BURLINGTON — Humboldt High’s Cubs picked up one of their biggest wins of the season, taking the lead early and holding it throughout in a 60-49 win over host Burlington.
“Burlington’s solid,” Humboldt head coach David Taylor said as the Cubs improve to 16-2 on the season.
The win begins a crucial three-game slate for the Cubs, who travel to Eureka on Monday for a makeup game (snow) before hosting Cherryvale next Tuesday.
In girls action, the Lady Cubs fell to Burlington — the top ranked Class 4A, Division II school in the state.
“Our next two games are big-big-big,” Taylor said. “But I’ve always said I’d rather play the good teams left, because that will tell us how we stack up for substate. And our substate is starting to look pretty tough, too.”
Execution and defense were the keys to the win, Taylor said.
“The stat book says we had two turnovers,” Taylor said. “I thought it was closer to four or five. In any case, we played crisp, especially in the second half.
“It doesn’t hurt that we shot 47 field goal attempts,” he continued. “The reason we got so many shots was because we executed so well.”
The Cubs led 17-14 after one quarter and 29-15 at the break. The margin grew to 43-36 after three quarters.
Humboldt deftly handled Burlington’s press in the second half, breaking the defense for three consecutive layups at one point.
Then, when the Wildcats backed off, the Cubs effectively melted the clock. Taylor noted one possession lasted 2½ minutes.
A varied cast of characters led the way. Hunter Murrow held high-scoring honors with 14 points, while Caleb D’Armond and Kason Siemens scored 12 apiece. Caleb Vanatta scored eight and Robbie Sellman and Justin Meins had seven each. Meins also had five rebounds and three assists. Sellman pulled in four steals.
“Hunter did a good job on offense, and Caleb D’Armond stepped up and played big,” Taylor said. “Justin Meins was steady and solid. Caleb Vanatta did well, too.”
The Cubs sealed the win at the free throw line, hitting 7 of 11 charities in the fourth quarter. They were 12 of 21 for the game.
Burlington, conversely, was 6 of 11 from the stripe.
“You always want to make more free throws than your opponent shoots,” Taylor said.
Braden Myer scored 14 and Grant Shell 12 to pace Burlington.
The Cubs also won in junior varsity play, 54-33. Jacob Haviland led the way with 16 points.
Burlington won in C team play, 44-39. Joe Kline led Humboldt with eight.
Further details from the girls’ game were unavailable.
Humboldt (17-12-14-17—60)
Burlington (14-11-11-13—49)
Humboldt (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Vanatta 2/1-1-0-8, H. Murrow 6-2-1-14, A. Murrow 0-0-1-0, Sellman 1/1-2-3-7, D’Armond 5-2-2-12, Meins 3-1-4-7, Siemens 1/2-4-3-12. TOTALS: 18/4-12-15-60.
Burlington (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Hatch 4-1-2-9, Whitworth 0/2-1-3-7, Myer 5/1-1-2-14, Shell 3/2-0-3-12, Nordstedt 0-0-2-0, Redding 0-1-1-1, Beyer 2-2-4-6, B. Hatch 0-0-1-0. TOTALS: 14/5-6-20-49.
Humboldt picks up win at Burlington
