HUMBOLDT — Humboldt High’s Cubs sailed past Neodesha 56-24 here Friday night.
It could have been worse.
Neodesha managed just three points in the first period and then, in a rare occurrence for basketball at any level, Humboldt shut out the Bluestreaks in the quarter as they rolled to a 25-3 half-time advantage.
Neodesha recovered a tad in the second half, but never made a game of it.
“I’m real pleased with the boys and how they’ve been playing,” said Coach David Taylor, commenting on his Cubs’ 5-1 start to the campaign. “We lost all those boys from last year,” when the Cubs raced through the regular season unbeaten and finished second in Class 3A.
“They’re unselfish and not concerned about who scores,” he said. “They just want to win.”
It shows.
Humboldt scored five points before the game was a minute old and when Neodesha’s Chase Kitch finally notched a free throw, the Cubs had 13 points on the scoreboard.
The team aspect of the Cubs is readily apparent in that each game’s starting lineup has varied from the last, with nine players having answered the opening buzzer. Taylor said he was comfortable calling on any and all.
Jacob Carpenter drew a starting nod for the first time and drew praise from his coach.
“Jacob plays hard and is a good defender,” Taylor said. “He deserved to start” and responded with nine rebounds while holding the Streaks’ 6-foot-4 Derrick Rohling to a single basket.
Taylor allowed that the Cubs could have been more efficient at the offensive end of the court.
“I’m not sure what we shot, but we missed a lot of bunnies (shots from short range),” he said.
Even so, there was never a time after the game got underway that there was any indication that Humboldt wouldn’t prevail.
The Cubs’ defense not only limited Neodesha to 24 points — with just 16 coming from the field — but also played havoc with the Streaks’ floor game. Often, Cub guards disrupted Neodesha’s flow and often generated steals.
Humboldt had 19 takeaways, including four each by Justin Meins and Kason Siemens, both juniors.
Statistically, Siemens had a terrific night, scoring 18 points and handing out four assists in addition to his defensive acumen. He was the only Cub to score in double figures, but, with Taylor substituting liberally, eight other Humboldt players cracked the scoring column.
Kyle Johnson was tops for Neodesha with five points.
In preliminaries, Humboldt’s junior varsity, led by Ethan Bartlett’s 12 points, whipped Neodesha 56-25 and, with Daylon Splane and Joe Kline each scoring 10, the C team came within a whisker of making it a trifecta before losing 38-34.
Humboldt’s next outing will be at home against Marmaton Valley on Jan. 7.
Neodesha 3-0-13-8 – 24
Humboldt 13-12-19-12 – 56
Neodesha (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP) —Cunningham 0/0-4-1-4; Stover 0/0-2-0-2; Curt 2/0-0-2-4; Wells 0/0-1-4-1; Dean 0/1-0-3-3; Kitch 1/0-1-1-3; Raymond 0/0-0-1-0; Rohling 1/0-0-4-2; K. Johnson 1/1-0-3-5. Totals: 5/2-8-19-24.
Humboldt (FG/3pt-FG-F-TP) — Z. Vanatta 0/0-0-2-0; C. Vanatta 1/0-0-1-2; H. Murrow 4/0-1-1-9; Carpenter 1/0-1-2-3; A. Murrow 0/0-0-3-0; Sellman 0/1-0-2-3; D’Armond 2/0-2-2-6; Meins 3/0-0-3-6; Bartlett 1/0-0-0-2; Pulliam 2/0-3-0-7; Siemens 3/3-3-1-18; Smith 0/0-0-1-0; Doran 0/0-0-1-0. Totals: 17/4-10-19-56.
Cubs pummel Neodesha
