HUMBOLDT — David Taylor is happy, but not satisfied, with Humboldt High’s start to the 2023-24 season.
The Cubs capped their pre-Christmas schedule with another win Friday, improving to 6-0 with a 61-45 victory over visiting Neodesha.
But with all the good — another balanced scoring attack with few turnovers — Taylor sees room for improvement elsewhere.
“I know the guys think we’re harping on them,” Taylor said. “But we’ve talked about the standard we want, for them to get to the level they’ll need to reach to go where we want them to go.”
Humboldt led virtually from start to finish, but the Bluestreaks stayed within shouting distance thanks to their long-distance shooting.
Neodesha hit nine 3-pointers — “It felt like more than that,” Taylor said — and were within 42-37 in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter.
Humboldt’s Sam Hull converted a 3-point play with 6:57 left, before Blake Ellis converted a steal and layup as part of another 3-point play to push Humboldt’s lead to double digits.
Neodesha could get no closer than eight down the stretch.
“We didn’t guard their dribble drive very well,” Taylor said, which in turn led to open looks from the perimeter. And after a couple of bad possessions, we haven’t learned to be patient and pass it around until we get what we want.”
Taylor emphasized that approach with about 5 minutes left, calling timeout and exhorting his players to be patient with the ball.
“Pass it until the cows come home,” he was heard telling his players.
For the better part of a minute, Humboldt did just that, keeping the ball around the perimeter until Ellis found Logan Page darting to the basket for an easy layup. Neodesha missed on its subsequent trip down the court, leading to another extended possession for Humboldt.
This time Sam Hull found Colden Cook for another easy lay-in.
Hull led three Humboldt players in double figures with 15 points and six assists, followed by Cook’s 13 points and six rebounds. Ellis scored 12 and Page scored eight.
“Logan had a nice all-around game,” Taylor said. “He did a lot of good things offensively and defensively. And Blake Ellis really did a good job of giving us a spark.”
