Staff photo / Brian Yauger Poland’s Paul Greco drives to the basket past Hubbard’s Caden Candor during the first half of Tuesday’s game.

HUBBARD — Overcoming a slow shooting start, Poland was able to push through and dispatch Hubbard 55-46 in a Northeast-8 tilt.

With a 21-16 halftime score, points were coming at a premium. It didn’t help that Poland was struggling on the offensive boards in addition to the shooting woes.

“You have to give Hubbard a lot of credit. They came out and they controlled the tempo,” Bulldogs coach Eric Fender said. “Defensively, they did a really nice job in the first half, limiting us to one shot. I think we only had maybe one offensive rebound in the first half. We didn’t knock shots down like we normally have. The second half came around and we did a little bit better. We executed a little bit more.”

The Bulldog spark came from stringing together some great defensive possessions that gradually turned into points on the offensive end.

“We got some steals and then got some easy buckets,” Fender said. “It’s the same thing we preach to them all the time because everything that we do starts with defense. We locked down and can be a very good team. We sometimes let teams hang around and let guys like (Hubbard sophomore Braydon) Songer get his shot off and it can be a long night. … We’ve got to rely on the defensive end for us.”

Carmine Tukalo led the way for the Bulldogs with 14 points, a game high. Andrew Todd and Cole Fulton followed close behind with 13 and 10 points, respectively.

Songer, who had to leave the game late due to injury, led Hubbard with 13 points. Kenyen Franklin tacked on 11.

The Eagles nipped at Poland’s heels throughout the contest, cutting their deficit to as little as five late in the game, but just weren’t able to get that edge.

“In the first half we gave up 21 points and when you give up 21 at half, you know, usually you’re ahead,” Eagles coach Ryan Fitch said. “But we just couldn’t score and couldn’t finish it at the rim and we missed some free throws. All that together is a bad combination.”

Hubbard falls to 7-6 on the season and 3-4 in Northeast-8 play. They look to get back on the horse with a road contest against Niles.

“We’re trying to get better at our motion a little bit,” Fitch said. “We tend sometimes to dribble the ball too much and sometimes we don’t screen bodies, we just screen areas. We’ve been talking lately about screening bodies, making sure we’re hitting people on screens, and getting our shooters open a little bit. So as we come down the stretch here, we want to just focus in on getting our motion better on the defensive end of the court.”

The Bulldogs (9-3, 7-0) move on to host league rival Girard.

“We need to come back to practice on Wednesday, and start focusing on Girard and some of the things that they do. Coach (Craig) Hannon always does a nice job for them. He’s got his kids playing hard. We can’t take anybody for granted.”

With the postseason rapidly approaching, it’s all about improvement from game to game.

“Getting better. That’s all it is,” Fender said. “Focus on one game at a time and continue to find ways to get better. And we’re doing that for the most part.”

byauger@tribtoday.com