Hubbard upset bid falls shy
Eagles can’t sustain momentum in 42-37 defeat to Chaney
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HUBBARD -- The Hubbard Eagles' girls basketball team appeared to be on the verge of exacting a measure of revenge against Chaney on Thursday evening, but a mistake-heavy, hard-fought game swung in favor of the Cowgirls 42-37 thanks in large part to a ferocious comeback by the visitors.
One month ago, Chaney, and in particular, freshman guard Alyssa Brown, overwhelmed Hubbard in Youngstown. But tonight, for the first half of play, the Eagles managed to frustrate and fluster Brown and the Cowgirls, who trailed at the break 20-7 after a scoreless first period.
Chaney head coach Dwight Berry said he and his staff did not say much in the visitors' locker room at halftime.
"We said a few words, and then once again, I took the staff and walked out and let them figure it out for themselves," Berry said. "It had to be a team decision; we weren't playing as a team, so they had to figure that out for themselves. And they did a good job and we worked hard and got the win."
For the first 16 minutes of play, the energy in the Eagles' gymnasium was generated by the Hubbard players and supporters. The Eagles were relentless on the boards and in the passing lanes, forcing numerous turnovers and generating critical second-chance points.
During the first half, Berry seemed exasperated at his team's mistakes. But the coach's expression immediately began to change in the third quarter, with the Cowgirls forcing their way to the free-throw line, limiting turnovers and knocking down some of the very same shots they had failed to convert before halftime.
Junior guard Alexandria Pete, one of Chaney's most experienced players, said "energy" was the key difference between the two halves.
"As a team, we needed more [energy in the first half] -- we just needed to come together as a team and play as a team. We were just all off in the beginning," Pete said.
Both Berry and Pete intimated their team took Hubbard too lightly coming into the game, largely because of the squads' first meeting one month ago at Chaney.
Additionally, the Cowgirls had played more than half of a dozen home games in a row before their trip to Hubbard. Their last road contest came Dec. 2 when Chaney defeated East Palestine.
That disruption in the team's routine, combined with a sense of overconfidence, led to a tight game that required a pair of clutch three-pointers by Chaney's Jaziya Burley-Anderson and a strong second half from Brown, who finished the game with 16 points, the most of any player despite having only two points and three fouls at halftime.
Burley-Anderson's pair of triples with just under four minutes to go in the game gave Chaney its first lead of the contest and sparked an eruption from the increasingly vocal visitors section, who loudly cheered and stamped their feet during the Cowgirls' 10-0 fourth-quarter run that turned the game on its proverbial head. The away fans largely drowned out the home supporters all the way until the final buzzer as Chaney prevailed 42-37.
On the opposite end of the court, Pat Manzo, Hubbard's noticeably disappointed coach, said his team was much more prepared for Chaney this time around, but mistakes with the ball kept the Eagles from securing their first victory of 2024.
"I think the entire game, we had high energy; we just made some mistakes that have plagued us all year long," Manzo said. "My girls played very hard today."
Hubbard, which slips to 4-6, will go on the road next to face Girard on Jan. 8, while Chaney, 8-3, will play its second of five consecutive away games on Jan. 11, when the Cowgirls visit Cardinal Mooney.
pbyers@tribtoday.com