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STREAK-SNAPPER
Hubbard took control early, survived Struthers’ pressure and snapped the Wildcats’ 11-game tier streak.
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NICE PLAY: Hubbard’s Krista Julian (10) knocks the ball away from Struthers’ Dana Mathews during the first period Monday.
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BACKING HER DOWN: Struthers’ Kaitlyn Opritza, left, gets position inside against Hubbard’s Allie DeLuco during the first quarter of Monday’s game.
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Struthers' Ashley Baron (24) and Hubbard's Haley Turner (22) during the first period Monday.
HUBBARD — The Struthers High girls basketball team entered Monday’s game leading the AAC White Tier with a 3-0 record, but got knocked off by Hubbard, which is now 3-0.
“They’re in the driver’s seat,” said Struthers coach John Grandy after his team’s 67-51 loss.
Hubbard (8-7) accomplished that by putting its best foot forward, especially against the Wildcats’ pressure — sometimes from all parts of the court.
“I’ve got to give Hubbard credit,” Grandy said. “They knew what they were doing defensively, which is to do their best to control Dana [Mathews],” the coach said of his top scorer. “Our other people have to step up. We didn’t shoot real well, but I think our effort was good. We didn’t play a real good game, but a lot of that goes to Hubbard and coach [Ross] Stoffer.”
Despite Mathews getting 20 points and Katelyn Ardale 17, Hubbard players were steady in scoring and strong on the boards as they kept up the flow and intensity with quarters of 12-18-17-20 points.
Struthers’ woes were accented by an 8-point third quarter and less-than-satisfactory shooting and rebounding.
In having an 11-game White Tier win streak snapped going back to the 2008-2009 season, the Wildcats (10-4) made only 11 of 27 free throws. Hubbard made 26 of 40.
Coupled with Hubbard’s success against the press, it was an unbeatable combination.
Eagles’ third-year coach Ross Stoffer gave his analysis.
“Because Struthers applies a lot of pressure, we knew the key was having good spacing to be able to get those cuts [moves by open players] inside. We knew we weren’t going to be more physical than them, but we had to be more physical than we had been. That way you can have spacing, get the ball kicked [moved down floor], then get your shots inside.
“Secondly, was rebounding. Last year, our post players of [Haley] Turner, [Jillian] Hinkle and [Allie] DeLuco were sophomores playing against them [Struthers]. Now they’re juniors and are able to rebound better because they’re more aggressive. Thirdly, we had to concentrate on Mathews because she’s their spark plug. We know she was hurt last week — as was Helen-Marie Hird — and they weren’t 100 percent. We needed to focus on those things, we did and we were successful.”
Hubbard’s balance was evident with DeLuco and Seech each scoring 15, while Kelly Bullock had 14.
Hird scored two points and eventually fouled out with 4:56 remaining.
“It was going to happen, but now we have to go from here,” Grandy said of the end of his girls’ streak and their upcoming game against Liberty.
“There’s no degree for error. Hubbard comes to our place later in the season, so we’ll see what happens.”
He said that Mathews’ shooting was off a little due to her banged-up right leg, but stressed that it’s not an excuse.
Grandy concluded by saying, “We’re not a one-girl team. Our other four people and our bench have to respond a little. I thought Hubbard did a good job on the glass and that’s where we usually do a pretty good job, so I tip my hat to Hubbard. We won’t let one game define our team. We’re going to get tougher and work harder.”