HUMBOLDT — Crest came into the season with a renewed confidence and purpose after a lackluster effort in the 2016-17 campaign. Those traits took a drubbing last Friday when the Lancers got dominated by Southern Coffey County.
The Lancers found their way back on track Tuesday night with a 44-42 win over Erie in the opening round of the Emprise Bank tournament hosted at Humboldt High School.
“The biggest thing is tonight we played with a lot more confidence,” head coach Travis Hermreck said. “We didn’t play well by our standards last week but tonight we competed better. I think we’re starting to develop some chemistry. The other night we had the same opportunity to make some of the same plays and we didn’t do it. Tonight, we made those plays.”
It was all Hayden Hermreck early as the 6’4” junior asserted his dominance scoring nine first-quarter points with ease slashing through the Red Devils defense and swishing several jumpers including a three.
Hermreck added on six more in the second quarter on his way to a 20 point game.
However, that’s when things slowed for Crest. Hermreck went scoreless in the third quarter and Erie clawed their way in front.
The Lancers were desperate for someone to step up before the Red Devils really slipped away.
Enter junior Jacob Holloran and senior Austin Hendrix who both hit huge threes at the end of the third and start of the fourth quarter to keep the Red Devils down.
“We’ve got kids that can score,” Hermreck said. “We’ve got kids that when they get their feet set, they can shoot it and the other night we didn’t do a good enough job of getting people the ball when they could score it at their best. The second half started rough because we were still pushing and forcing a little bit but then once we found our groove, we had guys all over the floor stepping up and making big shots for us. You like that moving forward.”
Hermreck wasn’t done though. He also nailed a three and got another big bucket to put Crest up two with under a minute to go.
With under 10 seconds to play, the Lancers fouled Erie after the Red Devils grabbed two straight offensive board, putting them on the line with a chance to tie it up. Erie only hit one and fouled quickly putting Holloran at the line with seven seconds to play.
He also hit just one of two giving the Red Devils a chance to hit a go-ahead 3-pointer at the buzzer which would miss giving Crest their first win.
“The first time a team’s in that situation, it’s difficult every year,” Hermreck said, “You hope that you have a close game like this one early in the season and you hang on to win so if you get in that situation later in the year you’re ready for it.”
The Lancers move on to face Humboldt on day two of the tournament on Thursday and are glad that their first win of the season is behind them.
“What’s big for us is that we’re not coming into the game at 0-2 hoping to get our first win of the year against Humboldt,” Hermreck said. “That’s a tough one to get. They get after it and they’re very well coached. Having the confidence of just getting a win alleviates a lot of pressure.”
Tip-off is at 8:30 p.m.
PHOTOS: Junior Hayden Hemreck looks to dribble past an Erie defender in the Lancers 44-42 win on Tuesday. REGISTER/TIMOTHY EVERSON
