Houston’s inside duo of Holly Thomas and Kate Harper combined for 34 points and 22 rebounds to lead the Lady Tigers to an easy 46-30 win Monday night at Mountain Grove.
Houston, which lost at Norwood 42-36 Friday night, enters the holiday break with a 3-4 record and important conference victory.
“We wanted to have a good Christmas and not be thinking about that game through the entire break,” Lady Tigers coach Brent Kell said. “We really emphasized winning that first conference game.”
Harper had 18 points and nine rebounds and Thomas added 16 points and 13 rebounds for Houston, which used an 18-9 second quarter to take a double-digit lead.
“I saw a lot of positive things,” Kell said. “I was really pleased with our defensive rotation. We really frustrated them with our zone traps.”
At Norwood, Kendra Welch hit three 3-pointers en route to 14 points. Thomas scored 12.
Houston 7 18 13 8 – 46
Mountain Grove 6 9 6 9 – 30
HOUSTON (3-4, 1-0) – Moore 0 0-2 0. Pounds 1 0-0 3. Welch 2 0-2 5. Thomas 7 2-5 16. Herndon 1 0-0 2. Harper 8 2-4 18. Pierce 1 0-0 2. Totals 20 4-13 46.
MTN. GROVE – Hayes 2 0-0 5. Atchison 1 0-0 3. JSwofford 1 0-0 2. Harker 4 0-0 8. CSwofford 2 2-3 6. Williams 2 2-4 6. Totals 12 2-7 30.
3-pointers: Houston 2 (Pounds, Welch); Mtn. Grove 2 (Hayes, Atchison).
Houston 8 11 7 10 – 36
Norwood 14 17 9 8 – 42
HOUSTON (2-4) – Pounds 1 0-0 3. Honig 0 0-1 0. Welch 5 1-2 14. Thomas 6 0-2 12. Harper 1 3-5 5. Maddox 1 0-0 2. Pierce 0 0-1 0. Totals 14 4-11 36.
NORWOOD – JuGray 3 0-3 9. Stamper 3 1-2 7. JoGray 1 0-0 3. Housley 5 1-2 12. Sellars 1 0-0 2. Malone 4 7-7 15. Totals 17 9-14 48.
3-pointers: Houston 4 (Welch 3, Pounds); Norwood 3 (JuGray, JoGray, Housley).