Rod Gorman said he likes the progress his team is making.
The Tigers earned a big win Monday night, knocking off Conway in the opening round of the Mansfield In alvitation The fourth-seeded Tigers jumped ahead 21-7 in the opening quarter and cruised to a 55-42 victory.
HHS (2-2) advances to play top-seeded Mansfield at 6 p.m. Thursday.
Even after his team’s most recent loss –– a 65-51 defeat at home Friday to Seymour –– Gorman said he sees the Tigers trending where he wants to be.
“I’m proud of the progress we’ve made,” Houston’s third-year head coach said. “Even though it’s not where we want to be, it’s a step in the right direction.”
Junior Clayton Moore hit six triples en route to 30 points in the tournament victory. Ty Franklin and Dakota Burchett added eight points apiece.
Junior point guard Kyler Ramsey had 10 assists.
In Friday’s home opener, the Tigers struggled with turnovers and rebounding as they lost to a senior-dominated team. Seymour, the second seed in the Mansfield Invitational, improved to 3-0.
“Don’t like the results, but I like the progress,” Gorman said. “We told them in the locker room if everyone would fix one or two things, our team would be 15-20 points better.”
Moore had six 3-pointers for all 18 of his points. Franklin added 11.
HHS trailed by four after the first quarter and 10 at the half.
“We have made improvements,” Gorman said. “Still a lot of areas that concern me that we don’t do the right thing. We know how, but we don’t always do it.”
JUNIOR VARSITY: Freshman Korbyn Tune scored 12 points and Dalton Dzurick added 10 in the JV Tigers’ 63-42 defeat Friday to Seymour inside Hiett Gymnasium.