HUMBOLDT A three-week break between games for the holidays allowed Humboldt High head coach David Taylor to get back to basics on the basketball court.
The success of the Cubs football team in the fall advancing to the state semifinal round meant Humboldt essentially lost two-plus weeks of practice before basketball season started.
And playing six games before Christmas meant little opportunity to do much more than lace them up and rely primarily on his teams squad of stellar athletes.
But once the holidays arrived, it was time to start over, Taylor said.
It was brutal over Christmas break, he said. We worked like you would the first week of practice.
Two staples attitude and effort were the crux of most of those exhausting sessions.
Message delivered.
In their first game back of the 2018-19 season Tuesday, Humboldt took over in the second and third quarters, then fended off a hot-shooting Fredonia team, 64-51, to improve to 5-2.
The win left Taylor pleased, but not satisfied.
We got sloppy when I didnt want it to get sloppy, Taylor said. We lose our focus sometimes, but being the first game back after Christmas break, I was happy.
Both teams were firing on all cylinders to start. Humboldt zipped to a 10-4 lead, Fredonia responded with a 10-0 run and the Cubs wrapped up the quarter with seven straight, the last three on buzzer-beating 3-pointer from Teryn Johnson to lead 17-14.
The teams then traded leads four times in the first portions of the second quarter before Humboldt took the lead for good with a 10-0 run to lead 30-22.
A trio of Cubs led the way. Bo Bigelow scored 19 points with four assists, while Caleb Coronado added eight points with six rebounds. Isaiah Coronado added 15 points before fouling out midway through the fourth quarter.
Conor Haviland added six rebounds and four assists. Teryn Johnson had four steals and four assists.
Caleb played a solid game, Taylor said. Caleb did a good job shooting free throws. And we out-rebounded them, which was a key.
The lead swelled to as much as 19 points in the third quarter before the aforementioned sloppiness reared its ugly head.
