Humboldt High’s Cubs had homecourt advantage to open 2010 Kansas Class 2A Substate Basketball play. It didn’t work for the fourth-seeded Cubs Tuesday.
West Elk High’s Patriots cashed in on 24 of 38 free throw attempts on their way to a 56-51 victory. The Cubs were 3 of 6 at the free-throw line.
Foul trouble and turnovers were costly for Humboldt. The Cubs had three players foul out of the game.
Senior Tevin Strack, Humboldt’s leading scorer, sat much of the second quarter near Cub head coach David Taylor.
“We were prepared and we got the shots we wanted,” Taylor said.
“We made too many mistakes and not having Tevin in there in the second quarter hampered us a bit.”
The Cubs played catch-up all night as the Patriots jumped out to a 13-11 lead in the first quarter. The had a 25-22 lead at halftime.
Humboldt closed to 37-35 by the end of the third period. West Elk staved off Humboldt’s challenge, 19-16, in the fourth quarter.
Noah Thornbrugh had a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Strack and Trey Johnson each had 11 points. Strack had two steals.
“I’m really pleased that the two freshmen (Thornbrugh and Johnson) played well,” Taylor said. “I’m extremely proud of where our kids are, especially our seniors, after where we started last year.”
Along with Strack, Tyler Gean and Chris Coronado played their final game for the Cubs. The Cubs finished at 12-9 overall after going 2-19 a year ago.
Ty Roebuck, who was 13 of 15 from the line, had 19 points for West Elk. Bradley Linder had 16 and Seth Miller scored 15.
UNIONTOWN HIGH’S Eagles also played catch-up in their first-round substate game at Sedan Tuesday. The Eagles stayed in the game until the fourth quarter.
Sedan High’s Blue Devils led 17-9 at halftime. The Eagles were within seven, 24-17, going into the final period.
The homestanding Blue Devils outscored the Eagles 17-10 down the stretch for a 41-27 victory.
The Eagles (8-13) were led by Ben Dixon with seven points. Brenton Esslinger and DuShaun Robinson each added four points.
Ryan Ramsey and Zach Travis had three points apiece. Scoring two were Max Labbe, Allen Johnson and Robert Kuns.
Kyle Williams led Sedan with 11 points.
Humboldt (11-11-13-16—51) (FG/3-pt): McCall 0-1-5-1, Strack 3/1-2-5-11, Johnson 4/1-0-3-11, Gean 1-0-4-2, Thornbrugh 10-0-3-20, Nickell 1-0-3-2, Coronado 2-0-5-4. TOTALS: 21/2-3-28-51.
West Elk (13-12-12-19—56) (FG/3-pt): Roebuck 3-13-1-19, Linder 6-4-3-16, McGee 2-0-3-4, Miller 1/2-7-0-15, Smith 1-0-4-2. TOTALS: 13/2-24-11-56.
