Staff photo / Preston Byers. Howland’s Carter Saul (5) and Wesley Fee (24) try to block a shot by Hubbard’s Jakob Hayes during the Tigers’ win Friday in Howland.

HOWLAND — The new year started off well enough for Hubbard, but things eventually soured during the first game of 2026.

After staying even with Howland through the opening quarter, the Eagles could do little but watch as the Tigers pulled away in Friday’s 66-27 rout.

“Defensively, we had a very specific game plan for this team,” Howland head coach Dan Bubon said. “I don’t want anyone to be confused by that score; Hubbard is very good, they have a very good chance to win their league. We just executed our defensive game plan great and kind of took them out of what they wanted to do, and they didn’t play their best game. … But I thought our kids locking in, following the game plan — and we played nine kids, and every one of them knew the game plan when they came in.”

The teams clung to each other through the first quarter, with a Rome Odem free throw tying the game at 11 apiece in the final second of the period.

When the teams went to the bench, Bubon said his Tigers were not satisfied with how they had played to that point.

“We had some good practices over break, and I think we thought we were going to play very well,” Bubon said. “And we looked at the score, 11-11, at the end of the first quarter, and on the bench, they were really getting on each other, like, ‘Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go, let’s go.’ I thought our energy level picked up from there.”

Howland scored nine straight points and held Hubbard without any for nearly five minutes to start the second quarter. After a successful Eagles free throw and a Jakob Hayes basket, the Tigers also finished the period on a 7-0 run to take a 27-14 lead into halftime.

The break did little to slow Howland. The Tigers outscored the Eagles 9-2 in the first two minutes of the second half, prompting a Hubbard timeout. Howland momentarily stalled after a 16-3 run but soon recovered and pushed its lead to 28 points by the end of the third quarter.

During the fourth, the Tigers continued to grow their advantage before triggering a running clock and subbing out their key players as the game’s end drew near.

Howland’s Demetri Gentis led all scorers with 15 points, and he had four teammates — Jackson Mickel, Steven Bubon, Luca Naples and Carter Saul — chip in at least eight each, while only four Eagles scored at all Friday. Kenyen Franklin had a team-high 10, and Hayes had nine.

Hubbard head coach Ryan Fitch could not be reached for comment after Friday’s game.

Both teams will be back in action Tuesday. Hubbard (4-4, 2-1 in Northeast 8) will resume league play at Niles, while Howland (6-3) will visit West Branch before shifting focus to its All-American Conference opener vs. rival Warren G. Harding next Friday.

“In the league last year, we were kind of the punching bag for everyone,” Bubon said. “We were the youngest team, the league was senior-laden and there were four very good teams in the league, and they kind of beat us up — and that’s what they should have done. We took our lumps last year.

“Now, I feel we’re on even footing with everybody. … This year, we don’t have an excuse. We’re as experienced as anybody else, we have the talent to play with everybody else, so we’ll see how the games play out, but I expect us to be in every game with a chance.”