CABOOL – Even though the Houston Tigers’ season ended in the first round of the district tournament, coach Wayne Jessen had nothing but praise for his team.
The Tigers, who returned just one starter from last year’s team that won six games, dramatically improved under Jessen. They finished 11-14 and despite missing their leading scorer, led Liberty by as many as nine points in the Class 3 District 10 tournament before losing 56-51 Monday night.
“I’ve had teams with better records that I didn’t like being around,” Jessen said. “This season was more enjoyable because they worked hard. They were fun to coach.”
Behind 12-7 after the first quarter, Houston rallied for a four-point halftime advantage and led 33-24 when senior Chad Hutsell buried a 3-pointer midway through the fourth quarter. But Liberty answered with a quick 9-1 spurt to cut the deficit to one and shortly thereafter took a lead the Eagles would not relinquish.
Jonathan Page led the Tigers with 12 points, and sophomore Jesse Setters hit three triples en route to 11 points. Houston made three more field goals and seven more 3-pointers than Liberty. But the Eagles were 24-for-30 at the foul line.
“This was a hard-working bunch of kids, and we had to be to be competitive,” Jessen said. “We had the same turnovers we’ve been seeing all year. Just inexperience and a lot of fundamentals that need to be worked on.”
Houston got an early lift from senior Michael Buckner, who came off the bench at the 4:25 mark of the first quarter and drilled his first shot – a 3-pointer from the top of the key. But Buckner, who was released from his knee injury Thursday, hobbled to the bench just two minutes later and did not return.
“He got one last 3-pointer before his career was over,” Jessen said.
With Houston behind 20-14, Setters buried a pair of triples to spark a 9-0 rally that gave Houston its first lead.
After the Tigers coughed up the lead, Setters nailed a 3-pointer from the right corner with 2:47 remaining in the game for Houston’s last lead. Hutsell trimmed a three-point deficit to one with a runner in the lane with 31 seconds left. But the Eagles made four straight free throws to seal the win.
Houston 7 20 7 17 – 51
Liberty 12 10 9 25 – 56
HOUSTON – Page 5 1-2 12. Oakley 2 1-2 5. Setters 3 2-4 11. DeWitt 0 1-2 1. O’Neil 3 1-3 7. Hutsell 3 2-2 9. TScheets 1 0-0 2. Buckner 1 0-0 3. Totals 18 8-15 51.
LIBERTY – Chambers 3 9-10 15. Young 1 2-4 4. Walkup 3 5-6 11. Daniels 5 5-6 15. Henry 3 3-4 9. Totals 15 24-30 56.
3-pointers: Houston 7 (Setters 3, Hutsell 2, Page, Buckner); Liberty 0.