EUREKA — Fans of Humboldt and Eureka high schools were treated to an early-season thriller Friday evening.
In a game filled with clutch baskets, nifty passing and key rebounds, Humboldt’s early visions of glory proved fleeting.
Eureka overcame a seven-point deficit in the last 90 seconds, scoring on a coast-to-coast layup at the end of regulation to force overtime.
The back-and-forth affair came up in favor of Eureka after Humboldt’s last-ditch field goal attempt missed in the Tornadoes’ 73-72 win.
“We got a little tight down the stretch,” Cub head coach David Taylor said. “I should have called timeout, but I didn’t want them to be able to set up a play. This one’s one me.”
Despite the loss, Humboldt has plenty of reasons for optimism.
Markiz Pulliam poured in 31 points, ripped down 14 rebounds and had two blocks.
“Markiz had a good game, and a lot of that was because we were unselfish with the ball,” Taylor said. “Our 18 assists were big.”
The Cubs shot a scorching 56 percent from the floor.
Free throws were another story. Humboldt was a cool 11 of 22 from the line.
“We had a few mistakes at inopportune times, and our free throws hurt us,” Cub head coach David Taylor said after Humboldt. “But it was a very high-quality game on both sides.”
Humboldt held a 32-28 lead at the break and a 48-43 advantage after three periods.
“They’ve got some good shooters and they hit some shots,” Taylor said.
Eureka knotted the score at 64-64 before Humboldt’s Jake Haviland got inside for a field goal — his only field goal of the night — to give the Cubs a 66-64 advantage.
“But we let their kid go coast to coast and score with about 5 seconds left,” Taylor said.
Justin Meins added 14 points, six assists and three steals. Robbie Sellman added nine points and seven rebounds. Kasen Siemens had four assists.
Braden Larcom and Dalton Lyon poured in 24 points each to pace Eureka.
Humboldt is at home Tuesday against Uniontown to open play in the Cubs’ preseason tournament.
Humboldt 17-15-16-18-6—72
Eureka 18-10-15-23-7—73
Humboldt (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP)
Carpenter 2-2-0-6
Pulliam 13-5-4-31
Sellman 2/1-2-1-9
Haviland 1-1-2-3
Bartlett 3-0-2-6
Meins 4/2-0-5-14
Siemens 1-1-3-3
TOTALS: 26/3-11-17-72
Eureka (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP)
Cowley 1-0-1-2
K. Parmes 0/1-3-4-6
Nelson 3-3-3-9
Lyon 11-2-2-24
P. Parmes 1-0-3-2
Larcom 3/4-6-3-24
Basham 0/2-0-0-6
TOTALS: 19/7-14-16-73
Eureka edges Humboldt
