Humboldt, Crest victorious

HUMBOLDT — Humboldt HIgh head coach David Taylor is seeing a team who is starting to figure itself out.
The Humboldt Cubs pulled out a victory over the Erie Red Devils Friday night, 57-22, and with the win comes the first-place trophy for their preseason tournament.
For a team who is only returning one starter from the previous season, Taylor said they are beginning to come together and realize the roles they play in the team.
He said the first half was “OK” for his players. They went up 14-7 over the Red Devils in the first, and put another 13 on their opponent in the second to make the halftime score 27-14.
“We went in at the half, made some adjustments and talked about finding our rhythm,” Taylor said. “Our defense picked up in the second half.”
Humboldt outscored Eire, 25-6, in the third quarter to put the game away.
Justin Meins led the Cubs with 20 points, followed by Markiz Pulliam with 15. Taylor pointed out Hunter Murrow, who had 10 points and a strong defensive presence on the court. He had seven rebounds as well.
Brett Thompson had 11 points for the Red Devilss.
The Cubs (3-1) travel to Yates Center Tuesday.

CREST HEAD coach Travis Hermreck wasn’t ready to call Friday’s game against Uniontown a must win, “but I don’t know if our confidence could have taken too many more losses in a row,” he said.
Not to worry.
Some hot shooting from guard Hunter Frazell sparked the Lancers in a 57-41 win. The win was Crest’s first after three straight losses to open the season.
“We played like a hungry team tonight and not a scared team,” Hermreck said. “The guys really needed this confidence boost. Hunter’s shooting really got us off and rolling.”
Frazell wound up with 17 points, while Landon Stephens scored 12. Evan Godderz and Brock Ellis added 10 apiece. Ellis led Crest in rebounds, although those numbers weren’t available.
Joe Duffy scored 18 for Uniontown.

ON THURSDAY, the Cubs let an early lead slip away against Crest before dominating play in the fourth quarter. The Cubs closed the game with a 20-3 run to cap their 55-27 victory.
“It was a great game for about three quarters,” Humboldt head coach David Taylor said. “They had some turnovers at some bad times, and we really got out in transition.”
Justin Meins was the primary catalyst, scoring nine of his game-high 20 points in the fourth quarter.
“He played very well,” Taylor said. “I thought Robbie Sellman and Alex Murrow did some good things, too, and Kason Siemens gave us a spark at both ends of the floor.”
Humboldt zipped out to a 15-2 lead before Crest’s Frazell drained a 3-pointer at the first-quarter buzzer to trigger a 16-4 Lancer run.
But the 19-18 deficit was as close as Crest would get.
Humboldt scored the last four points of the half, then pulled ahead 35-24 by the end of the third period.
“Even then, I thought we at least had a run left in us for the fourth quarter,” Hermreck said. “But until we understand the importance of defense and rebounding, and staying intense the full 32 minutes, we aren’t going to win many games.”
Meins added eight rebounds to his 20 points to lead the Cubs. Hunter Murrow followed with eight points and eight rebounds. Siemens scored eight points with five steals and three assists. Caleb Vanatta added four steals, while Sellman had seven boards. Pulliam had two blocks.
Austin Green scored 10 to lead Crest. Frazell followed with eight. Ellis scored seven.

HUMBOLDT (3-1) is at Yates Center Tuesday. Crest hosts Pleasanton.
Friday
Uniontown (13-9-5-14—41)
Crest (21-16-9-11—57)
Uniontown (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Gleason 1/1-0-0-5, Riley 0/1-0-4-3, Joe Duffy 5-3-2-13, Jacob Duffy 4-0-2-8, Robinson 0/1-0-2-3, Johnson 2-2-2-6, Miller 0/1-0-2-3. TOTALS: 12/4-5-14-41.
Crest (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Frazell 0/5-2-4-17, Green 1/1-1-3-6, Godderz 2/2-0-1-10, Stephens 4-4-2-12, Ellis 2/1-3-2-10, Ramsey 1-0-4-2. TOTALS: 10/9-10-16-57.
Erie 7-7-6-2—22
Humboldt 14-13-25-5—57
Erie (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Woolf 1-1-4-3, McCoy 0-0-2-0, Thompson 3/1-2-2-11, Beachner 0-0-1-0, Peters 0/2-0-1-6, Richwine 1-0-0-2, Semrad 0-0-2-0. TOTALS: 5/3-3-12-22.
Humboldt (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Vanatta 0-0-2-0, H. Murrow 2/1-3-0-10, Carpenter 1-0-2-2, A. Murrow 1-0-0-2, Sellman 1-0-1-2, D’Armond 2-0-2-4, Meins 10-0-1-20, Bartlett 0-0-1-0, Pulliam 6-3-3-14, Siemens 0-2-0-2. TOTALS: 23/1-8-12-57.
Thursday
Crest (5-13-6-3—27)
Humboldt (15-8-12-20—55)
Crest (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Frazell 1/2-0-1-8, Green 3/1-1-4-10, Godderz 0-0-1-0, Stephens 0-0-2-0, Strickler 0-0-1-0, Ellis 0/2-1-3-7, Miller 0-0-1-0, Ramsey 1-0-4-2. TOTALS: 5/5-2-17-27.