Aggressive defense made the difference Monday as the Humboldt Lady Cubs suffered a trio of losses to Bluestem.
The Humboldt Middle School A-Team fell 43-11, the HMS B-Team fell 8-5 and the C-Team fell 8-6 while on the road Monday.
“It was a tough night for all three squads,” Humboldt coach Mike Miller said. “They play a really aggressive, trapping defense and we didn’t handle it well at all. When we executed, we would get good looks.”
In the finale, Bluestem held the A-Team to single digits in scoring throughout all four quarters.
Bluestem posted in the double-digits while en route to the 43-11 win.
Humboldt’s Zoey Sanchez had a team-leading 4 points, followed by Hadlee Allen with 3 points, then Rhys Triber with a bucket.
Quinn Miller had a team-leading four rebounds, followed by Sanchez with three and Allen with two. Trieber tied Allen in steals with two each.
“We just didn’t take care of the ball and gave them way too many easy baskets,” Coach Miller said. “That was really the difference in all three games. We’ll learn from it and keep working to get better so that we can handle it better next time.”
B-Team keeps it close
Although suffering a similar result, the HMS B-team’s contest was much closer until the third quarter.
Humboldt seemed in a dogfight with the Bluestem Lions. At halftime, Humboldt was ahead 6-4.
Bluestem uncorked a 14-point third quarter to take control while Humboldt could not keep pace despite more than matching their first half production with an 8-point fourth quarter.
Brinley Gean had a team-leading 6 points, followed by Lucy Galloway with 4 points, then Ava Davis, Brooklyn Watson and Azahlynn Wilkerson with a bucket each.
Galloway had a team-leading four rebounds, followed by Davis with three, then Gean and Azzy Miler with two boards each. Davis and Gean tied for the team lead in steals with three each.
C-Team can’t maintain momentum
After holding Bluestem scoreless in the first quarter while going on a 4-0 run, the HMS C-Team could not maintain their momentum in the 8-6 loss. Bluestem pulled ahead, going on an 8-2 run to end the second quarter.
Miller, Peyton Weilert and Wilkerson each scored a bucket. Miller had three steals, followed by Weilert with two; Wilkerson and Zoey Hess with one each. Weilert had three rebounds, followed by Wilkerson, then Miller and Aubrey Trim with one each.
