The Houston Lady Tigers found out what it will take to hang with the likely top seed in their district tournament.
Trailing by double digits at halftime, the Lady Tigers rallied within a point midway through the third quarter. But Ava regrouped and pulled away for a 57-40 victory Monday inside Hiett Gymnasium.
Houston (9-15) hung tough with the Lady Bears early and outplayed them in the opening moments of the second half. It will take more than just a few minutes of staying close, though, if the Lady Tigers hope to compete for a district title. Seeds were selected Wednesday night.
“They are definitely going to be the No. 1 seed” said Kell, who believes his team will be the second or third seed.
Junior Erica Keeney led Houston with 14 points. Danielle Pounds scored nine points and Tory Burgess added three.
Ava had just two more field goals than Houston. But the Lady Bears were 18-for-29 at the free-throw line while the Lady Tigers missed 10 of their 17 attempts.
Keeney scored consecutive baskets to give Houston an early 13-10 advantage before Ava went on a 14-2 run to take a double-digit lead.
Behind 31-20 at the half, the Lady Tigers got a pair of 3-pointers from Pounds and baskets from Keeney and Amber Honig to close the gap to three. Keeney made it 33-32 when she made a pair of free throws just over three minutes into the third quarter.
Ava responded by scoring 13 of the game’s next 14 points and led by double digits the rest of the way.
“We did a good job of getting back into the game, then let them get away from us again,” Kell said. “It was just lapses on defense and not finding the shooters quick enough.”
Kell said Ava’s 2-3 zone defense made points hard to come by for the Lady Tigers.
“They’ve got a real tall team and are long. It’s difficult to get shots off,” he said. “We had a hard time not only shooting from the outside, but getting the ball inside.”
On Saturday, Pounds went 13-for-16 at the foul line as the Lady Tigers downed Hartville 53-46.
Pounds led Houston with 15 points. Keeney added 12.
“We played really well,” Kell said. “That was a quality win for us against a team that has a winning record. We haven’t had many of those this year.”
JUNIOR VARSITY: Alexa Ichord and Kenzie Scheets scored 15 points apiece in the JV Lady Tigers’ 47-42 loss Monday to Ava.
Ichord also scored 15 points to lead Houston past Hartville 43-21 Saturday night. Scheets scored nine and Elizabeth Hayes had seven.
Box scores
VARSITY
Monday’s game
Ava 20 11 12 14 — 57
Houston 14 6 13 7 — 40
AVA — Shelton 2 1-2 6. Bilyeu 1 3-5 6. Marrs 3 3-5 12. Lakey 0 1-2 1. Lansdown 0 2-2 2. Horn 0 1-2 1. Dooms 6 6-9 18. Watson 0 1-2 1. Garrett 5 0-0 10. Totals 17 18-29 57.
HOUSTON (9-15) — Pounds 3 1-4 9. Burgess 3 0-0 7. Honig 3 0-0 6. Herndon 0 1-3 1. Ichord 0 1-2 1. Keeney 5 4-8 14. Hayes 1 0-0 2. Totals 15 7-17 40.
3-pointers: Ava 5 (Marrs 3, Shelton, Bilyeu); Houston 3 (Pounds 2, Burgess).
Saturday’s game
Hartville 9 5 10 22 — 46
Houston 10 16 11 16 — 53
HARTVILLE — Goslee 1 0-0 2. Arnell 6 1-2 16. Percival 2 1-4 5. Tompkins 3 6-8 13. O’Dell 3 4-5 10. Totals 15 12-19 46.
HOUSTON (9-14) — Moore 0 1-3 1. Pounds 1 13-16 15. KKell 2 0-0 4. Burgess 3 1-2 8. Honig 2 3-6 7. Herndon 1 0-0 2. Keeney 6 2-4 12. Hayes 1 0-0 2. Totals 16 20-31 53.
3-pointers: Hartville 4 (Arnell 3, Tompkins); Houston 1 (Burgess).
JUNIOR VARSITY
Monday’s game
Mansfield 10 17 14 6 — 47
Houston 9 10 7 16 — 42
HOUSTON — Ichord 7 1-1 15. Scheets 3 9-12 15. Sillyman 0 0-2 0. Herndon 4 3-8 11. Hayes 0 1-2 1. Totals 16 14-25 42.
Saturday’s game
Hartville 4 2 8 7 — 21
Houston 15 12 13 3 — 43
HOUSTON — Ichord 5 5-7 15. Reese 1 2-8 4. Scheets 3 3-6 9. Sillyman 1 0-0 2. Herndon 2 2-4 6. Hayes 2 3-4 7. Totals 14 15-29 43.