Cubs continue early season roll

HUMBOLDT — It didn’t take long for Tuesday’s battle between a pair of old rivals to turn in favor of Humboldt High’s boys.
The Cubs took visiting Yates Center High behind the proverbial woodshed, blasting their way to a 29-3 lead after one quarter.
“A lot of things went right for us,” Cub head coach David Taylor said.
Boy, did they.
Humboldt’s 80-32 victory was made possible through a stifling defense from one end of the court to the other, a finely tuned offense that produced 25 team assists and a blistering 17 of 21 shooting from the free throw line.
The victory keeps Humboldt’s record spotless at 5-0 on the season. Yates Center drops to 2-2.
“Our team defense was really good, and I was pleased with our rebounding. They usually got one shot only on offense.”
And whether it be from rebounds or steals, Humboldt’s transition offense was clicking on all cylinders.
“Most of our assists came from passes in for layups,” Taylor said.
Humboldt upped its lead to 50-14 by halftime and 74-25 after three quarters.
The wide margin permitted Taylor to substitute freely throughout the contest. As a consequence, several players had strong games on the offensive end.
Noah Thornbrugh led the way with 19 points, four assists and three steals. Tanner McNutt followed with 17 points and three steals, while Nathan Whitcomb had eight points, five assists and three steals. Blake Crawford also had eight points, while Trey Johnson had five assists and five rebounds. Hunter Murrow had four assists.
Ceaton Cooper and Justin Rossillon each scored seven points to pace Yates Center.
Humboldt limited Wildcat junior standout Cameron Brown to four points.
“We know he’s what makes the world go round for them, and we did a good job of stopping him,” Taylor said. “Our defensive pressure was really, really good.”
Humboldt returns to action Friday at Neodesha. Yates Center hosts Eureka.
Yates Center (3-11-11-7—32)
Humboldt (29-21-24-6—80)
Yates Center (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Chism 0-2-2-2, Cooper 3-1-1-7, Schemper 1-0-2-2, Brown 2-0-0-4, McNett 3-0-2-6, Dice 0-3-2-3, Rossillon 2/1-0-4-7, Arnold 0-1-1-1. TOTALS: 11/1-7-14-32.
HUMBOLDT (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Vanatta 3-3-1-9, McNutt 5/1-4-1-17, Murrow 2-0-1-4, Carpenter 0-0-2-0, Whitcomb 3-2-1-8, Sellman 1-0-0-2, Crawford 2-4-3-8, Johnson 2-1-2-5, Meins 1-0-0-2, Osborn 1-0-2-2, Thornbrugh 9-1-0-19, Siemens 1-2-0-4. TOTALS: 30/1-17-13-80.