Houston hung tough on the road in its season opener.
Despite losing senior starter Kolby Walker early in the first quarter, the Tigers played Cuba down to the wire last Tuesday in a 68-65 defeat.
“There were a lot of positives to take from the game – the biggest one being we never quit,” second-year HHS coach Rob Coffey said. “We never hung our head, and we kept fighting back.”
Junior Kobe Sutton scored a varsity career-best 20 points on 6-of-13 shooting to lead the Tigers. Seniors Dylan Hooper and Ty Wilkins scored 14 and 10 points, respectively.
Nathan Poynter led Houston in assists (eight), steals (two) and blocks (three).
Coffey praised the play of Wilkins, who is playing for the first time in his final year of eligibility. After Walker rolled his ankle in the first quarter and did not return, Wilkins came off the bench to score double digits and grab a team-best eight rebounds.
“Ty really stepped in and played great,” Coffey said.
Houston (0-1) trailed 20-15 after the first quarter and by eight at the half.
“We knew Cuba was going to come out and play extremely aggressive,” Coffey said. “After we settled down, I thought we handled their pressure extremely well. But
we have to do a better job boxing out and rebounding, because their second-chance points really hurt us.”
JUNIOR VARSITY: Sophomore Tyler Burris scored a team-best nine points in the JV Tigers’ 39-37 loss to Cuba.
Caleb Adkison scored seven points for HHS and Lucas Kelley and Riley Caveness added six points apiece.
BOX SCORE
| Houston | 15 | 10 | 19 | 20 | – | 65 |
| Cuba | 20 | 13 | 17 | 18 | – | 68 |
HOUSTON (65) – Dylan Hooper 14. Nathan Poynter 5. Dylan Coulter 1. Kobe Sutton 22. Skylur Malam 4. Ty Wilkins 10. Keegan Spurlin 9. FG 21. FT 18-27. F 23. (3-pointers: Sutton 3. Hooper. Fouled out: Poynter).