Lancers shoot past Cubs in tournament

HUMBOLDT – Two undefeated teams collided Thursday night in the second round of Humboldt High’s Second Annual Emprise Bank Basketball Tournament.
Crest High’s Lancers and Humboldt High’s Cubs were like two heavyweight boxers trading punches. It was a second-quarter blow by the Lancers that provided separation, then back to trading punches and holding off the Cubs for a 47-38 win.
The Lancers used four straight three-pointers – two by Cole Bowen – to push a two-point advantage to a 12-point lead. The Cubs bounced back up from the canvas as Tanner McNutt had two baskets and Trey Johnson added a bucket to pull within 27-19.
Bowen scored just before the halftime buzzer to put Crest up 30-21.
“We got separation for the third game in a row and were able to hold them off at the end. Humboldt is a good team and at times they imposed their game on us,” said Travis Hermreck, Crest head coach.
“This was a big win early in the season for us against a quality team. Humboldt is going to get better and better as the season progresses.”
The third quarter didn’t have a lot of scoring. Jordan Morton hit two threes for Crest. But it was a three by Humboldt’s Johnson at the buzzer to keep the Cubs close, 38-28.
“We were trading twos for threes for awhile and missing a lot of chip shots inside. We have to finish those shots inside,” said David Taylor, Humboldt head coach. “The guys didn’t quit and we made a good run at them in the end.”
Humboldt’s 6-6 junior post player Noah Thornbrugh began to go to work inside scoring five consecutive points. He stole the basketball from Crest senior Kyle Hammond, who was called for an intentional foul on the play, and Thornbrugh hit two free throws.
work inside scoring five consecutive points. He stole the basketball from Crest senior Kyle Hammond, who was called for an intentional foul on the play, and Thornbrugh hit two free throws.
The Cubs retained possession of the ball and McNutt’s basket at the 2:28 mark made it a four-point game, 39-35.
Humboldt had opportunities to get closer but couldn’t covert. Morton hit a free throw then Jesse Boone had a layup when the Lancers beat the Cub press. Hammond would hit 5 of 6 free throws in the final 40 seconds to seal the deal for the Lancers.
Hammond finished with 18 points for Crest. Morton, who had four threes, and Cole Bowen hit three treys as they ended up with 13 and 11 points, respectively. Crest was 11 of 17 at the line.
Thornbrugh poured in 16 points, grabbed nine rebounds and had three blocked shots. McNutt scored 11 points. Nathan Whitcomb dished out six assists.
The Cubs shot 29 percent, 16 of 55, from the field. They downed 4 of 9 free throw attempts.
“This was a good game for us. No, you don’t like to lose but our kids were forced to defend a long way from the basket because of Crest’s three-point shooters. That will help us in the long run,” Taylor said.
On Friday, Crest finished the round-robin tournament against Erie and Humboldt played Uniontown.
Crest (12-18-8-9-47) (FG/3-pt): C. Bowen 1/3-0-0-11, Boone 1-1-2-3, Morton 0/4-1-0-13, Hammond 4/1-7-2-18, Brallier 0-0-4-0, J. Bowen 0-1-2-1, Ellis 0-1-0-1. TOTALS: 6/8-11-10-47.
Humboldt (10-11-7-10-38) (FG/3-pt): C. Vanatta 1-0-0-2, McNutt 4/1-0-4-11, H. Murrow 0-0-1-0, Whitcomb 0-0-2-0, Crawford 2-0-3-4, Johnson 1/1-0-3-5, Thornbrugh 6-4-4-16. TOTALS: 14/2-4-17-38.