Humboldt, Crest gear up for rematch

PLEASANTON — It’s deja vu all over again when Humboldt High and Crest High face off at 5:30 p.m. today in Pleasanton High School’s midseason tournament.
Both teams secured hard-fought victories Thursday to earn berths in the championship game. The Cubs pulled away in the third quarter to defeat Central Heights 47-39, while Crest used a series of defensive stands in the final minute to defeat Prairie View 47-44.
Today’s matchup marks the second time this season the Cubs and Lancers will tangle for a tournament title. Humboldt edged Crest 43-40 in December to win the Cubs’ preseason tournament.
Both coaches are expecting a similar battle in their repeat affair.
“We know we’re going to have to play four good quarters, because if you don’t play four good quarters against Crest, it will get you beat,” Humboldt coach David Taylor said.
“We have a lot of respect for Humboldt,” Crest coach Travis Hermreck added. “Our goal is to play well. We thought we played a good game against them last time, but they still got the win.”

HUMBOLDT fashioned its victory over Central Heights on the strength of a 16-8 third-quarter run.
The spurt turned a 21-19 half-time lead to 37-27 by the start of the fourth quarter. All 16 points in the third quarter were scored by senior standouts Noah Thornbrugh (10  points) and Tanner McNutt (six).
Hunter Murrow helped seal the win in the fourth quarter, hitting five of eight free throws and scoring eight of his 10 points in the final frame.
“The kids beat a quality team Thursday night,” Taylor said. “We talked about playing good defense. The only negative I can find was our turnover-to-assist ratio was backwards.”
Humboldt had nine assists and turned the ball over 13 times.
McNutt drained four 3-pointers en route to a team-high 16 points, followed by Thornbrugh’s 15 points, eight rebounds, five assists and three steals. Murrow, Nathan Whitcomb and Trey Johnson also had two steals.
Jordan Horstick led the Vikings with 17 points.

CREST HAD the early advantage over Prairie View, and held it throughout, “but every time we’d open up the lead, they’d come back,” Hermreck said.
The Lancers warded off potential disaster in the game’s final minute, after a series of turnovers gave Prairie View the ball with a 45-44 deficit.
Crest’s Kyle Hammond snuffed the Buffalos by taking a charging foul, giving the Lancers possession.
Jesse Boone and Austin Green each hit one of two free throws giving the Lancers a three-point lead.
Prairie View’s Luke Miller — “the one kid we didn’t want to see taking a shot” — fired off a 3-point attempt from about 20 feet away, but the shot bounced off the rim as the buzzer sounded.
“It wasn’t a wide open shot, but he had a good look,” Hermreck said.
The game started out quickly. Crest led 15-9 after one quarter and 32-22 by half-time.
“The first half looked like it was going to be an offensive shootout,” Hermreck said. “In the second half, everybody started guarding and beating on each other.”
Jordan Morton drained five 3-pointers for the Lancers to lead the way with 19 points and three steals, while Brock Ellis followed with 14 points. Hammond had eight points, nine assists, six rebounds and three steals. Boone followed with six boards and three steals.
Martin and Nic Lee both had 11 points for the Buffalos.
Despite the rough and tumble play in the second half, Hermreck noted Crest only shot four free throws in the contest — all coming in the game’s final 30 seconds.

Humboldt boys (10-11-16-10—47)
Central Heights boys (8-11-8-12—39)
Humboldt (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): McNutt 2/4-0-3-16, Murrow 2-6-0-10, Whitcomb 1-0-4-2, Crawford 0-0-2-0, Johnson 2-0-3-4, Thornbrugh 7-1-3-15. TOTALS: 14/4-7-15-47.
Central Heights (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Burkdoll 0/3-0-3-9, Beckwith 1-0-4-2, Horstick 6-5-4-17, Erhart 2-4-4-8, Hendron 0/1-0-0-3. TOTALS: 9/4-9-15-39.
Crest boys (15-17-9-6—47)
Prairie View boys (9-13-11-11—44)
Crest (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Boone 2-1-3-5, Green 0-1-0-1, Morton 2/5-0-1-19, Hammond 4-0-2-8, Ellis 7-0-0-14. TOTALS: 15/5-2-5-47.
Prairie View (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Barthol 0/2-0-2-6, Craig 1-0-1-2, Spears 2-2-2-6, Lee 2-7-1-11, Miller 2/2-1-2-11, Ross 4-0-5-8. TOTALS: 11/4-10-13-44.