HUMBOLDT — Humboldt High limited its mistakes and avoided any real lulls on offense Monday to open the Class 3A Substate Tournament.
And the Cub defense was its typically dominating self, holding the visiting Prairie View Buffalos without a point for more than 14 minutes of game time.
Humboldt scored 25 straight points, spanning nearly the entire second and third quarters, on the way to a 55-11 victory.
The win puts Humboldt, 19-2, into Thursday’s substate semifinals against Olathe’s Heritage Christian Academy, a 56-54 victor over Iola in their matchup. Tipoff will be at 6 p.m. at host Wellsville.
The winner will face either Wellsville or Anderson County Saturday evening with a berth in next week’s state tournament on the line.
“The guys did a good job tonight,” Cub head coach David Taylor said. ‘We were able to handle their press, and did a good job on defense.”
Humboldt’s balanced scoring attack, with five players notching field goals, led to a 12-6 lead after one quarter.
Prairie View’s Jarrett Williams scored inside with 1:14 left in the first quarter to slice Humboldt’s lead to 10-6.
But the Buffalos didn’t dent the scoreboard again until Joe Sramek scored with 2:50 left in the third quarter.
By then, Humboldt’s lead stood at 35-7.
A few items of note:
Humboldt’s transition game led to a white-hot 62% shooting performance from 2-point range, with 18 of the 24 field goals coming via assists.
Humboldt also had nine steals as a team and pulled in 32 rebounds.
“Those are good numbers,” Taylor said.
Senior Sam Hull led the way with 15 pints and six rebounds, while dishing out three assists.
