CANEY — Humboldt High’s girls are peaking at just the right time.
The Lady Cubs extended their winning streak to five Friday with a 56-47 victory over Caney Valley.
Humboldt carries an 11-5 record into a pivotal week in terms of the Tri-Valley League standings.
Humboldt hosts Neodesha Tuesday and Cherryvale Friday with the hopes of avenging losses to both from earlier in the season.
On the boys side, Caney Valley’s Colt Hightower scored 23 points as the Bullpups outscored Humboldt 36-25 after halftime to pull out a 64-55 victory. The loss drops the Cubs to 13-3
FRIDAY’S girls game saw Skylar Hottenstein and McKenna Jones connect from 3-point range in the second quarter as Humboldt turned a 15-14 deficit into a 30-22 lead. Humboldt’s advantage swelled to 48-31 by the end of the third quarter. Humboldt’s Shelby Shaughnessy took over after the break, scoring 13 in the third quarter.
Caney Valley made things interesting down the stretch, but Humboldt did just enough to stay safely ahead.
As an aside, Friday’s victory marked the 500th win in program history.
“Five hundred wins for the program is cool,” Humboldt head coach Aubrey Jones said. “I’ve been lucky to be a part of a handful of them for 11 years. They gutted one out to get it. Hopefully, they can all rest up over the weekend, and we’ll continue doing the program proud next week.”
Shaughnessy led the way with 20 points, followed by Hottenstein with 11, Ricklyn Hillmon nine and Karingten Hall with eight.
Caney Valley freshman Elyn Washburn scored 17 of her game-high 24 points after halftime to lead the Bullpups.
IN THE boys game, Humboldt took a 30-28 lead into halftime, thanks to a balanced scoring attack. But Caney Valley clamped down on defense, outscoring Humboldt 18-10 in the third quarter to take a 46-40 lead after three.
The Cubs closed the gap to four early in the fourth quarter before Caney Valley ripped off a 6-0 run to extend its lead to double digits.
The Bullpups hit 9 of 13 free throws in the fourth quarter to stay in front.
Colden Cook led Humboldt with 21 points and 12 rebounds and two steals. Tre Franklin followed with 13 points. Asher Hart scored 10, Avery Works chipped in with seven rebounds and Blake Ellis dished out five assists.
Layne Denny and Payton Darden added 13 apiece for Caney Valley.
