After coming close on multiple occasions recently, the Houston High School girls basketball team came through with a much-needed victory Thursday night, beating Dora 54-41 in a first round game at the 50th annual Thayer Winter Classic Tournament.
“It felt great,” said HHS head coach Micah Lee. “We knew what we wanted out of that game and we knew how to execute it.”
Seeded fifth in the 6-team bracket, the Lady Tigers limited the No. 4 Lady Falcons to only 3 field goals in the first half and held a commanding 34-17 lead at the break.
Junior forward Makinley Aaron led the Lady Tigers in scoring with a career-high 17 points, while junior guard Lacey Cavaness had 12 and sophomore guard Kynlee Weaver added 9. Freshman center Hally Scheets came off the bench and made a significant impact on both ends of the floor, scoring a career-high 8 points in the process.
The offensive production from Aaron and Scheets highlighted the Lady Tigers’ growing confidence.
“Mac did a great job of leading the team throughout the entire game,” Lee said, “and when you have players, like Hally, who step up to contribute off the bench, the team really comes together. We had five players contributing on the scoreboard, minimal turnovers, and were able to maintain our lead the entire game.
“This shows you how much they have grown as individual players and as teammates during this season.”
Dora freshman guard Kinley Luna led all scorers in the contest with 19 points, but sank only 2 field goals in the first half.
“Defensively, we knew that we had to stop her,” Lee said. “We knew her team revolves around her ability to score, and we looked to take that ability away. I gave the girls a limit on how many points we were going to allow, and aside from her free throws, the girls kept her to that limit.”
Luna went 5-for-6 from the free throw line in the first quarter and 5-for-8 in the contest. But overall, both teams had difficulty at the foul line, as the Lady Tigers went 12-for-26 and the Lady Falcons went 11-for-20.
Houston advances to face top-seeded Mammoth Spring, Ark., in a semifinal game at 2 p.m. Saturday.
The Lady Tigers (2-10) compete in a tournament again next week: The 33rd annual Lady Lion Invitational at Mansfield. Houston is seeded eighth in the 8-team bracket and faced top-seeded Licking (ranked seventh in the latest Class 3 poll) at 6 p.m. Monday.
Other teams in the field include No. 2 Mountain Grove, No. 3 Forsyth, No. 4 Springfield Catholic, No. 5 Dora, No. 6 Mansfield and No. 7 Conway. The tournament championship game is set for 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 27.
