HUMBOLDT — For much of the night Friday, Humboldt High’s girls stood tiptoe-to-toe with a much taller Neodesha squad.
The Lady Cubs even led Neodesha midway through the second period.
But the Bluestreaks, one of the premier teams of the Tri-Valley League, found their groove late in the half.
A flurry of Humboldt turnovers turned into a 12-2 Neodesha run as the Bluestreaks went into halftime with a 22-13 lead.
Humboldt challenged several times after intermission, but could never pull back in a 39-31 defeat.
The setback was the first of the year for the Lady Cubs, who had won their first five games of the 2023-24 season.
“I’m mad about the second quarter, but I’m not mad about the game,” Humboldt head coach Aubrey Jones said. “Unfortunately, we just couldn’t get our shots to fall late in the game. The girls fought and did everything I asked.”
Humboldt was downright dominant defensively in the third quarter, utilizing a zone defense to flummox Neodesha’s post players. Humboldt wasn’t exactly an offensive dynamo after intermission, but did enough to make things interesting.
The Lady Cubs limited Neodesha to a single field goal in the third quarter, pulling to within 24-19. Back-to-back field goals from Ricklyn Hillmon to start the fourth had Humboldt within a point, 24-23.
Neodesha rattled off five straight points before McKenna Jones drilled a trey for Humboldt, cutting the deficit to 28-26. Kenisyn Hottenstein’s layup with 2:50 left made it 31-29.
But a missed field goal and two straight turnovers allowed the Bluestreaks to stretch the lead back out to 36-29. Humboldt got no closer than five down the stretch.
Jones led Humboldt with 12 points, while Hottenstein scored nine.
Prayer Roebuck scored 16 to lead Neodesha.
“We knew this was going to be a big test to see what kind of team we have,” Jones said. “I’m excited to see what we’ll do in the second half.”
In a bit of a scheduling quirk, all six of Humboldt’s games so far have been at home.
