HUMBOLDT — The wins haven’t materialized like the Webster City girls’ basketball team had hoped this season, but that hasn’t diminished the want and the fight.

And that’s a source of pride for Lynx head coach Nicole Muhlenbruch. Regardless of her team’s record, regardless of how deep the hole, she knows her players are never going to wave the white flag.

Monday’s North Central Conference tussle against Humboldt is a perfect example. Trailing by 16 points early in the third quarter, WCHS battled all the way back to make it a one-point affair in the fourth quarter before the Wildcats ultimately pulled away for a 46-34 win.

It wasn’t the outcome the Lynx were looking for, but Muhlenbruch was proud none the less.

“I don’t know if you can measure it, that’s how proud I am of them,” she said. “They fought and fought and they just never backed down. With the way our season is going, they could have thrown in the towel long ago, but they never have and that’s what I’m most proud of.”

WCHS (2-12, 1-8 NCC) fell behind 32-16 and then reeled off a 16-1 run over the next eight minutes to close to within 33-32 on a Kelly Stoakes basket from the paint midway through the fourth quarter. But Humboldt’s Kendal Clark stopped the bleeding with four consecutive points and the Wildcats drained 9 of 10 free throws down the stretch to keep the Lynx at bay.

After doing almost everything right to climb back into contention, WCHS struggled late. It committed five of its 19 turnovers over the final three minutes.

“We saw that we were within reach and we started rushing things,” Muhlenbruch said. “We got a little bit out of rhythm … if we had stayed calm, we probably wouldn’t have been in a couple of those situations we got ourselves into.”

Stoakes and Jenna Miller spurred the second-half charge by scoring 19 of the Lynx 21 points over the final 16 minutes. They both finished with 11 points. Miller, who buried two second-half 3-pointers, also hauled in 10 rebounds to go along with three steals. Stoakes had four boards and two steals.

“That’s by far the best game I’ve seen Jenna play and it’s always nice to see a senior do those things,” Muhlenbruch said. “That’s every game for Kelly. She’s just a workhorse and she doesn’t back down.”

Bae Arnold led Humboldt (14-4, 8-3 NCC) and all scorers with 17 points. She canned 5 of 6 free throws over the closing minutes and also keyed the Wildcats’ early surge with four first-half 3-pointers. While WCHS collapsed its defense on Clark in the paint, Arnold rained in three consecutive first-quarter triples.

“We thought we could double down on (Clark) quick and then get back out on Arnold, but she hit a couple of quick ones on us,” Muhlenbruch said.

A 3 by Jori Hajek ignited a 9-0 Humboldt spurt that spanned the first and second quarters, and the Wildcats outscored WCHS 17-5 over the last 10:10 to take a 13-point lead, 26-13, into the intermission. Arnold poured in 12 first-half points.

Clark finished with 14 points, 12 of them coming in the second half after WCHS was forced to abandon its defensive swarm on the inside. Hajek added nine points.

Alley Odland produced six points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals for the Lynx. Leah Kasch scored the team’s initial four points.

Monday started a stretch of seven games in 11 days for WCHS, which was back on the road Tuesday night to face St. Edmond. The Lynx will be at Hampton-Dumont/CAL on Thursday and Iowa Falls-Alden on Friday before returning home to take on Clarion-Goldfield-Dows and third-ranked (Class 3A) Clear Lake next Monday and Tuesday. They’ll wrap up the regular season with a non-conference road game at South Hardin next Thursday.

Humboldt 46, Webster City 34

Monday at Humboldt

Webster City (2-12, 1-8 NCC) — Fallon Casey 0 0-0 0, Kelly Stoakes 5 0-1 11, Alley Odland 2 2-2 6, Leah Kasch 2 0-2 4, Shelby Queen 0 0-0 0, Livia Kasch 1 0-0 2, Jenna Miller 4 1-1 11, Reese Casey 0 0-0 0. Totals: 14 3-6 34.

Humboldt (14-4, 8-3 NCC) — Lauren Murray 0 0-0 0, Jori Hajek 3 2-2 9, Bae Arnold 4 5-6 17, Jayda Hoefer 1 0-0 2, Alexis Hansen 0 1-2 1, Emily Zaugg 1 0-2 2, Marissa Kaufman 0 1-2 1, Kendal Clark 6 2-2 14. Totals: 15 11-16 46.

Web City 8 5 12 9 — 34

Humboldt 16 10 6 14 — 46

3-point field goals — WC 3 (Miller 2, Stoakes); HUM 5 (Arnold 4, Hajek). Rebounds — WC 28 (Miller 10, Odland 5, Stoakes 4). Steals — WC 9 (Miller 3, Stoakes 2, Odland 2). Assists — WC 12 (Odland 4). Turnovers — WC 19. Team fouls — WC 16, HUM 11. Fouled out — none.