Cubs lose heartbreaker to Neodesha

HUMBOLDT — Friday was not quite the way David Taylor was hoping to enter the Christmas break.
His Humboldt High squad was plagued by turnovers, missed free throws and some ice-cold shooting from the floor.
Even with those maladies, Humboldt still had an opportunity to win. Rhett Smith’s 3-pointer with 33 seconds remaining cut a four-point Neodesha High lead to 44-43.
The Bluestreaks’ Justin Canterbury THEN missed both free throws with 16.4 seconds left, and Humboldt’s Corey Whitcomb was fouled on his drive with 5.5 seconds left, and a chance to put the Cubs on top.
Like Canterbury, Whitcomb’s first free throw rimmed out, and the second one bounced off to the side, with Humboldt still in arrears.
The Cubs still had a sliver of a chance, after the Bluestreaks’ Dalton Mitchell missed both of his follow-up free throws with 4.6 seconds left.
Whitcomb launched a desperation 3-pointer from just inside the half-court line at the buzzer, but it, too, was off the mark.
The 44-43 loss marks the first blemish on Humboldt’s 2015-16 season after a 5-0 start.
“We had a boatload of opportunities,” Taylor said. “The play before (Whitcomb’s drive), we’d have had a layup if we’d have thrown the ball.”
Neodesha won despite hitting only 3 of 19 free throws.
Humboldt, by comparison, was a balmy 9 of 20 from the line— but still a much lower percentage than what Taylor had seen from his squad in the Cubs’ first five games.
Taylor pointed to Humboldt’s 14 turnovers and 31 percent shooting from the floor. “And I imagine they out-rebounded us, too.
“That’s because we were complacent,” he continued. “We were just passing the ball around the perimeter instead of attacking the zone at the seams, like we should. We weren’t the aggressor with the ball. They were actually the aggressor tonight.”
Even with those troubles, Humboldt could, and probably should, have won.
The Cubs held the lead through much of the first half, but missed layups and free throws kept Neodesha close. The Cubs held a 19-16 lead before Neodesha’s Drew Stover drilled a 3-pointer and scored on a layup to push Neodesha ahead, 21-19.
Bryce Isaac scored twice to key a 9-3 run to push the Cubs back on top, and Tyler Korte’s baseline jumper late in the third put Humboldt up 30-26.
The lead grew to 6 before Colton Cunningham’s 3-pointer ignited another Bluestreak rally. His layup with 3:40 left in the game tied the score at 35-35. Stover’s steal and layup seconds later put Neodesha back on top.
Rayce Hoepker tied the score for Humboldt, and Korte hit 1 of 2 charities to give Humboldt a 38-37 lead.
Sam Curt hit both ends of a 1-and-1 with 2:37 left to give the Bluestreaks the lead for good. A Humboldt turnover led to a Blake Ivy layup and a 41-38 lead.
Anthony Doran scored to cut the lead to 41-40. Canterbury scored on a drive before an inbounds pass went off Smith’s leg on Humboldt’s next possession. Ivy hit 1 of 2 charities for a 44-40 lead.
Hoepker and Smith shared high-scoring honors with 9 points apiece, while Smith led the Cubs with seven rebounds and four assists. Jake Haviland followed with 8 points and four assists. Whitcomb swiped three steals. Doran had two blocks.
Cunningham had 13 and Stover 12 to lead Neodesha.
Humboldt won the junior varsity contest, 44-31. Tucker Hurst led the way with 11 points. The Cub C team also prevailed, 37-30, behind Edward O’Neal’s 10 points.
Humboldt (5-1) returns to action Jan. 5 at home against Marmaton Valley.
Neodesha (10-6-10-18—44) (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Shinkle 1-0-1-2, Stover 3/2-0-0-12, Cunningham 2/3-0-1-13, Mitchell 1-0-3-2, Curt 0-2-3-2, Canterbury 2-0-1-4, Ivy 2-1-3-5, O’Neill 2-0-4-4. TOTALS: 13/5-3-16-44.
Humboldt (12-7-11-13—43) (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Whitcomb 0-0-1-0, Korte 2-2-2-6, Hoepker 2/1-2-2-9, Isaac 3-3-5-9, Doran 3-0-2-6, Smith 1/1-0-1-5. TOTALS: 14/2-9-17-43.