TY McKINNEY glides in to score for the Webster City boys on Friday night against Humboldt in the Jefferson Gym. (DFJ photo by Tyler Anderson)

In their previous two meetings, the Webster City boys’ basketball team and Humboldt have kept their respective supporters on the edge of their seats. And both times, Webster City senior guard Ty McKinney pulled off late heroics to lift the Lynx to victory.

This past Friday at the historic Jefferson Gymnasium, no such drama was needed.

Engaged in a battle to control their North Central Conference destiny, the No. 7 (Class 3A) Lynx clamped down on the eighth-rated Wildcats, before capturing a 67-47 victory. En route to their sixth consecutive win, the Lynx kept Humboldt limited with defensive efforts in the second and quarter periods.

Going into the closing stretch within conference play, the Lynx improved to 15-1, 8-1 in the NCC. Humboldt dipped down to 14-3 and 10-2.

“Getting defensive stops was the main thing,” said Brett Ratcliff, WCHS head coach. “(Humboldt) likes to come out and shoot quickly. If they don’t get something right away, they’ll make some forced shots.”

“We were able to get some stops, pulled down some rebounds and transitioned well. We got some easy buckets and we were able to get to the rim.”

Coming up on Tuesday for the Lynx will be a home conference matchup against Iowa Falls-Alden, with tip scheduled for 7:45 p.m. at the Jeff Gym in Webster City.

Heading into the second quarter with a 17-11 advantage, the Lynx kept the Wildcats — who average 75 points per contest — to just 10 second period points.

At intermission, Webster City gained a 37-21 lead. The Lynx never looked back from there.

Senior Jaime Grossoehme paced the purple and gold with 19 points and six boards, along with two steals and a block. Teammate Ty McKinney tabbed double digits with 16 points and seven rebounds.

Senior Jayce Neuroth came away with six assists to go along with his eight points.

“They’ve been leaders since the start,” Ratcliff said of Grossoehme, McKinney and Neuroth. “Since we started practice in November, we knew that those three guys would be the starters, and we know that we can rely on them. They’re doing everything that is asked of them and hold everyone accountable. They make my job a lot easier.”

Juniors Braden Doering and Briar Klaver had solid outings, with Doering recording 11 points, followed by Klaver’s nine points. Junior Trevyn Lyons rounded out the scoring with four points.