The Houston High School girls basketball team took fifth place at the 11th Annual Fordland Invitational.
“A lot of things stood out to me,” said HHS head coach Micah Lee. “Just a lot of improvements in general. How our team dynamic has changed, how much better we move the ball and how we have multiple players who are contributing to the game. I couldn’t be more proud of how the girls have played these last two games.”
The team started tournament play Monday (Dec. 2) against Greenwood. Despite strong efforts from junior Gracyn McNiell (16 points) and senior Lacey Cavaness (12 points), the team only hit 7 of 23 free throws. The 28-14 deficit at half was too much to overcome, eventually falling 56-46. Junior Elif Benzer did the majority of the scoring for Greenwood, with 18 points.
In the consolation bracket, the Lady Tigers faced Conway on Tuesday (Dec. 3), defeating the Lady Bears 57-41. Houston was convincing from the start, leading 16-12 after a quarter of play and 37-17 at half.
It was a team effort, with three players scoring in double-digits: McNiell (18 points), Cavaness (14 points) and senior Sophia Crites (10 points).
The victory earned the team a fifth-place game against Bradleyville Wednesday, Dec. 5. Bradleyville senior Harley Guerin scored 7 points in the first quarter, to give her team an 18-8 lead after a quarter of play. The Lady Tigers would pull it close before half, trailing 26-25 as they headed to the locker room. HHS outscored the Lady Eagles 25-16 in the second half to earn a 50-42 victory and fifth-place finish.
“Gracyn is one of the hardest working athletes out there,” said Lee. “She puts in a lot of extra time and you can see that in her performance. She’s had a very solid start to the year, averaging 18 ppg just throughout this tournament, as well as racking up rebounds and other great stat numbers since the season started. She definitely made a huge impact in our back-to-back wins.”
McNiell and Cavaness continued their impressive tournament performances against Bradleyville, leading the Lady Tigers with 18 points apiece. Crites added 8.
“After losing on Monday, we took a hard look at our stats and dug deep into what were the most important parts of winning a ballgame,” said Lee. “The girls regrouped and showed that they understood what it would take. They really showed up to play the next two games. I think it says a lot about how far we have come since last year.”
The Lady Tigers (2-2) travel to take on county-rival Licking Monday, Dec. 9.
“Licking plays some great basketball, and it will be one of our tougher games through the season,” said Lee. “We will have to go out prepared and ready to play.”
