Houston High School basketball players are busy this June.
The Tigers and Lady Tigers are both playing games on Tuesdays in Houston as part of Tim Hill’s Showcase Originals 316 summer league.
The HHS boys kicked that off with a bang, beating county rival Plato 46-44 in overtime on June 3.
The Tigers also attended a competitive camp June 5 and 6 at Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg, Kansas, going 4-2 in preliminary play before being defeated in the tournament championship game by one of two Bolivar squads taking part in the competition.
PITT STATE RESULTS
June 5:
- Houston 62, Colgan 10
- Uniontown 39, Houston 37
- Houston 38, Southeastern 33
June 6:
- Independence 66, Houston 29
- Houston 34, Cherryvale 19
- Houston 40, Riverton 32
- Bolivar (2) 44, Houston 28 (championship)
The Tigers also took part in a team camp last week in Tiger Fieldhouse.
While the 2025-2026 season is still many months away, the Tigers will likely rely heavily on youth when it arrives. That’s evident this summer, as second-year head coach Dan Narancich’s starting lineup in Game 1 of the Tim Hill leagues included seniors DJ Riley and Caden Guerra, along with freshmen Tucker Venn, Karson McCain and Blake Sanders.
“Those young guys will play a big role for us,” Narancich said. “The start of this summer and getting to learn the new team dynamics and the boys that are coming into high school has been a great experience. These boys have started to be able to play really well together after only being with each other a short amount of time.
“We have gotten to see some great game play out of them and the drive to want to win.”
Narancich characterized the group as being “full of a lot of grit and are not afraid to work hard.”
“We will need to really work on finding our groove together and just being physical,” he said. “We are a younger team, so the physical nature of the game is different for them with playing against upperclassmen.”
The Tigers are focusing on improving their on-court communication skills.
“Right now, that is our biggest area of growth I am hoping to see for this team over the next year,” Narancich said. Learning to talk with each other and read the court and not be afraid to call out plays and each other on what is happening on the court is something I hope we accomplish.”
Riley has been a starter since his freshman season and has transformed into a savvy veteran floor leader with a potent offensive arsenal and effective defensive movement.
“DJ’s leadership is something we are going to count on a lot this season,” Narancich said. “His ability to see the floor and understand where the ball needs to go and acting on it with confidence is something we worked on last year. Now getting to see him start doing it during summer ball is going to be instrumental for our program and his knowledge of basketball and how the game is played will help us go far.
“DJ has been a quiet leader who shows the boys how to get the job done by his actions and demonstrates the work ethic that we expect of our Houston Tiger athletes.”
As another senior, Guerra will also be counted on to provide leadership.
“Last year we were able to start seeing what he could do off the bench, and this year he has really started to make his presence known on the court and off the court,” Narancich said. “He is our vocal leader who’s been teaching the new players where to go and where to look when plays are happening. He is taking on the role of not only demonstrating and pushing it into the boys’ heads what basketball is, but he is taking the time to teach them in game play.
“He is not afraid to share his knowledge of what he has learned and the expectations down to the incoming athletes.”
But the Tigers’ season will unquestionably feature a major “youth movement.”
“I am excited to see the amount of young gentlemen who are wanting to come out and grow and play for Houston,” Narancich said. “They are a strong competitive group that is not afraid to go after a ball and work hard for spots on the floor. Getting to watch them over the next several years is going to be an exciting thing to do.”
Narancich said he expects the program to have about a dozen players total when the season rolls around.
“We are hoping for a few more when the season gets started,” he said, “but we have consistently had 12 athletes showing up over the summer. You always hope for a deeper bench and the ability to have a JV team, so the incoming athletes have time to get their feet wet with high school ball, but as of right now with numbers it may be just a varsity team.”
Meanwhile, in addition to playing in the Tim Hill games, the HHS girls competed at the Rib City Shootout at the Branson RecPlex in Branson June 9-10.
