HUMBOLDT — Drew Wilhite was in some kind of zone Friday evening, specifically on the defensive end.
The Humboldt HIgh senior pulled in nine of the Cubs’ 14 steals and was one of four players to score at least nine points in a 54-24 romp over visiting Eureka to tip off the 2021-22 season.
“Coach tells us to hustle all the time,” Wilhite said, a lesson he followed to the letter.
Two plays stand out.
The first came midway through the second quarter, when Wilhite’s sliding save along the sidecourt became a steal and layup for the Cubs.
The second came when Wilhite leaped and intercepted a Eureka pass intended to go the length of the court — while he was at the midcourt line. That, too, turned into a Humboldt layup, part of a 21-2 Humboldt run.
“He’s got a motor,” Cub head coach David Taylor said. “He had a very good first game. He kind of kept us going, getting it done when we needed it.”
That was despite turning an ankle in practice last week, leaving Taylor uncertain how effective Wilhite would be against the Tornadoes.
He needn’t have worried.
Humboldt raced out to a 17-2 lead after the first quarter, withstood a slight lull in the second period, and came out like a team possessed after halftime.
The lead stood at 28-13 at halftime, and 49-15 after three quarters to trigger a running clock down the stretch.
“Our defense really fueled us, and I’m not talking about layups,” Taylor said. “We get in a great rhythm on offense when we get after it on the right end of the court.”
Still, Taylor saw room for improvement.
Despite out-rebounding Eureka, the Cubs relied more on athleticism than technique, Taylor noted.
“We outjumped them,” he said. “When we play somebody who can jump like we can, we’re gonna have to make sure we can check off and rebound.”
And there was a stretch in the second quarter, when Humboldt’s motion offense grew stagnant, a byproduct of hurried shots instead of passing to an open teammate.
“You can’t do that two or three times in a row,” Taylor said. “You can see what happened.”
Kaiden Barnett led the Humboldt scoring attack with 12 points. Trey Sommer and Levi McGowen tacked on 11 points each. Wilhite scored nine.
Sommer pulled in five rebounds to lead the way. McGowen added four rebounds and three assists.
