David Weybright’s offensive outburst provided the Houston Tigers just enough to get their first victory of the season.
Weybright poured in 12 of his 14 points in a less than 2 minute span in the third quarter, and the Tigers squeaked past Hartville 48-46 Friday night.
Houston’s game Tuesday at Mansfield was postponed due to inclement weather.
Weybright hit four 3-pointers during his personal scoring binge as Houston (1-1) erased a two-point halftime advantage and built enough cushion to hold off Hartville.
It was the first career varsity win for first-year Tigers coach Brent Hall.
“If it wasn’t for David, we probably wouldn’t have won,” Hall said. “He had probably 12 of his points within a minute and a half. His little spurt gave us a lead that we held onto the end.”
Kyle Poynter scored 15 points to lead the Tigers. Senior Ryan O’Neil added eight.
Houston was without starting power forward Travis Barker, who was sidelined with a hip injury. Hall said Barker was cleared to resume practice this week.
Hall said he was surprised by his team’s shaky encore to the season opener, which Houston led the entire way before falling to West Plains in overtime.
The Tigers only managed four first-quarter points. Fortunately for Houston, Hartville only scored five.
“I think we played as hard as we did against West Plains, we just didn’t play as well,” Hall said. “We had a hard time catching the ball and had a ton of turnovers.”
Weybright scored 12 of the Tigers’ 18 third-quarter points as they took a five-point lead and held on down the stretch.
“Any way you look at it, it’s a win,” Hall said. “But we had to battle and grind it out to do it.”
Houston 4 13 13 13 – 48
Hartville 5 14 11 16 – 46
HOUSTON (1-1) – Weybright 5 0-0 14. Poynter 5 4-4 15. Setters 3 0-1 6. O’Neil 2 3-3 8. TScheets 1 3-4 5. Totals 16 10-12 48.
HARTVILLE – Gioney 5 3-4 17. Dedmon 8 4-6 21. Jones 1 0-0 2. Horn 2 0-0 4. Shaver 1 0-1. 2. Totals 17 7-11
3-pointers: Houston 6 (Weybright 4, Poynter, O’Neil); Hartville 5 (Gioney 4, Dedmon).
