FREDONIA — Humboldt head coach David Taylor said the theme of his pregame peptalk Friday night was not about strategy, but his high expectations for the team — and they lived up to his expectations.
Following what Taylor deemed a poor performance on Tuesday against Neodesha, the Humboldt High Wildcats bounced back in high fashion against the Fredonia Yellowjackets with a commanding 56-25 win.
“We got off on sort of a tangent on Tuesday, and I didn’t see any of that tonight,” Taylor said.
The Cubs outscored the Yellowjackets 30-14 in the first half. Taylor said Trey Johnson came out hot in the first half from beyond the 3-point line. He had five threes total in the contest on seven attempts.
A strong 24-point third quarter from the Cubs put the game out of reach.
“I didn’t feel negatively about any kids that came into the game,” Taylor said. “It was nice to see some of the other kids in the scoring column.”
Tanner McNutt led the team with 16 points. Johnson came in just behind with 15, all of which came beyond the 3-point line.
“Trey Johnson played really well, which I was happy to see, he deserved it,” Taylor said.
Taylor said Noah Thornbrugh’s assists and defensive effort were essential the the Cubs’ strong performance. Thornbrugh had nine rebounds and two blocks, Hunter Murrow had three steals and Nathan Whitcomb had six assists.
“Noah was getting some good rebounds and getting outlet passes to our guards, which put some pressure on their defense,” he said.
The Cubs play Burlington at home on Tuesday.
The Humboldt JV squads came up with a pair of victories as well. The B team defeated the Yellowjackets 54-48. Kason Siemens had 15 points in the contest. The C team won over Fredonia 62-34, Rhett Smith led the way with 22 points.
Humboldt (17-13-24-2—56)
Fredonia (8-6-9-2—25)
Humboldt (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Vanatta 3/1-0-1-9, McNutt 5/2-0-1-16, Murrow 1-0-0-2, Whitcomb 2-0-3-4, Aguirre 0-0-1-0, D’Armond 0-0-1-0, Crawford 1-0-2-2, Johnson 0/5-0-2-15, Thornbrugh 4-0-2-8. TOTALS: 16/8-0-13-56.
Fredonia (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Both 4-5-2-13, Sommer 0-0-1-0, Siegle 3-0-0-6, Stephens 2-0-0-4, Morris 0-0-1-0, Moya 1-0-0-2. TOTALS: 10-5-4-25.
Cubs pick up road victory
