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Sharp shooting helps lift Struthers
By Greg Gulas
CAMPBELL
The Struthers Wildcats relish the opportunity to shoot from beyond the arc.
Coach Joe Savko encourages the launched missiles, but only when a player has an open look at the bucket.
On Friday against arch-rival Campbell, the Wildcats deposited nine triples en route to a 57-38 victory over the visiting Red Devils in the season opener for both schools.
Jake Jacubec scored a game-high 21 points while classmate Jordan Sapp added 13 points, each connecting on three buckets from 3-point range to pace the Wildcats.
“When you only have one returning starter, you never know what to expect in the opening game of the season,” said Savko. “We had some good looks and really took care of the ball in the first half, but near the end of the third period and well into the latter stages of the final quarter we were a bit sloppy.
“It’s in the third and fourth quarters of play when you take care of the ball and play fundamentally sound that you can become a good team, so that is one area that we will definitely address and then pay plenty of attention to in upcoming practices.”
Sapp made all three of his triples in the opening frame, scoring nine of his team’s first 11 points to stake the Wildcats to the early 11-2 lead. Jacubec added nine of his 21 points in the opening frame as Struthers raced to a 22-12 lead.
“I warmed up exceptionally hard and broke a good sweat, so I was more than ready when I had the open shot,” Sapp said. “I was just lucky that they fell and we were able to get a nice cushion heading to the second quarter.
“I did miss some boxouts, however, and getting better position defensively is something that I will have to work on.”
Jacubec said the Wildcats may have had some opening-season jitters.
“That is only natural when you’re playing your arch-rival in the opening game of the season,” he said. “Once we got going, it didn’t seem like a bunch of first-year players trying to find their way on the court.
“In the future, we’ll need to limit opponents to just one shot or we’ll be in for a long night. To their credit, Campbell Memorial created quite a few second chance points tonight.”
Campbell’s first-year coach, Jay Brown, said his team took too many bad shots.
“We took way too many bad shots tonight and just need to be more selective. Being patient and working the offense for better shot selection is a key for us.
“They [Struthers] had way too many open looks, especially from three point range and that we are going to have to eliminate,” first-year coach Jay Brown said.’