Next came the offensive rebound and put-back. It was followed by a mid-range jumper from the free throw line that hit nothing but net. And then there was the highlight-reel coast-to-coast lay-up that included a 360-degree spin to avoid a defender as he took flight.

And that, folks, was all she wrote.

Tanner, Webster City’s senior point guard and leader, took over in the fourth quarter against Humboldt Friday night. With the Lynx trailing 35-34 heading into the final period, Tanner scored seven consecutive points, nine during the team’s 13-0 spurt over the initial 5:49, and 11 in all in the stanza to carry the Lynx across the finish line for a 53-43 victory.

Still unbeaten, defending North Central Conference champion WCHS (3-0, 1-0 NCC) outscored Humboldt (1-3, 0-1 NCC) 19-8 in the fourth quarter. Henry Hoversten scored the other four points during the 13-point surge and Noah McKinney iced it away with four free throws in the final minute.

Webster City senior Jordan Tanner pulls up and takes a shot in the lane during the first half against Humboldt on Friday. DFJ photo/Troy Banning

“The first time I attacked, then I knew there would be openings,” Tanner said after putting up 14 points, six rebounds and four assists in the win. “We came out right away and got a bucket … we just kept going defense to offense. You could just tell it was clicking.”

It was certainly clicking at the defensive end of the court throughout the contest, as WCHS held Humboldt to its lowest scoring output of the season.

And, yes, that made defensive-minded Marty McKinney, the Lynx head coach, very happy.

“It all started at the defensive end for us,” Coach McKinney said. “The kids got after it and that’s good to see. We know that when we get into the conference it’s going to have to be done at the defensive end.”

The Lynx were up in the faces of Humboldt’s players. They overplayed the passing lanes. And they limited Wildcats’ big man Owen Terwilliger to just nine points.

DFJ photo/Troy Banning

“We’ve been drilling defense really hard in practice,” Tanner said. “Coach has been stressing one-on-one defense and not getting beat off the dribble. He was really happy with the way we played (Friday night).”

Humboldt didn’t make it easy on the Lynx. Austin Brant drained three 3-pointers in the first half to help stake his team to a 21-19 lead, and the Wildcats came out in the third quarter and opened on an 8-1 run to build the margin to 29-20 following an Eli Sande triple.

A timeout by WCHS is just what the doctor ordered.

“(Coach McKinney) just told us that this is a conference game and we’ve got to figure out what we want,” Tanner said. “He said we could either hang our heads or we could battle back.”

WCHS picked the latter.

DFJ photo/Troy Banning

Noah McKinney righted the ship with a 3 from the corner, and he hit another bomb a few possessions later to trim the Wildcats’ lead to 31-28. Cameron Moen and Dylan Steen also dialed it up from long distance to get WCHS within one entering the fourth.

Moen scored 12 of his game-high 15 points in the first half and he also collected two steals. Noah McKinney poured in 10 of his 12 points after the intermission and he led the team in thefts with three. They were a combined 5 of 10 from behind the arc. WCHS shot 50 percent overall (17 of 34), including 46 percent from 3 (6 of 13).

Humboldt’s defensive game plan was to limit the touches of Hoversten, the Lynx big man, and it was a success in the opening half. Hoversten was scoreless over the initial 16 minutes and finished with five points. Tyler Bultena added four points, five rebounds and two steals.

“We like to get the ball in to Henry, but they made it tough,” Tanner said. “It was hard to get the ball moving around the court.”

Jamison Heinz led Humboldt with 12 points. Calvin Carlson, the team’s leading scorer at 17 points per game, was limited to just one bucket by Noah McKinney.

DFJ photo/Troy Banning

“Noah played great defense on Carlson,” Coach McKinney said. “Noah was in his pocket all night.”

WCHS will continue its home stand on Tuesday when it faces Algona. Clarion-Goldfield-Dows will come to town on Friday.

Webster City 53, Humboldt 43

Friday at Webster City

Humboldt (1-3, 0-1 NCC) — Austin Brant 3 0-0 9, Jamison Heinz 6 0-1 12, Calvin Carlson 1 0-0 2, Hudson Gargano 2 0-0 5, Eli Sande 2 1-1 6, Jack Arndt 0 0-0 0, Owen Terwilliger 4 1-3 9, Denny Pederson 0 0-0 0. Totals: 18 2-5 43.

Webster City (3-0, 1-0 NCC) — Noah McKinney 3 4-4 12, Cameron Moen 5 2-2 15, Jordan Tanner 5 4-7 14, Tyler Bultena 2 0-0 4, Dylan Steen 1 0-0 3, Henry Hoversten 1 3-4 5. Totals: 17 13-17 53.

Humboldt 11 10 14 8 — 43

Webster City 11 8 15 19 — 53

3-point field goals — HUM 5 (Brant 3, Gargano, Sande); WC 6 (Moen 3, McKinney 2, Steen). Rebounds — WC 18 (Tanner 6, Bultena 5). Steals — WC 8 (McKinney 3, Bultena 2, Moen 2). Assists — WC 7 (Tanner 4). Turnovers — WC 9. Team fouls — HUM 18, WC 9. Fouled out — none.