Struthers boys fall short in giant game

Photo by: Rami Daud

The Vindicator (Youngstown)

Photo

Struthers' Jake Jacubec (3) is fouled by Stephan Jankovic (32) of Huntington Prep.

The Wildcats hung tough for the first half, but the Express chugged along in the second for the win.

By Jon Moffett

jmoffett@vindy.com

STRUTHERS

It was Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant at WrestleMania III; a sellout crowd hanging onto every breath in the hopes the gritty hometown hero could fend off the imposing foreign behemoth.

But this time it was the Immovable Object getting the better of the Unstoppable Force, as Struthers High fell to West Virginia’s Huntington Prep 69-39 at the Struthers Fieldhouse on Saturday. The Express entered the game ranked No. 16 in the country by MaxPreps.com.

The main reason? Size.

Huntington had five players measuring in at 6-foot-7 or taller. And all eyes were on the showpiece: 7-foot-4 junior Sim Bhullar — which, by the way, is the same size Andre was billed.

The Wildcats (18-2) and the Express (22-3) exchanged punches early, and Struthers entered the locker room at half down by just three points. But eventually the height disadvantage caught up to Struthers.

The Wildcats came out with their guns blazing. Senior Nate Jacubec and brother Jake, a junior, unleashed their trademark 3-point barrage early. The Wildcats were not intimidated and responded to every Huntington basket. But a lot of the early success had to do with the lack of the monster in the middle.

Bhullar came off the bench and made his presence known, blocking three shots almost immediately. The Wildcats admitted they were a bit rattled after that.

“Even on open shots, we were all rushing our shots because some guy who is 7-foot might come and block it,” said senior forward Adam Ryczaj, who at 6-foot is considered one of the team’s bigs. Classmate Jordan Ryan, 6-foot-5, is the other. “We won’t see talent like that in the tournament, but it was definitely a good experience to see what height can do.”

The Wildcats went to the well a few too many times in the third quarter, and it had run dry. The team went 0-of-9 on deep balls in the third quarter and 1-of-18 overall. A free throw gave the Wildcats a total of three points in the quarter.

But Struthers didn’t fold. The Wildcats were outrebounded 33-30, but had the advantage in the offensive rebounding department 15-3.

Head coach Joe Savko said he couldn’t have been more proud of the team.

“We’re not disputing their effort one bit,” he said. “They went out there and played with probably six Division I players and probably two that will someday play NBA basketball. And you gave them all they wanted for a half. And if you make some shots in the third, it could be a different story.”

While all eyes were on Bhullar, who finished with 11 points, four rebounds and the three blocks, it was Jacubec that had the attention of Huntington coach Rob Fulford.

“Nate is really good,” Fulford said in his southern drawl.” He’s a kid you can guard with different guys, but they ran their stuff in the first half and we sort of got a little lazy a couple of time and he hit some open shots. And we knew we were going to get their best shot early.”

Fulford added the Fieldhouse was the best atmosphere his team has played in this year.