YATES CENTER — A Wildcat/Cubs matchup ended with a bang Tuesday night, in a shootout that put the Yates Center girls defeating the Humboldt girls 37-36.
A hot fourth quarter for both teams set the scene. The Wildcats were doing their best to hold off a rallying Cubs squad, and Humboldt was doing their best to overcome a first half deficit. With just 37 seconds on the clock, the teams were tied 34-34.
Lakota Wilson went 1 for 2 on foul shots, putting the Cubs up one. Mindi Holloway was immediately fouled by the Cubs, but she missed both from the line. Yet another foul by the Wildcats put Kayle Riebel at the line, she hit one for two. Cubs up 36-34 with 17 seconds remaining.
The Wildcats moved the ball down the court, and with just one second on the clock, Holloway launched a shot from center court, draining a 3-pointer. The Cubs had just enough to pass the ball in before the time ran out.
“She stepped up and hit the shot,” Head Coach Chris Wells said of Holloway’s shot. “We actually ran a play.”
He said the team’s performance was weak at best, following a strong first quarter. They went up 11-2 early against the Cubs, before slowly letting their opponent back into the game.
“It was ugly,” Wells said. “That was one of the ugliest wins we’ve come across.”
But, a win is a win, and he couldn’t deny that.
Humboldt Head Coach Sherrie Nelson said her team played hard — the game was tied 20-20 at the half — but they haven’t figured how to start out strong.
A slow comeback from the Cubs put them in a position to win the game, she said, but the situation would have been much different if her team would have come out ready to play. Interestingly enough, Wells seemed to agree with her.
“Humboldt wanted it a lot more than we did,” he said. “Our girls were determined to not suffer a loss after the (preseason) tournament.”
Senior Mindi Holloway led for the Wildcats, with 21 points on the evening, followed by Aubrey Smith with six. Humboldt was led by Lakota Wilson with 13 points, followed by Tilar Wells with eight.
The Cubs host Neodesha Friday, and the Wildcats travel to Eureka.
Humboldt 2-9-9-16—36
Yates Center 11-5-4-17—37
Humboldt (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Umholtz 0-0-1-0, Wells 1/1-3-0-8, McCall 2-0-2-2, Riebel 2-1-2-3, Hudlin 1-2-4-4, English 1-0-2-2, Whitcomb 0-0-2-0, Wilson 3/1-1-3-13, Menzie 0-0-2-0, Morris 1-2-2-4. TOTALS: 11/2-10-20-36.
Yates Center (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Wendland 1-0-3-2, Albert 0/1-0-3-3, Rossillon 0-1-2-1, Karmann 2-0-4-4, Holloway 7/1-4-4-21, Smith 3-0-3-6, Jones 0-0-4-0. TOTALS: 13/2-5-23-37.
