Poland defeats Hubbard for 9th straight win

Luke Wollet became the Bulldogs’ single-season assist leader in the 92-72 victory.

POLAND — Dave Baker scored 20 points, had 11 rebounds and registered seven blocked shots while Luke Wollet became the Bulldogs’ single-season assist leader as Poland High defeated the Hubbard Eagles, 92-72, in an All American Conference intra-division contest Tuesday at the Poland Gymnasium.

The Bulldogs (18-1) won for the ninth consecutive time and will now host the Canfield Cardinals in the regular season finale Friday night for what they hope will be a share of the league’s Red Tier crown.

Poland’s only loss this season came at the hands of the Cardinals, 96-89 back on January 22.

In a game that featured 60 total turnovers – 34 by the Eagles – it was a 34-point final period orchestrated by the home team that allowed the Bulldogs to pull away for their 18th win in 19 tries this season.

“Hubbard did an excellent job tonight,” said Poland coach Ken Grisdale. “They competed as a team, never backed down and, despite their lack of depth, just kept coming at us.

“I have a lot more respect for them [Hubbard] than I do for my team right now. I was a little angry at my A group so when I went to my B group, they were ready and executed really well.

“Our kids can learn a lot from the Hubbard kids tonight.”

The Eagles (13-7) took an early 8-2 lead on the strength of Tylor Loveless’ five points. But the Bulldogs charged back to score 21 of the next 28 points to forge a 25-17 after the first eight minutes of play.

Loveless, who had a game high 27 points, scored 12 of his team’s 17 first-quarter points while Baker, who fell just three blocks shy of recording a triple-double, had 11 points for Poland.

“It was as if we weren’t focused at the outset of the game, but our B group stepped it up and came up big for us, especially in the fourth period when we needed it most,” Baker said. “I can’t say that we were looking ahead, but Coach [Grisdale] told us at halftime to keep our focus and that is exactly what we did.”

Back-to-back buckets by Hubbard’s Mike Lopuchovsky cut the Poland lead to 30-25 in the second quarter, but three straight empty possessions by the Eagles allowed the Bulldogs to open a 38-32 lead at the intermission.

“I was really proud of our kids and the way they competed the entire game,” said Hubbard coach Rick Fox. “I think we opened some eyes tonight with how hard we played and the overall effort that we put forth.

“I told our team at the half that we had too many empty possessions and against a team the caliber of Poland, you have to value every possession,” Rick Fox said.

Lopuchovsky, who has been averaging nearly a double-double all season long, hauled in a game-high 15 rebounds for the Eagles.

Wollet, who needed nine assists to tie Anthony DeFelice’s single season record of 142 set two seasons ago, had 13 assists in the game.

He also orchestrated a 10-point third period that enabled the Bulldogs to open a 58-50 lead heading to the final quarter.

Poland then used an 11-3 run to start the final frame as they built a 69-53 advantage. Nine points from Ben Donlow and seven more from Drew Wagner increased the margin to 85-58 before settling for the 20-point victory.

The Eagles, who finished as runners-up in the White Tier to Struthers High, lost for just the second time in their last seven outings.