Hubbard overwhelms Salem in OT

By JOHN BASSETTI

VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF

HUBBARD — Just when Mike Lopuchovsky thought it was all over, his Hubbard High boys basketball team had to do it all over again.

The 6-foot-1 junior thought Ryan Bush’s 3-point goal at the buzzer at the end of the fourth quarter was enough to give Salem the victory in a close All-American Conference White Tier game Tuesday night.

But Hubbard’s three-point cushion — not two — near the end of regulation was just a temporary impediment to Bush’s electrifying basket as the Eagles outscored the Quakers in overtime to win, 75-65.

“I looked up and thought we were ahead by two at the time,” Lopuchovsky said of a Hubbard lead that was 62-59 on the scoreboard instead of a 61-59 score that lingered in his head. “So when they hit a ‘three’ I was surprised to find out that we were going into overtime.”

Even then, Lopuchovsky said he was worried.

“I thought it was going to be a dagger [knife to the heart] because their side was all up and excited,” he said of the lift Salem received from Bush’s only points of the game.

“But we came out and just poured it on.”

Lopuchovsky turned out to be the significant player with 30 points and 10 rebounds — another double-double to his credit lately.

Salem (5-6, 0-1) had a 53-48 lead with 5:05 remaining in regulation, but Lopuchovsky made eight points in the fourth quarter while Kurtis Drummond had his moments of glory on defense.

“At the beginning, we were missing some easy shots, so we tried to make up for it with our hustle and defense,” said Drummond, who had 14 points followed by Tylor Loveless’ 14 for the Eagles (7-3, 1-0).

Mike basically, carried us with his hustle, rebounding and scoring,” Drummond said. “So, he was a key part of it.”

But Drummond, a 6-3 senior, was disregarding his own contribution.

“Michigan State was here tonight for a reason,” Salem coach Will Klucinec said. “He’s going to Michigan State because he’s a Division I athlete,” Klucinec said. “With the amount of space Drummond takes up [covers lot of ground and air] and his quickness was evident and I hope our guys were watching him.

“If I want to be that guy, then we’d better start getting after it a little.”

After Bush and Salem forced the extra four-minute session, Hubbard went to work outscoring the Quakers, 13-3.

“We fought back and made some key shots,” Hubbard coach Rick Fox said. “We came back alive in overtime and took care of business.”

Klucinec said that Hubbard outplayed his Quakers in overtime.

“They made their free throws, and they made a couple easy buckets and we were playing catch-up right from the beginning in overtime,” Klucinec said.

Lopuchovsky and Drummond helped the Eagles break out after an anemic 11-point third period.

Salem’s top scorers were Ryan Wolfgang with 19, Trent Toothman with 15 and Jake Madison 13.

Both coaches have players who are insidious.

“Tylor is kind of sneaky,” Fox said of Loveless. “He gets into that lane and scores. If you look at him, he doesn’t look like a true basketball player but he gets the job done for us. He’s been working hard ever since 7th grade. To average 14 a game with the team we have — is huge.”

About Wolfgang, Klucinec said, “Wolfie’s one of those guys who looks kind of awkward and gangly, but he’s got the heart of a lion and intelligence.

“When you’ve got the brains and the heart you can do a lot of good things. He gets in the right spots and in the right positions and he’s only going to get better.”

bassetti@vindy.com