43
Lopuchovsky, Eagles cruise past West Branch
By JON MOFFETT
jmoffett@vindy.com
BOARDMAN
Photo
Salem’s Trent Toothman (12) and Ravenna’s Stephen Wilmington (21) chase the ball during the first period of their Division Ii basketball sectional Tuesday at Boardman High School. The Eagles cruised past the Quakers, 51-48.
Hubbard senior Mike Lopuchovsky has a little extra incentive to improve upon his free-throw shooting, which is something that has plagued him all season.
Lopuchovsky went 4 of 11 from the line, but had a game-high 18 points en route to a 50-40 victory over West Branch. As a team, the Eagles (14-7) went 7 of 20 from the charity stripe.
“We can improve a lot. As a team, we’ve struggled all year,” Lopuchovsky said. “Personally, I’ve struggled too.”
And about that incentive?
“Even coach said if I shoot 80 percent [from the free-throw line] in the tournament he’d hook me up with a date,” he said with a smile. “But after that, I think I’m in trouble. We just need to keep working on it.”
The victory over the Warriors (5-16) puts the Eagles in the second round of the Division II sectional tournament. And if Lopuchovsky isn’t able to find a companion to court, he still has an important date to mark on his calendar.
The Eagles will play Struthers, which swept the regular-season series against Hubbard this year, March 5 at 7:30 p.m. Lopuchovsky said he knows the matchup is huge.
“They’re a good team, but we’re just going to go out there and play,” he said. “We’ve played them twice, so we know what they’ve got. We both know each other. The last time we played them, they took it to us on our court, so we just have to come out ready to play.”
Lopuchovsky and the Eagles seemed they couldn’t decide if they were ready to play Tuesday night. After leading 31-22 at halftime, the Warriors went on a 10-5 run in the third quarter and were down only four with one period left.
Hubbard coach Rick Fox said it’s better to get the bugs out in the early round of the tournament before it comes back to bite them.
“We’ve got to shoot some free throws tomorrow in practice I guess,” he said. “But the kids played hard and they didn’t give up. [West Branch] cut it to four in the third quarter, but we didn’t give up. They played hard, and we’ve done that all year. I’m just going to tell them if we make those free throws, we’re coasting.”
It may not have been quite a coast, but the Eagles were at least able to enjoy a somewhat smooth ride, thanks in part to Lopuchovsky.
“He’s been giving that effort all year,” Fox said of the senior guard. “He’s averaging a double-double and he just goes after the boards. I think he’s 6-foot-1, but he plays like he’s 6-foot-5 or 6-foot-6, and he does a great job. That effort is unbelievable.”
Joining Lopuchovsky in the double-digit points for the Eagles was fellow senior Chase Myers, who had 15 points. West Branch’s Tylor Rockwell led the Warriors with 13 points.
In the first game of the night, Ravenna was able to outlast Salem for a 51-48 victory.
The Ravens (11-10) capitalized on poor free-throw shooting by the Quakers (9-12). Salem went 3 of 12 from the line. Ravenna didn’t fair much better, going 5 of 11.
But 13 points from Jermaine Justice Jr., and another dozen from Stephen Wilmington, helped the Ravens advance to the second round.