Humpherys, Lerwill combine for 49 as Madison thumps Thunder
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REXBURG — Up by 30 midway through the third quarter, Madison emptied its short bench, replacing the majority of its starter with subs who had not yet seen the floor.
But even sitting the final 12 or so minutes of the game, the Bobcats’ dynamic backcourt of Nash Humpherys and Carter Lerwill left a huge impression, combining for more points (49) than the Pocatello Thunder had in total (34).
The result was a dominant, 75-34, home win for the Bobcats (6-1) Wednesday night.
Head coach Shane Humpherys said that the performance was all the more impressive when taken into account the flu bug that ran through the Madison locker room.
“We showed up ready to go,” he said. “We had the flu go through us too, so we had five out of our 11 guys down with the flu, not practicing with us for the past few days. That, kinda, threw us out of our rhythm a little bit … but the boys showed up and defended our home court. I’m happy.”
Not only did Madison play with a short bench — just nine players — but they have been unable to run full five-on-five scrimmages for nearly a week, due to the bug.
Nash, who was double-teamed all night as soon as he crossed half-court, came out aggressive, almost ignoring the different players and defensive looks Pocatello (2-2) sent his way. He finished the night with a game-high 31 points.
Shane laughed upon learning of Nash’s finals statline.
“He did that in two-and-a-half quarters. That’s crazy, he’s crazy,” the coach said.
But Lerwill’s role as the Robin to Humpherys’ Batman is “very important” in Madison’s quest for a state title, Shane added. And he played a productive Robin Wednesday night, dropping 18 points while grabbing three rebounds and snagging one steal.
“He has been (performing like that). He’s dialed in, he’s focused. He is going to be a big, big part of what we have done and what we’re doing,” Shane said, adding that Bryce Wilson will need to share that role with Lerwill. “They know, this is it for them, this is their senior year, so they bring it.”
Wilson yielded looks to the hot Nash, finishing his shortened night with seven points, but brought the biggest cheer of the night when he finished an ally-oop from Nash in the first half.
For all their scoring though, it was the Bobcats’ defense that got things started.
Through the first five minutes of the game, Madison had recorded three blocked shots while surrendering just two points.
It wasn’t until the Thunder brought in Hunter Cordell that they found some offense. The senior big man sparked a seven-point Pocatello run, cutting the Bobcat lead to one — 10-9.
But Nash wiped away all that momentum and gave Madison breathing room it never relinquished, ending the first quarter on a personal 11-0 run.
The Thunder never tightened the gap again, and remained down by double-digits for the remainder of the game.
Cordell finished with a team-high 10 points.
Shane spoke about the defense, which he said has steadily improved through the first few weeks of the season.
“They’re just flying around and trusting each other,” he said. “A lot of people, when they think about chemistry, they think about offense. You’ve got to have chemistry on defense, and that’s starting to come — we’re trusting each other, flying around and having each other’s backs. It’s starting to come together.”
Pocatello returns home to host crosstown rival Highland Friday night.
Madison does not play again until after the New Year, when they welcome San Pedro (CA) on Jan. 2.