The Houston Tigers used a 26-13 third-quarter advantage to top Fordland 72-71 Friday night in the consolation bracket of the Mansfield Invitational.
It was the first victory of the season for the Tigers (1-3) and first under new head coach Tom Brown.
“I’m happy for them,” Brown said. “The kids have worked hard and deserved a win.”
On Saturday, the Tigers lost 60-49 to Mansfield in the consolation finals.
Devin Coulter led three players in double figures with 20 points in the Tigers’ victory against Fordland. Aaron Cantrell added 14 and Weston Walker had 13.
Houston was 5-of-10 from 3-point range in the decisive third quarter. The Tigers made nine triples overall.
“That’s where we want to be as a program,” Brown said. “We’ve been shooting in the mornings. That will make a difference.”
Brown said the Tigers missed four layups in the first quarter as they fell behind 21-18. They still trailed 36-28 at the half. But Houston came on strong in the third quarter.
Five of the Tigers’ nine field goals were from downtown as they took a five-point advantage.
Fordland made a 3-pointer just before the buzzer as Houston protected a four-point lead.
“I thought we played the way we needed to win,” Brown said. “We played fast, and that favors the way we want to play.”
The next afternoon, the Tigers were outscored in each quarter in a loss to Mansfield.
The score was closer than Houston’s season-opening 67-51 loss to Mansfield. And the Tigers, who were out-rebounded by 11 in that loss, lost the battle by three boards in the rematch.
“We had no legs on Saturday,” Brown said. “We didn’t perform as well as we should have.”
Cantrell led HHS, which was outscored in the second half for the first time this season, with 14 points. Curry Van Horn scored 11 and Rodney Preheim had 10.
Box scores
Saturday’s game
| Houston | 10 | 15 | 13 | 11 | – | 49 |
| Mansfield | 11 | 19 | 17 | 13 | – | 60 |
HOUSTON (49) — Aaron Cantrell 14. Curry Van Horn 11. Rodney Preheim 10. Devin Coulter 9. Weston Walker 3. Devin Garrett 2.
Friday’s game
| Houston | 18 | 10 | 26 | 18 | – | 72 |
| Fordland | 21 | 15 | 13 | 22 | – | 71 |
HOUSTON (72) — Devin Coulter 20. Aaron Cantrell 14. Weston Walker 13. Curry Van Horne 7. Rodney Preheim 9. Jacob Kelley 7. Devin Garrett 2.