CABOOL –– The Houston Lady Tigers lost one close game and won another.
After a four-point loss to Salem in the semifinals of the Lady Bulldog Invitational, Houston bounced back Saturday night with a 60-57 overtime victory against Willow Springs in the third-place game.
“Those are the types of games you want your kids to be part of early in the year,” HHS coach Brent Kell said. “It made us better.”
Willow Springs tied the score with a basket at the end of regulation and pulled even again in overtime with 12 seconds left. Kell elected not to call timeout and put the ball into the hands of senior Kylee Elmore, who drove coast-to-coast and hit a 12-footer while being fouled.
Elmore sank the free throw with two seconds left to seal the three-point victory.
Elmore scored nine of Houston’s 10 overtime points en route to a career-best 31 points.
“Kylee just took over, which is what you want your senior to do,” Kell said. “She has really grown up this year and been a good leader for us.”
Sarah Kelley scored 15 points as the only other Houston player in double figures. The Lady Tigers were 5-for-14 from the foul line.
In Thursday’s semifinals against Salem, HHS rallied from a double-digit deficit and tied the score on Elmore’s long triple with three minutes remaining. But Salem scored eight unanswered points and held off another rally attempt to beat the Lady Tigers 66-62.
Salem beat Dora in the championship game Saturday night.
The Lady Tigers, who trailed by as many as 10 points in the second quarter, were down eight with less than five minutes left in the game when they made their move. Elmore buried a triple with 3:59 remaining to cut the deficit to three and completely erased it with a 3-pointer a few feet behind the arc with 2:50 left.
But Salem got an offensive putback on its next possession to regain the lead and after a timeout, played a box-and-one against Elmore. The move worked as Houston went over two minutes without a point as Salem built a 62-54 lead and held on.
“It was a fun, good ballgame,” Kell said. “It was one of the better games we’ve been part of in awhile.”
Elmore hit four 3-pointers en route to a team-best 26 points. Kelley scored 16 of her 20 points in the second half.
On Monday, Kelley led three players in double figures with 20 points in Houston’s 58-50 victory at Newburg. Elmore added 16 points and sophomore Abby Casper had 13.
Elmore scored just five seconds into the game for her 999th and 1,000th career points. She is one of three HHS girls’ basketball players to reach the mark. She will be honored during a special presentation at Friday’s home game.
JUNIOR VARSITY: Alyssa Hayes scored a team-best seven points as the JV Lady Tigers beat Newburg 18-13 in a shortened game Monday night.
It was the season opener for Houston, which had four points from Stephani Crewse and three by Monica Hunter.
BOX SCORES
VARSITY
Monday’s game
Houston 17 11 16 14 –– 58
Newburg 18 1 19 11 –– 50
HOUSTON (58) –– Kylee Elmore 16. Shelby Cremer 4. Abby Casper 13. Stephani Crewse 2. Makayla Koch 1. Sarah Kelley 20. Emily Shea 2. FG 22. FT 15-27. F 15. (3-pointers: Elmore 3. Fouled out: none).
Saturday’s game
Lady Bulldog Invitational
Willow 13 16 13 8 7 –– 57
Houston 11 9 19 11 10 –– 60
HOUSTON (60) –– Kylee Emore 31. Shelby Cremer 2. Abby Casper 3. Stephani Crewse 2. Makayla Koch 2. Sarah Kelley 15. Emily Shea 5. FG 25. FT 5-14. F 13. (3-pointers: Elmore 3. Fouled out: Cremer).
Thursday’s game
Lady Bulldog Invitational
Houston 10 12 17 23 –– 62
Salem 13 14 17 22 –– 66
HOUSTON (62) –– Kylee Elmore 26. Shelby Cremer 3. Abby Casper 2. Stephani Crewse 1. Makayla Koch 5. Sarah Kelley 21. Emily Shea 4. FG 23. FT 11-18. F 17. (3-pointers: Elmore 4, Cremer. Fouled out: none).
JUNIOR VARSITY
Monday’s game
Houston 10 8 –– 18
Newburg 3 10 –– 13
HOUSTON (18) –– Krista Scott 2. Monica Hunter 3. Stephani Crewse 4. Emily Shea 1. Alyssa Hayes 7. FG 6. FT 6-18. F 11. (3-pointers: none. Fouled out: Hayes).