Staff photo / Preston Byers Hubbard’s Jakob Hayes (11) skies for a layup amid a group of Lakeview defenders during Tuesday’s win at Hubbard High School.

HUBBARD — While Lakeview has been playing better as of late, Hubbard entered Tuesday’s game against the Bulldogs riding a nearly monthlong win streak. And those winning ways proved useful down the stretch during the Eagles’ penultimate league contest.

After more than a half of back-and-forth action, Hubbard pulled away from Lakeview to defeat the Bulldogs 63-52 and earn its eighth straight win.

“We knew coming in it was going to be tough,” Hubbard head coach Ryan Fitch said. “Nate [Solak] coached with me the last couple years, so he kinda knew everything we were doing. We scout really well as well, so we kinda knew what they were doing. In the end, my guys just made enough plays to get us out of there with a ‘W.'”

The Eagles jumped all over Lakeview to open the game, as they took an 11-2 lead through the first four minutes before the Bulldogs settled down and made it a seven-point deficit before the end of the period.

With the “super important” task of denying Hubbard big man Jakob Hayes the ball in the post, Lakeview began to turn the tide early in the second quarter. The Bulldogs opened the period with seven consecutive points and, defensively, held the Eagles to zero points for more than four minutes of game time across two quarters.

“He’s a really good player,” Lakeview coach Nate Solak said of Hayes. “He’s big, he’s strong, he’s physical, finishes well. That was one of the main points going into today.”

After an Asa Lantz 3-pointer tied the game at 18, Braydon Songer ended the scoreless streak with a triple of his own. Still, the Eagles, who had led by as many as 10 points in the first quarter, led by only two at halftime.

Much like the second period, Lakeview began the third by scoring three of the first four baskets and taking its first lead of the game in the process. But Hubbard responded swiftly with seven straight points of its own, and following a Isaiah Lantz 3-pointer, scored another six in a row to take an eight-point lead.

The Bulldogs began the fourth with successive baskets, but their containment plan for Hayes quickly began to fall apart, as he converted back-to-back three-point plays after getting deep in the paint. Then, a series of giveaways led to easy and quick Eagle baskets and, consequently, a commanding Hubbard lead.

The Eagles, who outscored Lakeview 18-4 over a more than five-minute span in the fourth, got its lead to 17 before a few late-game buckets for the Bulldogs.

“I felt like they took the momentum early, and we just didn’t convert a few chances that we should have. And again, against a team like that, you have to convert all the chances you can get,” Solak said.

Hayes, despite scoring just three points in the middle quarters, had a game-high 18 for the night. Songer added 17, and Kenyen Franklin and Dylan BuCher contributed 15 and 13, respectively. For the Bulldogs, Isaiah Lantz led the way with 12 points and finished as the only player in double figures. Matthew Leonard and Luke Demsey each scored eight points.

With the loss, Lakeview fell to 8-11 on the season and finished the NE8 slate with a 4-8 record. The Bulldogs host LaBrae on Friday and play their regular season finale at Campbell Tuesday.

As for Hubbard (13-5, 10-1 NE8), the win, as well as Poland’s victory vs. Struthers set up a conference title decider next Tuesday. Hubbard and Poland, as the only 10-win teams in the league, will face each other in Hubbard in each teams’ conference finale to determine the 2026 outright champion.

“There’s no co-champs at this point. If they beat us, they’re champs. If we beat them, we’re champs,” Fitch said. “My guys will be ready. I know Coach Fender will have them ready. He’s one of the best around. … They run a lot of different stuff. After Salem on Friday, we’ll spend Saturday and Monday trying to prep for that, make sure we’re prepared for everything they’re going to do.”