A lively fourth quarter rally by the Houston High School boys basketball team fell short last Friday, as the Tigers were beaten by Winona, 51-42, in Tiger Fieldhouse.
“That was a hard-fought game with lots of energy exerted,” said HHS head coach Jim Moore.
The two teams went toe-to-toe in the first half and the score was tied 24-all at the break.
The visiting Wildcats then outscored the host Tigers 14-3 in the third quarter to lead 38-27 going into the final period.
Houston then went on an 11-2 run to open the fourth quarter and trailed 40-38 when senior forward Stone Jackson drained a 3-point shot with 4:40 to go in the game. But Winona weathered the storm, regained the momentum and outscored the Tigers 11-4 the rest of the way.
“I was proud of the way the kids never gave up,” Moore said. “And I don’t think they will, but we have to find ways to win, and not just be in a game. We’re continuing to work on that.”
Houston committed a season-low 14 turnovers in the contest.
“Our goal is 12,” Moore said, “and we’ve been up in the 20s. So that’s better. But a lot of them are self-inflicted; they’re not caused by the defense but by us making poor decisions.”
The Wildcats sank 17-of-29 free throw attempts in the contest, while Houston went 2-for-5 at the charity stripe.
“I really don’t know what to say about that; that’s a huge discrepancy,” Moore said. “It wasn’t as if we weren’t attacking the hole like they were, it just didn’t go our way. It’s frustrating, but I guess we have to do a better job of creating that contact and putting ourselves in a position where they’ll blow the whistle.”
Winona held a 38-28 rebounding advantage in the game, and the Tigers went only 6-for-21 from 3-point range and 11-for-29 from inside the arc.
“I feel like we lost the game on the boards,” Moore said. “We didn’t rebound as well as we can; we preach that in order to stay in a game you have to guard and you have to rebound. There will be nights when the ball will fall and nights when it won’t, but you can always guard and rebound and we make a point of that every day at practice.
“We just need that to translate better from practice to games.”
Junior guard Jordan Arthur led the Tigers in scoring with 15 points (including 8 in the first quarter) and also grabbed 8 rebounds, while Jackson nailed 4 treys and finished with 12 points. Junior center Brody Adkison battled down low and scored 6 points for Houston, while senior forward Brady Brookshire added 4 points and yanked down a team-high 11 boards.
Sophomore forward Aiden Sullivan had a big outing for Winona, posting game-highs of 25 points and 15 rebounds.
THE TIGERS WIN BIG
In a Tigers vs. Tigers game on Tuesday of last week at Seymour, Houston fell 67-31.
The host Tigers jumped out to a 23-8 lead by the end of the first quarter of the matchup and were ahead 42-21 at halftime.
Brookshire led Houston in scoring with 15 points, and also had a team-high 8 rebounds while recording 3 steals and 2 assists. Sophomore guard DJ Riley scored 7 points for Houston, while Adkison added 6.
The Tigers committed 30 turnovers in the contest and went 0-for-5 from 3-point range.
Junior Derek Helms and sophomore Wyatt Henry both sank four 3-pointers and finished with 20 points for Seymour.
The host Tigers scored 33 points off turnovers and 14 points in transition while the visiting Tigers scored 4 points off turnovers and none in transition.
With the win, Seymour improved to 5-0 on the season.
This week, the Tigers (1-3) host Plato on Friday and play at the Bunker Shootout on Saturday. Houston travels to Licking on Tuesday (Dec. 19) for a game against the county rival Wildcats.
“We’re making strides,” Moore said. “The boys are working hard and their attitudes are good, and we’re going to try to get some wins.”
