YATES CENTER — Humboldt High Schools boys basketball team took care of business against Anderson County on Thursday night. The Cubs won 43-35.
Humboldt started out on a rocket, amassing an 11-3 lead, by doing a great job of containing Anderson County big man Reece Katzer and holding him to a jumper and a free throw in the first.
Humboldt’s shutdown defense kept Katzer scoreless in the second, forcing his team to pick up the slack. Anderson County still had a good quarter, scoring eight points in the second, but Humboldt did them better, with 10 in the quarter.
At halftime, Humboldt held a 32-14 lead thanks to Colton Slocum who was 4-6 from the free throw line with eight points in the half and Drew Wilhite who had six in the half.
In the third quarter, the Humboldt defense kept the Bulldogs in check, but things changed in the fourth when the Bulldogs came out on a warpath, scoring 16 points as they tried to claw their way back into the game.
Katzer led the Bulldogs with six in the quarter, aided by a Caden Register three.
The comeback was too late though, the Cubs had built a strong lead and it was too tall of a task for Anderson County.
One problem for the Bulldogs was lack of offensive help. Only six players scored for Anderson County, with four of them scoring five or fewer points. Humboldt, on the other hand, had six players contribute, with three in double digits.
“We did a nice job of not giving them second-chance points,” said Humboldt coach David Taylor. “Hopefully, we can just keep getting better. We were a little suspect coming back after Christmas but I thought tonight was the best we had played in a while.”
Humboldt was led by Drew Wilhite with 10 points. Colton Slocum had 11. Trey Sommer scored 10. Colden Cook scored nine. Gavin Page scored two. Levi McGowen scored one.
Katzer led the Bulldogs with 13. Chaylin Peine scored eight. Caden Register and Kyle Belcher each scored five. Derek Rockers scored three.
IN GIRLS play, Humboldt fell, 42-34, to Anderson County on Thursday and was to play Cherryvale Friday. Statistics from Thursday were unavailable.
