’Streaks end Lady Cub winning streak

HUMBOLDT — Humboldt High’s girls began and ended their final pre-Christmas contest in fine fashion Friday evening.
It was everything in between that proved troublesome.
Visiting Neodesha High outscored the Lady Cubs 23-6 over a 10-minute stretch in the second and third quarters, turning a one-point lead into a 33-15 advantage.
Humboldt then ended the game with a flourish, scoring 7 points in the final 52 seconds, but it was only enough to get the margin back down to 11 in a 48-37 loss.
The defeat was the first of the season for Humboldt, which ends the pre-Christmas portion of its schedule with a 5-1 record.
“We let their height intimidate us,” Lady Cub head coach Aubrey Jones said. “We prepared for it all week, but in the action of it, we got a little nervous.”
Humboldt took advantage of some early Neodesha foul trouble, particularly on the Bluestreaks’ 6-1 freshman phenom, Alyson Potter.
The Lady Cubs held Potter scoreless over the first quarter, and trailed 10-9 by the end of the period.
But scoring became harder to come by as the taller Bluestreaks forced Humboldt in a series of rushed shots and turnovers.
Makaylah McCall scored the Lady Cubs’ only bucket in the second quarter as Neodesha forged ahead, 22-14, at halftime.
Then Potter took over, scoring 10 points by herself in the third quarter. Her 3-pointer pushed Neodesha up by 18.
Tilar Wells drained a 3-pointer, and McCall’s traditional three-point play cut the deficit to 12, but four straight Neodesha free throws, and a Sophia Rohling basket pushed the Bluestreaks back up, 39-21.
“The last four minutes, we did everything we talked about,” Jones said. “We hustled, attacked, were aggressive.  But it was too little, too late at that point.
“There’s something to be said for them fighting and not rolling over,” she continued. “It’s rough to go into the break this way, but it may give them something to work toward.”
McCall led the Lady Cubs with 13 points. Wells had 9 and Whitcomb 7.
Potter led all scorers with 19 points. Kaiti Johnson added 7 for Neodesha.
Humboldt returns to action Jan. 5 against Marmaton Valley.
Neodesha (10-12-13-13—48) (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Knickerbocker 2-0-1-4, Dean 0-2-2-2, Johnson 3-1-3-7, Keath 2-0-5-4, Lamendola 2-0-5-4, Potter 5/2-3-3-19, Rohling 2-2-2-6. TOTALS: 17/2-8-21-48.
Humboldt (9-5-7-16—37) (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): A. McCall 0-0-5-0, Wells 0/2-3-1-9, M. McCall 5-3-3-13, Wilhite 2-2-3-6, Whitcomb 3-1-2-7, M. Johnson 1-0-1-2. TOTALS: 11-2-9-15-37.