Humboldt downs Lancers

HUMBOLDT – Athough the basket seemingly had an invisible lid preventing outside jumpers, free throws and occasional layups from dropping, Thursday’s matchup between two of the area’s most highly regarded basketball teams lived up to its billing, and then some.
It wasn’t until Crest High’s Brock Ellis’ desperation 3-pointer from near midcourt came tantalizingly close to falling – the shot had the right distance, but was a tad to the left – that Humboldt High came away with a 43-40 win over the Lancers.
The victory came in the second round of Humboldt’s preseason tournament.
Both schools completed tournament play Friday night, Humboldt routed Erie 51-17. Crest defeated Uniontown.
“This was the type of game that had either of us not played well, the other team was going to run us out of the gym,” Humboldt coach David Taylor said of Thursday’s game. “We played well on defense, and they played well on defense.”
Crest coach Travis Hermreck agreed.
“We went on a run early but missed a couple of chances to  put some more distance between us, then they went on a run in the second half. It came down to them being able to exert their will over us defensively down the stretch.”
After Crest held the lead through much of the first three quarters, Humboldt’s Noah Thornbrugh took charge early in the final frame.
His bucket with 7:14 left gave Humboldt a 32-31 lead. Thornbrugh sandwiched a 3-pointer and a layup around a Trey Johnson basket to cap the 9-0 Humboldt run.
Crest didn’t go quietly.
Ellis scored on a layup, then Hunter Murrow and Johnson both missed free throws that could have extended the Cubs’ lead. Jesse Boone scored on an offensive putback, then Hunter Frazell drained a 3-pointer to close the gap to 41-38.
Tanner McNutt capped Humboldt’s scoring with a pair of free throws in the last 19 seconds. He missed his last attempt with 4.9 seconds left, setting up Ellis’ last-second heave.
Ellis was key in Crest’s early success. He connected on a three 3-pointers as the Lancers jumped to an early 16-8 lead.
Thornbrugh scored twice, then dished off a nifty assist to Trey Johnson for another bucket as the Cubs closed the gap to 21-19 at halftime.

BOTH teams were effective at limiting open shots, particularly for the Cubs against Crest standout guard Kyle Hammond, who was limited to four points after halftime and 12 points overall.
Thornbrugh led the way for the victors with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Johnson followed with eight points and three steals. McNutt wound up with seven points.
Ellis led Crest with 14 points. Boone scored eight.
“Our defense was key,” Taylor said, “because we couldn’t drop the ball in the ocean in the first half. I thought Trey played very well. Crest is a good team, and a well-coached team.”
“It was a good ball game,” Hermreck agreed. “I told the guys that if they hung their heads after a game like this, then they didn’t learn anything.
On Friday, Humboldt led 11-2 after one quarter and 33-9 at the break.
“Our defense played very well,” Taylor said. “I was afraid we’d have dead legs after the Crest game, but the guys played well. I was really impressed with our full-court defense.
Thornbrugh led Humbodlt with 11 points. Johnson, McNutt and Crawford added eight points each. McNutt also had four rebounds, five steals and three assists. Nathan Whitcomb had four steals and four assists.
Humboldt’s junior varsity also defeated Erie Friday, 56-20. Kason Siemens led the JV with 13 points.
“Our JV boys did a great job all week,” Taylor said. “We played a lot of kids.”
Crest defeated Uniontown, but results were not available by press time.
Thursday
Crest (11-10-10-9—40)
Humboldt (8-11-11-13—43)
Crest (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Frazell 0/1-0-1-3, Boone 4-0-3-8, Stephens 0-0-2-0, Morton 0/1-0-5-3, Hammond 3/2-0-4-12, Ellis 1/4-0-3-14. TOTALS: 8/8-0-18-40.
Humboldt: McNutt 1/1-2-2-7, Murrow 0/1-2-0-5, Whitocomb 0-0-3-0, Crawfodr 1-2-1-4, Thornbrugh 8/1-0-0-19, Johnson 4-1-3-9. TOTALS: 14/3-6-9.43.
Friday
Erie (2-7-6-2—17)
Humboldt (11-21-15-4—51)
Erie (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Paige 0-1-1-1, McCoy 0-4-1-4, Lehnbauer 0-0-3-0, Thompson 0/1-0-0-3, Peters 1-0-3-2, Murphy 1-1-3-3, Beachner 2-0-1-4.
Humboldt (11-21-15-4—51): Vanatta 3-0-1-6, McNutt 1/1-3-1-8, Murrow 1-1-1-3, Carpenter 0-0-1-0, Whitcomb 2-1-0-5, Sellman 1-0-0-2, D’Armond 0-0-1-0, Crawford 4-0-1-8, Johnson 4-0-2-8, Osborn 0-0-1-0, Thornbrugh 4-3-0-11. TOTALS: 20/1-8-10-51.