ALTAMONT — It was the Logan Myers and Avion Seamster Show on Friday night during the Labette County Grizzlies boys’ 78-30 win over the Humboldt Cubs.
Myers, a team manager for Labette County, and Seamster, a seldom-used role player for the Cubs, both nailed shots in front of a raucous crowd.
Myers finished the night with eight points.
“He’s a special kid in our program. He’s been a manager in our program for four years,” Labette County head coach Bradley Argabright said. “I have a rule where if you stick with it as a manager for all four years, you can suit up in your last game at home. It’s happened about three times since I’ve been here and he’s definitely got the most points out of all of them. We were able to get his feet wet and he hit some big shots. He’s a great kid that’s put the time into our program. He’s a quality leader.”
Seamster’s 3-pointer came one possession later after Myers connected on his trey.
“I was pumped,” Humboldt head coach Kason Siemens said. “He works so hard every day in practice. He comes every day and he’s a great kid who’s fun to be around.”
After a narrowly contested first quarter, Labette County spent the rest of the game racing away from Humboldt.
“For us, we wanted to come out and play hard,” Argabright said. “Our goal is to hold teams under 40 points. Doing that in February means you’re playing hard on defense and not giving up open looks. I thought we adjusted well after the first quarter. I’m glad we got out injury free and we executed well.”
Humboldt pulled most of its starters for most of the second half to preserve health.
“It was a good night overall and our kids did some great things,” Siemens said. “We were down two players to a flu bug. So I told my guys to come out and compete. We had an injury scare with Mason Sterling, so I pulled my guys for most of the second half. We’ve got to focus on sub-state. So it was great to see (Logan and Avion) go shot-forshot on the floor.”
A fun night near the end of a rugged regular season provided a breath of fresh air for the Grizzlies.
“It’s good for our guys to get that rest and be a part of something special,” Argabright Logan Myers dishes out the “night, night” celebration after connecting on a 3-pointer during Labette County’s win over the Humboldt Cubs on Friday night.
said. “We’ve been in so many good, tough games with quality opponents that have really pushed us. For us to play consistently was nice. It was nice to see Avion and our guy, Logan, going shot for shot and the place going wild.”
Thatcher Mueller led Humboldt with six points while Kane Nash and Zane Garton paced the Grizzlies with 11 apiece.
Friday’s loss marked the end of the regular season for Humboldt, which posted a 4-19 record heading into substate.
The Cubs have won two of their last four games.
“We’re battle-tested,” Siemens said. “Guys have made a huge impact on our team with physicality and leadership. When we’re clicking, we’re a tough team to beat. We’re going to be a sleeper in our sub-state because we know we can be really good.”
Up next
Labette County, now 13-8 overall and one loss back of SEK League-leading Independence, faces Pittsburg on the road on Tuesday.
“They’re always a tough draw for us,” Argabright said. “We know it’s tough to play there. All of our league games are tough. So we’ve got to bring a playoff mentality. If we want to win a league title, it’s do-or-die. There’s no better week to have that mentality.”
