HUMBOLDT Unofficially, Humboldt Highs Cubs committed just nine turnovers against visiting Cherryvale High Friday evening.
But on a night when the Cubs shot a cool 38 percent from the floor and hit just 7 of 17 charities, Humboldts miscues were enough to douse what had been a hard-fought contest.
Conversely, the Chargers one-two attack of Gavin Hooper and Wyatt Raida combined to score 28 of Cherryvales 34 points after intermission.
Humboldts Bo Bigelow was just off on his 3-point attempt that would have tied the game in the last 10 seconds. The Chargers corralled the rebound, hit a free throw and left town with a 52-48 victory.
The defeat drops Humboldts record to 4-3 as the Cubs enter midseason tournament week.
Humboldt opens the Pleasanton Midseason Tournament at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday against Oswego.
We got in our own way again, Cub head coach David Taylor said. We can be our own worst enemy. We had good effort, but we make mistakes at inopportune times that flat kill us.
Hoopers 3-point play midway through the fourth quarter gave the Chargers a 42-41 advantage. Kyler Allen and Caleb Coronado combined to hit three of four free throws to push the Cubs back in front 44-42.
Raida gave the lead once again back to Cherryvale with a free throw at the 3:27 mark.
Humboldts Xavier Bauer scored twice in the span of a minute to pull the Cubs to within a point, 49-48, before Landon Bennett got free inside for a bucket for Cherryvale.
The teams traded turnovers on their next possessions, leading to Bigelows missed trey in the waning seconds.
Xavier had a nice game, Taylor said. He was active on both ends of the court, which some of our guys werent at times.
Taylor lauded Hoopers clutch performance.
Hes a good player. We lost track of him at times.
The Chargers started out the night on fire, hitting a trio of 3-pointers in the opening eight minutes to lead 17-9.
Just as quickly, Humboldt clamped down on defense in the second period, holding the Chargers without a field goal.
Bigelows buzzer-beating 3-pointer gave the Cubs a 19-18 lead at the break.
