HUMBOLDT — March Madness came four days early for Yates Center High.
The Wildcats erased a nine-point, second-half deficit, with sophomore guard Cash Cummings dealing the knockout punch, a 23-foot 3-pointer at the buzzer to stun Humboldt High, 57-54.
The buzzer-beater caps the regular season for both teams, who tip off Class 2A Substate Tournament play Monday evening. Humboldt (9-9) hosts Pittsburg-St. Mary’s Colgan. Yates Center, winner of six straight, takes an 11-6 record into the playoffs, where it will host Central Heights.
“We are working hard at it,” Wildcat head coach Jeremy Neville said of his team’s late-season surge.
“We had a lot of turnovers,” Humboldt head coach David Taylor said. “Their press hurt us late. The key was when we made a mistake, they capitalized on it. That put us in a bad situation.”
The Cubs led most of the way, and Drew Wilhite’s layup late in the third quarter pushed Humboldt’s lead to 39-30.
But Yates Center responded with a 10-0 run to take the lead.
Cummings knocked down a 3-pointer, and Carter Burton’s steal and layup pulled the Wildcats to within 39-35 at the end of the third. Blake Audiss opened the fourth quarter with another trey for Yates Center, and a steal led to Preston Hurst’s basket and a 40-39 YC advantage.
The action kicked a tense stretch run, which featured six lead changes and three ties.
Colton Slocum’s putback with 1:30 remaining gave Humboldt a 54-52 lead.
The Wildcast missed on their next possession, but a Cub turnover with 43 seconds left gave Yates Center the opening it needed.
Preston Hurst’s off balance shot underneath connected, knotting the score. Audiss then stole the ball as the Cubs attempted to push the ball to the hoop, setting up Yates Center’s final possession with about 18 seconds left.
The Wildcats worked the ball around the perimeter, with Cummings squared up for the shot, despite being well beyond the 3-point line.
The shot sent the visiting Wildcat fans into a frenzy as Cummings’s teammates mobbed him at center court.
“We didn’t do the things we’d been doing to take care of the ball,” Taylor said. “When we made our mistakes, some were attributable to what they were doing, and some were careless.”
The 3-pointer put Cummings at the 20-point mark for the night. Audiss wound up with 13, Sean Hurst nine, Burton seven and Preston Hurst and Taven Smoot with four each.
