ST. PAUL — Humboldt High’s basketball teams hit the ground running Friday to open the 2024-25 basketball season.
The Humboldt boys shot a scorching 55% from the field and raced to a 52-14 halftime lead over host St. Paul in a 78-38 victory.
The Lady Cubs also cruised in their opener, winning 55-39.
The teams will be at home this week for the Humboldt Invitational Tournament. The Cubs will host West Elk Tuesday to open the round-robin tournament before taking on Crest on Thursday and Erie on Friday.
WITH SUCH a big lead, boys head coach David Taylor was able to get his entire roster plenty of playing time, with little drop-off from one substitute to the next.
“Our transition game was very good,” Taylor said. “Our passing was very crisp for our first game of the year.”
And even when Humboldt was unable to get its transition game going, the players were patient enough to work the ball and get open shots in a half-court offense. They were so effective, that they only attempted one 3-pointer on the night. The rest were from up close.
“The guys were very unselfish,” Taylor said.
Colden Cook shot 9 of 13 from the field to lead the way with 19 points, six rebounds and four steals. Asher Hart shot 6 of 8 from the floor to score 12. Blake Ellis scored 11 points and pulled in six steals. Tre Franklin’s Humboldt debut saw him get 10 points and four steals. Avery Works followed with eight points and Mason Sterling scored six points with four assists.
Humboldt registered 23 steals as a team. Reserves Keith Gomez and Thatcher Mueller had three and two thefts, respectively.
St. Paul added a few highlights of its own, drilling seven 3-pointers after the break, accounting for 21 of its 24 second-half points.
Statistics from the Lady Cubs’ victory were unavailable.
Humboldt Boys
FG FT F TP
Cook 9 1 1 19
