Wichita-Collegiate cruises past Humboldt in sub-state finals

The Spartans played full-court defense for four straight quarters, bringing face-to-face pressure that the Cubs had not faced this season. Humboldt finished the contest with a season-high 27 turnovers, many of which came in live-ball situations that quickly turned into points for their opponent.

“When we did break the pressure, we just couldn’t get into our offense,” Humboldt head coach Dave Taylor said. “Their style of play was a little bit difficult for us to handle, we’re not quite there yet.”

When the Cubs did manage to get the offense running, finding an open shot was near impossible. Humboldt shot just 37 percent from the field, with most of their 37 shots fully face-guarded.

“We haven’t played anybody that was able to get up on you physically like that,” Taylor said. “It was a good learning experience for them.”

The Cubs seemed uncomfortable handling the ball, and when junior Sam Hull picked up a third foul in the second quarter, things seemed to go off the rails according to Taylor.

The Cubs managed to stick to their game plan early on, trailing just 16-9 after a quarter. Collegiate was able to extend their lead late in the second quarter thanks to a very deep bench.

“Their athleticism was a major, major problem for us. We thought we had a pretty good game plan, (but their depth) made all the difference in the world,” Taylor said. “They have 10 guys that are as good as anybody in our league, so I know fatigue became a factor.”

Collegiate opened the second half with 16 unanswered points, which all but iced the game with over 12 minutes to play.

Sophomore Colden Cook led the scoring attack for Humboldt, finishing with a team-high 10 points and seven rebounds. Hull had nine points, four rebounds and two blocks and senior Trey Sommer had six points and a pair of drawn charges.

Sophomore Jacob Harrington finished with three points and three rebounds, and sophomores Avery Works and Asher Hart finished with two points each.

Offseason Preview

Humboldt graduates just a single player in Trey Sommer. The guard averaged 17 points and 6.7 rebounds per game in his senior campaign, and became just the seventh Cub to cross 1,000 career points earlier this year.

“I’m gonna miss Trey, he’s been battling for four years,” Taylor said. H”e’s had his ups and downs but I’m glad (he played for us).”

Though Sommer leaves a large scoring hole in the offense, the Cubs have plenty of upcoming talent to fill the void.

“I’m pleased with where they’re at. The future is bright as long as they stay the course,” Taylor said. “Shooters are created in the offseason and competitors are created in the weight room. There’s no corners you can cut.”

Box Score

Wichita-Collegiate: 16 16 21 11 — 64

Humboldt: 9 10 8 5 — 32

Scoring

Wichita-Collegiate: Sebastian Hines-Turner 20, Amare Batiste 16, Brett Wetta 10, Jaden Parker 7, James Shackelford 4, Quentin Fair 3, Carter Drumright 2, David Chege 2

Humboldt: Colden Cook 10, Sam Hull 9, Trey Sommer 6, Jacob Harrington 3, Avery Works 2, Asher Hart 2