Hoepker’s hot hand paves way for Cubs

HUMBOLDT — Funny thing about Rayce Hoepker’s career scoring night Tuesday.
He almost didn’t play at all.
Humboldt High’s junior sharp-shooter left practice early Monday after colliding head-on with a teammate, causing a large gash below his right eye.
The injury gave Hoepker a nasty looking shiner, with a half-dozen stitches to boot.
But by the end of the night Tuesday, it was visiting Yates Center that felt the pain.
Hoepker was a sublime 9 of 12 from 3-point range, pouring in 35 points as Humboldt downed the visiting Wildcats 80-68.
“Sometimes when you’re hitting them and they’re going in, the basket feels like it’s getting bigger,” Hoepker said.
How’s the eye?
“It feels good,” he said. “I just had to get some stitches.”
“I’m happy for Rayce,” Cub head coach David Taylor said. “I told him and his parents he wasn’t going to play if he didn’t want to. I’m not about to put a kid in that position, but he wanted to be out there.”
Hoepker was hot early; almost too early, he feared.
“There are nights when you hit everything in warmups, and then have a bad game,” Hoepker said. “I was shooting pretty well in warmups.”
That mattered little on this night.
“I’m kind of a stickler about kids just shooting,” Taylor said. “And Rayce will tell you, we don’t care who gets the shots. We just want to win.”
But Hoepker kept shooting. And hitting.
“That’s the thing,” Taylor said. “He didn’t take any bad shots tonight. Well, I remember one bad shot.”
Like pretty much everything else, it went in.
“I looked at Rayce,” Taylor said, “and he just nodded at me, and said, ‘Yeah, I got lucky.’”
Tuesday’s victory was anything but a one-man show.
Even when Yates Center’s defense focused on slowing Hoepker, several of his Cub teammates stepped up for crucial baskets to keep the Wildcats at arm’s length. Rhett Smith drilled a 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer to extend a 2-point Humboldt lead. Jake Haviland helped carry the scoring load in the first and third quarters, and Anthony Doran stepped up in the fourth quarter with a series of inside buckets as the Wildcats pressured the Humboldt guards.
“Everybody was clicking tonight,” Hoepker said.
Taylor agreed.
“We got a lot of good looks all night long,” Taylor said. “Our shot selection was pretty good. This is a fun group to watch when they’re playing like this.”
Hoepker helped lead the way early, with a 3-pointer to start things, and a traditional 3-point play minutes later as Humboldt raced to a 14-4 lead.
Yates Center wasn’t about to go down without a fight.
Freshman Aaron Smith came off the bench to score 11 points in the second quarter alone. Jordan Smith’s 3-pointer midway through the period capped a 13-4 Wildcat run, cutting Humboldt’s lead to 18-17.
It was as close as the Wildcats could get.
Hoepker drilled a pair of 3-pointers, and Rhett Smith’s 3-point play put Humboldt on top, 29-21.
Gavin Dillow drilled a trey to pull Yates Center to within 29-26. Bret Holloway’s basket minutes later put the score at 32-20. But Rhett Smith’s 3-pointer at the buzzer gave Humboldt a 37-32 halftime advantage.
Hoepker hit two more 3-pointers early in the second half as the lead grew to double digits.
Yates Center never got within seven points after that, although the Wildcats never let Humboldt pull away, either.
Humboldt kept a safe distance by hitting 12 of 15 free throws on the night, including 8 of 9 in the fourth period.
“That’s a tribute to Yates Center,” Taylor said. “Yates Center is a good ball club. This was a good win for us.”
The Wildcats had six players score at least 8 points on the evening.
Aaron King’s 13 points paced the Wildcats, followed close behind by Dillow and Jordan Smith with 12 apiece. Holloway finished with 10. Mikey Bruner and Josh King both scored 8.
For the Cubs, Rhett Smith wound up with 18 points, 10 assists and five rebounds. Haviland scored 15 with two steals. Doran scored 10. Hoepker also had five rebounds and a pair of steals.
Humboldt (11-2) will be on the road at Erie Friday. Yates Center, conversely, will host Erie in its next game next Tuesday.
Yates Center (11-21-10-26—68) (FG/3pt): Dillow 0/4-0-1-12, Splechter 0-0-1-0, Holloway 4-2-2-10, Bruner 3-2-5-8, King 4-0-0-8, Forsyth 1/1-0-5-5, J. Smith 3/2-0-1-12, A. King 3/1-4-1-13. TOTALS: 18/8-8-16-68.
Humboldt (18-19-17-26—80) (FG/3pt): Whitcomb 0-0-1-0, Korte 0-0-1-0, Hoepker 2/9-4-3-35, Haviland 6-3-1-15, Isaac 1-0-3-2, Doran 5-0-2-10, Smith 5/1-5-2-18. TOTALS: 19/10-12-13-80.