After starting the season strong, the Houston Tigers can’t shake a losing funk.
The Tigers lost their third consecutive game Friday night as Waynesville outscored Houston in every quarter and cruised to an easy 88-45 victory.
The Tigers’ longest losing streak of the season knocked them under the .500 mark for the first time. Since a 62-49 victory Dec. 14 against Plato improved its record to 4-2, Houston (5-6) has dropped four of its last five games.
Only four players scored against Waynesville, led by senior Michael Buckner’s game-high 19 points. Five of his six field goals were 3-pointers.
Chad Hutsell hit three triples en route to 13 points for Houston. Jonathan Page scored nine, and Ty Scheets added four.
Nine of the Tigers’ 17 field goals were 3-pointers.
Waynesville, which got points from 11 different players, led 23-10 after the first quarter and by 18 at the half as it improved to 9-1.
Houston’s home game Tuesday against Alton was rescheduled to Feb. 14. The Tigers travel to Mountain Grove Friday before next week’s 37th annual Liberty Invitational. Houston faces Licking at 8 p.m. Monday and Alton at 5 p.m. Thursday. The championship round is Saturday.
Friday’s Game
Houston 10 16 11 8 – 45
Waynesville 23 21 27 17 – 88
HOUSTON (5-6) – Page 4 0-0 9. Buckner 6 2-3 19. Hutsell 5 0-1 13. TScheets 2 0-0 4. Totals 17 2-4 45.
WAYNESVILLE (9-1) – Bales 1 1-2 3. Wilson 5 2-2 12. Raines 3 1-2 7. Fort 8 2-2 18. Parker 2 0-0 4. Repress 3 4-6 10. Ray 2 0-0 4. Rebuck 5 2-2 12. Patton 1 0-0 2. Long 3 0-0 7. Childress 4 1-2 9. Totals 36 13-18 88.
3-pointers: Houston 9 (Buckner 5, Hutsell 3, Page); Waynesville 1 (Long).
