Conway brought an emphatic end to the Houston Tigers’ season.
The Bears suffocated Houston with their fullcourt pressure and never trailed as they cruised to a 75-50 victory Tuesday night in the opening round of the Class 3 District 10 tournament at Cabool.
The Tigers were hoping for a repeat of last season’s district upset of Ava. But it never materialized.
Ahead 18-10 after one quarter, Conway scored 13 unanswered points as it took a 43-17 halftime advantage.
“We didn’t go out and execute like we wanted to,” Tigers coach Aaron Griffin said. “We turned it over too much and they out-hustled us on the board early on. That led to the big lead they got.”
The final defeat ended a difficult season for Houston (6-18). The Tigers pulled off a marquee victory when they upset state-ranked Mansfield in mid December, but the momentum didn’t carry over. The Tigers dropped their next seven in a row and won just one conference game.
The good news for Houston? Its top scorer and three of its top four rebounders are eligible to return next season.
“We knew coming in that we had a lot of young kids and inexperience and there was going to be a lot of leading,” Griffin said. “The young kids grew up and that’s really going to help them next year.
“I really liked how it turned out as far as how much we learned. I would have liked to win more games, but that’s how it goes.”
Senior Tyler Pounds ended his career with the Tigers by scoring the team’s first eight points and finishing with 23 — one point off his season high. Sophomore Ryan O’Neil scored 11 and Michael Buckner hit three 3-pointers en route to nine points.
After a rusty start to the season, Pounds came on strong down the stretch. He reached double figures in seven of Houston’s last eight games.
“I’d love to have gotten that one for him,” Griffin said. “He’s such a good kid with a great effort on and off the court.
“He’s going to be missed. He’s a joy to have on the team.”
Pounds had three layins and a pair of free throws to keep the Tigers close early. But consecutive jumpers by Jeremy Cook stretched the Bear’s advantage to double digits.
Conway (23-2) scored 13 straight points to open the second quarter and outscored Houston 19-7 in the period for a 26-point halftime lead. The advantage quickly stretched to 30 early in the second half.
The Tigers’ prepared for Conway’s pressure defense by having the entire team press their starters in practice. But the preperation didn’t carry over into the game. The Bears picked apart Houston with their traps, leading to easy baskets.
“Our traps in practice were actually harder that what we saw tonight,” Griffin said. “There were holes, we just panicked and gave it away. If we’d just calm down, be patient and reverse the ball, we would have been better.”
Trailing by 31 entering the fourth quarter, the Tigers used a barrage of 3-pointers from Pounds, Buckner and O’Neil to force a timeout as they trimmed the deficit to 15 points. That’s as close as Houston got.
“We finally started playing a little better and got in it, but it took a lot out of us to get back in it and we didn’t have enough to finish it,” Griffin said. “I’m proud of the way the kids worked. We just need to carry that over into next season.”