HUMBOLDT — Humboldt’s Cubs raced to a 10-2 lead over Caney in the first 6½ minutes of a Tri-Valley League game here Friday and appeared to be en route to a convincing victory.
Appearances can be deceiving.
Caney rallied back to take a 15-14 lead just before half-time and went on to win 44-36.
The day-to-night difference for the Cubs was that they managed to hit a meager 19 percent of their field attempts, and just 3 of 24 from beyond the arc. Humboldt also was burned in second-half crunch time when Caney turned defensive lapses in the Cubs’ full-court pressure to easy baskets.
Several of the lay-ups came off the finger tips of Kenneth Brown, a spring-legged senior who had a presence near the goal at both ends of the court. He disrupted several close-end shots by the Cubs.
But, Humboldt could have lived with its shortcomings on defense had the Cubs had their sights honed in better from the field.
While they made just three of 24 three-point, two of the three successes came in the first minute and a half of the game, when Hunter Murrow and Kason Siemens hit nothing with net from long range. After that Humboldt missed 21 of 22 bombs.
“Usually, you feel good about holding the other team to around 40 points, but we couldn’t get anything to fall,” said Cub Coach David Taylor.
Even with the loss, Taylor was complimentary of Humboldt’s effort.
“The kids battled hard and I’m proud of our effort,” he said.
The loss was only the second in 14 games for Humboldt.
Murrow led Humboldt with 11 points, Siemens had seven and Caleb Vanatta tossed in six. Brown led Caney with 15 and Jacob Matthews plopped in 13.
Humboldt journeys to Neodesha Tuesday night and hosts Fredonia Friday night.
Caney 5 10 20 9 – 44
Humboldt 10 4 8 14 – 36
Shooting woes do in Humboldt boys
