shots are going to be there, especially against a team that like to gamble,” he said. “The first time we played them [this season] we weren’t really patient and they beat us by one at their place, so I just told them we have to play defense, be patient and the shots are going to be there.”

Liberty coach Marlin McGaughy said his team’s youth and inexperienced showed in the lopsided final score.

The Leopards began shooting 3-point shots midway through the fourth quarter in an attempt to come back. McGaughy said so many shots are uncharacteristic of his team.

“Sometimes you have to do things like that get back into the game,” he said. “We normally don’t take a lot of 3s, we try to run our offensive sets. But when you get behind so many points, you really just have to start throwing up some 3s and hope they go in.”

One thing McGaughy and the Leopards can take solace in is an impressive performance by freshman Preston Williams.

Williams led his team with 19 points, which tied with Myers for the game-high. Williams scored 12 points in the first half.

But the effort was too much for the Leopards, who had to deal with the dual threat of Hopkinson.

Hopkinson’s eight assists helped the Eagles, which has become a recurring theme this season.

“He’s been picking it up lately,” Fox said of Hopkinson. “In the last game against Chaney, he had 10 assists and has been averaging lately about six assists a game.”

Hopkinson tied the school record for 13 assists in the same Warren JFK game Jan. 22 that likely ended Drummond’s season.

Hopkinson also achieved a rare triple-double Tuesday.

“I’m just trying to get my teammates into the game, distribute the ball and make things happen,” Hopkinson said. “We’ve all got to step up, play our game, play tough and play hard.”

jmoffett@vindy.com

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