THE BALL DROPS FOR HOWLAND

HOWLAND CENTER, OH – In their final game of 2022, the Howland Tigers did what they had to do. Second-half adjustments by coach Dan Bubon was what the Tigers needed to pull out a 48-34 victory over visiting Brookfield to close out the calendar year. 

It was a very low-scoring first quarter as the Tigers only led 6-4 after one. Both teams were exchanging leads back and forth throughout a good portion of the first half as the Warriors took a 13-12 lead in the second, thanks to strong shooting from Donovan Pawlowski, who led all scorers with 15. The Tigers, however, put on the heat to end the half as they led a 10-2 run to go into the break up 22-15. 

The strong defensive effort by Howland went full throttle in the second half as they adjusted to the phenomenal low-post play of Brookfield senior Isaiah Jones. Jones was able to block shots on defense, but the Howland defense shut him down in the scoring realm, holding him to only 6 points on the night. Despite the offensive struggles, the Tigers would build up a twenty-point lead in the fourth with strong shooting from senior Ben Bronson, Alex Henry, and Brandon Null. Null and Henry led the Tigers with 12 while Bronson had 10.

Howland (6-2) will now get a fun experience on Monday when they travel up to Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse to take on Austintown Fitch to start AAC play in their first game of 2023. They will be playing on the Cavaliers’ home floor at 3:00 P.M. in a game that will follow the girls’ matchup between Howland and Fitch that starts at 1:30. Brookfield (5-3) will travel to Crestview on Tuesday in their third game of a four-game roadstand. This will be an MVAC matchup with tip-off following JV around 7:00 P.M. 

Howland coach Dan Bubon talked to Noah Ricks about his team’s victory. You can watch the full interview.

*Contributed By YSN’s Noah Ricks