Cubs tame Yates Center 66-39

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Sports

January 28, 2015 - 12:00 AM

YATES CENTER — Despite the 66-39 victory, Humboldt High’s coach David Taylor thought his team could have done better on defense and grabbing rebounds.
“We were sloppy. I thought at times we played a little bit selfish. We tried to do too much stuff on the dribble,” Taylor said. “But, when we’ve been playing like we’ve been to this point, we really try to extend it. Defense and rebounds, we try to use to fuel what we are doing. I didn’t think we were rebounding or defending really well.”
The Cubs were held to 24 rebounds. Yates Center did a good job at getting to the boards.
“(Yates Center) had a little to do with that, I thought they played well. I thought we were trying to put the ball on the bounce a little too much,” Taylor said. “Instead of saving the dribble, we were using the dribble and it got wasted quite a few times.”
The game didn’t start out nearly as lopsided. At halftime, the Wildcats trailed 36-21.
Humboldt started the game off with a 14-4 lead. Yates Center’s Kal Hamm then went on his own eight-point rally that went into the second quarter. He scored via the putback, fadeaway and short range jumper. The score was still 14-12 in favor of Humboldt.
With 4:20 left in the first half, Markiz Pulliam scored on a nice, one-handed acrobatic layup to give the Cubs a 22-14 lead. Justin Meins must have thought Pulliam’s layup was replay worthy, so he scored the same way on Humboldt’s next possession. That gave the Cubs a cushion with a 10-point, 24-14 lead.
Yates Center’s Drake Busteed responded with a transition layup, which he was fouled on. After making the free throw, Humboldt led 24-17. The Wildcats didn’t get any closer and Humboldt dominated in the second half for the big victory.
“The first half we fought, but the second half we weren’t mentally tough,” Yates Center coach Tanner Davis said. “We got mixed up in some other things that we can’t control. We’ve just got to get back to playing the game. That was the biggest thing for us.”
It didn’t help that Humboldt had four guys finish with double-digit points — Pulliam, Meins, Kason Siemens and Ethan Bartlett. Hamm was the only Wildcat to finish in double figures with 12 points.
Humboldt hosts Erie on Friday.
Yates Center doesn’t play until next Monday when they host Neodesha — one of three games the Wildcats play next week.

Humboldt 66, Yates Center 39
Humboldt (14-22-21-9—66) (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Whitecomb 0-0-1-0,Carpenter 2-2-3-5, Pulliam 6-7-1-19, Haviland 0-0-2-0, Bartlett 4/1-1-4-12, Issac 0-1-1-1, Meins 4-4-2-12, Siemens 1/3-3-1-13, Smith 1-1-3-3
Yates Center (8-13-10-8—39) (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Bruner 2-0-1-4, Splechter 2-0-2-4, Holloway 3-2-2-8, King 0-0-2-0, Smith 0-2-2-2, Busteed 2-1-2-5, Hamm 6-0-5-12, Rossillon 2-0-5-4

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