Staff photo / Brian Yauger Hubbard’s Jakob Hayes, back, defends Niles senior Trey Davis during Tuesday’s contest in Niles.

NILES — While it started slow, once the Hubbard boys basketball team got going, there was no slowing it down.

Coming off a decisive loss to Howland to open 2026, the Eagles earned their first win of the new year on Tuesday, taking down Niles, 77-41.

Despite starting the game in a 9-0 hole, the senior-laden Hubbard team finished the opening quarter with a 15-11 lead. Eagles coach Ryan Fitch knew his group and did not hit the panic button after the slow start.

“With a lot of seniors out there, four seniors, I know that sometimes we’ll get off to those slow starts, and it’s not really a cause for panic necessarily,” he said. “We’ll chip away at it, chip away at it, and tonight we just put it all together at the right time.”

Once they got the lead, they never looked back.

Hubbard’s Jakob Hayes was a force in the middle for the Eagles. Hayes finished with 20 points, and the shots he didn’t make, he likely brought the rebound in.

“He works really hard when he’s in the game like that,” Fitch said. “He just goes after the glass, and that’s one of his strengths, getting a second shot. I was kidding around with him. I said, ‘I think you’re just padding stats, missing those layups on purpose trying to get more rebounds.’ Jakob’s a good kid. He works for us, so I’m happy he was able to have a good game.”

Braydon Songer led Hubbard with 22 points and Kenyen Franklin scored 21.

Niles was led by Cash Carey-Hardin and Joey Lehman, each scoring 13 points. Alex Doyle III added 12.

Hubbard moves to 5-4 with the victory and 3-1 in Northeast 8 play.

After a close loss to Hickory (Pa.) and convincing losses to Fitch and Howland, the Eagles hope to use this as a springboard going into the meat of their schedule.

As the games get harder, a focus on competing is necessary.

“We lost a couple games big to Fitch and Howland. They’re two good teams, but we just seemed like we didn’t even compete in those games, so for the last couple days, I’ve been challenging them a little bit to compete a little bit better,” Fitch said. “Tonight, they came out.”

The Eagles look to keep their momentum going with a road contest against McDonald.

“I know (McDonald coach) Jimmy (Franceschelli) will have them ready over there,” Fitch said. “They’re playing really, really, really good basketball right now, so we’re gonna have to get the next two days, get prepared and see what we can do there.”

Niles coach Jesse Hardin was unable to be reached for comment. The Red Dragons (2-7, 1-3 NE8) play host to Poland on Friday.