HUMBOLDT — In what rapidly became a battle of attrition, Janae Granere stood tall.
The Marmaton Valley High sophomore poured in 25 points, none bigger than the four free throws she sank in the waning moments of the Wildcats’ 35-31 win over Humboldt High Tuesday.
The charities cut short a ferocious Lady Cub comeback, after Humboldt pared a 12-point deficit to one down the stretch.
“This is a big win, to beat
Humboldt here,” Marmaton Valley head coach Becky Carlson said. “Our defense was able to stop them at the end.”
“We had a shot at it,” Humboldt head coach Aubrey Jones said. “But at that point it was too little, too late. We had to foul them and No. 24 (Granere) is a good shooter.”
The game ended with three Humboldt starters, Kenisyn Hottenstein, Karsyn Haviland and Karley Wools, all on the bench having fouled out. Two Marmaton Valley starters, Aly Ard and Kendall Scharff, also were done for the night because of fouls.
Heck, even Granere, who hit 9 of 12 free throws on the night, wound up with four fouls.
Gritty defense by both teams set the tone.
Marmaton Valley held a 17-15 lead at the break, and seemingly had things well in hand with a dominating third quarter. Granere scored eight and Ard four as part of the Wildcats’ 12-2 run to push MV’s advantage to 29-17.
“We couldn’t hit the ocean from a boat,” Jones quipped. “And we had too many turnovers. Those will get you every time.”
But Marmaton Valley struggled from the line to start the final frame, missing 9 of its first 10 charities in the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, Wools and Brooklyn Ellis both scored five in the final frame to put the fans on the edges of their seats.
But in the end, it was Granere who drained the decisive free throws.
Ard added four points, while three others — Pauline Thery, Payton Scharff and Tayven Sutton — had two points apiece.
Haviland led the Lady Cubs with 11 points. Wools and Ellis each wound up with seven, while Hottenstein scored six.
Humboldt was once again without the services of starter Kirstyn Murow, due to illness.
Jones is eager to get her senior back on the floor.
