Kyle Poynter’s final home game was the best of his career. It will also go down as one of the top individual performances in program history.
Poynter said farewell to Hiett Gymnasium on Friday night by pouring in 50 points to tie the Houston school record. But it wasn’t quite enough as the Tigers lost 65-62 to Willow Springs.
Poynter matched the HHS single-game points record set by Stan Smith in the late 1970s and Marty Henderson in 1993. Poynter’s previous high was 47 points last season.
“It’s something for the record books and everybody to remember,” Houston coach Brent Hall said.
Poynter scored in a variety of ways. He hit five 3-pointers and was successful driving to the basket and finishing in the lane. He was a career-best 19-for-20 at the free-throw line.
Poynter scored Houston’s first 20 points and 42 of the team’s 47 points through three quarters. He tied the school mark with a pair of free throws with 1 minute, 59 seconds remaining.
With 52 seconds left and Houston down three, Poynter’s 3-pointer from the right wing rattled out. It would have established a new record and tied the game. Poynter missed a contested shot in the lane with 18 seconds left and was off on his potential game-tying triple from the top of the key as time expired.
Poynter was visibly upset after the game.
“He was upset he missed those three shots at the end. That’s just the way Kyle is,” Hall said. “But more importantly, he was upset because we lost. He would have probably taken all those points away if we could have walked away with a victory.”
Only four players scored for the Tigers (10-13). Jesse Setters and Kaleb Poynter had five points apiece. Freshman Weston Walker had scored.
The loss was the first of three defeats by a total of seven points the past week. Houston lost 75-73 in overtime Saturday at Liberty and was defeated 49-47 Tuesday at Seymour.
The Tigers have dropped four straight games going into the regular-season finale today (Thursday) at Stoutland. Houston will have a few days off before beginning district play Monday. The fourth-seeded Tigers face No. 5 Mountain Grove at 7:30 p.m. at Cabool High School.
“We haven’t played bad, but we’re not finishing ballgames,” Hall said.
On Saturday, sophomore Curry Van Horn hit six 3-pointers en route to a team-high 21 points. Kyle Poynter scored 20.
Poynter had 21 in Tuesday’s loss to Seymour. Van Horn added 10.
JUNIOR VARSITY: Lucas Cooperman led the JV Tigers with 12 points in a 52-38 loss Friday to Willow Springs.
Box scores
Tuesday’s game
Houston 16 10 12 9 — 47
Seymour 7 22 12 8 — 49
HOUSTON (10-13) — Van Horn 3 2-2 10. KyPoynter 7 7-8 21. Setters 1 2-2 4. Walker 1 0-1 2. KaPoynter 1 0-0 2. CScheets 4 0-0 8. Totals 17 11-13 47.
SEYMOUR — Barton 2 4-4 8. Humbyrd 4 4-9 12. Larsen 2 0-0 6. Terrill 1 0-0 3. Lee 6 3-3 15. Totals 15 11-16 49.
3-pointers: Houston 2 (Van Horn 2); Seymour 3 (Larsen 2, Terrill).
Saturday’s game
Houston 15 16 15 21 6 — 73
Liberty 18 16 10 23 8 — 75
HOUSTON (10-12) — Van Horn 6 3-5 21. KyPoynter 9 2-7 20. Setters 4 0-0 11. Walker 2 3-5 7. CScheets 1 3-4 5. JScheets 1 0-0 2. Totals 23 11-22 73.
LIBERTY — Zitter 1 0-0 2. Sharp 11 11-15 38. Gastineau 5 4-5 15. Williams 4 3-3 13. Pruett 0 2-4 2. Martin 2 2-2 6. Totals 23 22-29 75.
3-pointers: Houston 9 (Van Horn 6, Setters 3); Liberty 7 (Sharp 4, Williams 2, Gastineau).
Friday’s game
Willow Springs 13 24 11 17 — 65
Houston 16 16 17 13 — 62
WILLOW — James 8 3-4 22. Harper 5 2-4 12. Hummel 1 2-4 5. Mallow 8 4-4 24. Brasier 0 2-3 2. Wake 0 0-2 0. Totals 22 13-18 65.
HOUSTON (10-11) — KyPoynter 13 19-20 50. Setters 2 0-0 5. Walker 0 2-2 2. KaPoynter 2 1-2 5. CScheets 0 0-1 0. Totals 17 22-25 62.
3-pointers: Willow 8 (Mallow 4, James 3, Hummel; Houston 6 (KyPoynter 5, Setters).
JUNIOR VARSITY
Friday’s game
Willow Springs 16 11 7 18 — 52
Houston 8 15 8 7 — 38
HOUSTON — Preheim 1 2-2 4. Dunn 1 3-4 6. Bell 0 1-3 1. Ashworth 1 0-0 2. Kelly 2 3-4 8. Cooperman 4 2-2 12. Walker 2 0-0 5. Totals 11 11-15 38.
3-pointers: Cooperman 2, Dunn, Kelly, Walker.