The host Houston High School squad earned the third-place plaque at last week’s fourth annual Houston Community Foundation Varsity Boys Basketball Tournament in Tiger Fieldhouse.
After beating fourth-seeded Fordland 89-81 in double-overtime in a first round game on Monday, the No. 5 Tigers fell 62-20 in a semifinal matchup with top-seeded Bakersfield on Thursday before downing No. 3 Couch in 63-60 in Saturday’s third-place contest.
“The boys played very well with each other, sharing the ball and looking for good shots,” said HHS head coach Dan Narancich. “They’re starting to really get the idea for team basketball on the court and on the bench.”
In the back-and-forth, tightly-contested game against Couch, the score was tied at 22-all at the end of the first quarter, but the Indians were ahead 40-35 at halftime. The Tigers then took a 51-49 lead after three quarters and held Couch off down the stretch.
The game was very even statistically, but the Tigers held a slight edge in a few key categories, going 16-for-27 at the foul line while the Indians went 12-for-20, pulling down 31 rebounds compared to the Indians’ 23 and stealing the ball 11 times compared to 5 for Couch.
The Tigers might have won more comfortably, but sank only 2-of-7 foul shots in the fourth quarter. They helped themselves by protecting the ball well in the contest and committing only 13 turnovers.
Junior guard DJ Riley scored 15 points in the second half and led Houston in scoring with 21, while senior guard Caden Root had 12 points and senior guard Jordan Arthur added 11 (including 9 in the first half).
Junior Dylan Larson led Couch (8-6) in scoring with 17 points, while junior Lance Morey had 13.
Second-seeded Salem (7-9) won the tournament, beating Bakersfield (11-7) in the championship game, 52-44.
The two tournament wins left Houston with a record of 4-10 overall and 0-1 in South Central Association conference action. This week, the Tigers play on the road Tuesday at Laquey and Thursday at Newburg, and will host Bourbon on Friday (Jan. 31).
“As Jordan Arthur said, he feels like a winning streak is coming,” Narancich said. “I agree with that; we want to be playing our best games at the end of the season. It’s a long process and you’re watching the team changing every game and gaining confidence to know that they can win and it’s OK to start winning more and more.”
HCF TOURNAMENT SCOREBOARD
FIRST ROUND
(5) Houston 89, (4) Fordland 81 (2OT)
(1) Bakersfield 64, (8) Cabool 22
(2) Salem 73, (7) Koshkonong 47
(3) Couch 59, (6) Summersville 55
SEMIFINALS
Bakersfield 62, Houston 20
Salem 67, Couch 59
THIRD PLACE
Houston 63, Couch 60
CHAMPIONSHIP
Salem 52, Bakersfield 44