Conroe girls basketball had to gain experience on the fly last season.
Losing its returning top offensive player to a knee injury in the summer meant that the Tigers had to react and adapt.
The result was a sixth straight trip to the playoffs.
“I’m just looking forward to seeing how much we’ve grown since last season,” Conroe senior guard Alissa Sneed said. “We have a bunch of new girls coming up. I just want to see how we grow together.”
Sneed became Conroe’s top scorer during a 15-15 season and a third place finish in District 13-6A. Raniyah Lewis, someone Conroe leaned heavily on the previous two seasons, especially when they reached the Region II-6A tournament in 2022, tore her ACL and missed the entire season.
“Last season was a little rocky at first,” Sneed said. “We’re just getting used to each other. As the season progressed, we had more chemistry and we did pretty well. We ended up losing in the first round.”
Conroe begins the regular season Friday night with a non-district game at Magnolia West. Business really picks up next Thursday-Saturday at the 75th annual Lady Tigers Classic.
Conroe head coach Tamisha Houston, who has led the program for over a decade now, didn’t quite know what to expect a year ago.
“In my opinion, we kind of over-exceeded, over-achieved,” she said. “This year, we are going into the season not with an expectancy, but a little bit more comfort in what we could possibly accomplish.”
Conroe lost three seniors from last year.
“A majority of our team is coming back and the core, this will be at least their second year of varsity experience,” Houston said. “So that’s something that we’re excited about.”
Sneed, a multi-sport athlete at Conroe who’s committed to play softball at the University of Texas, missed last year’s playoff game – a 58-47 loss to Spring – due to a concussion.
That left inexperienced teammates like Taylor Smith, a junior forward this year, fighting to keep her team in contention. The playoff game is something Smith will look back on and use coming into this year.
“It was almost like I was in a dream,” said Smith, who had seven points and rebounds against the Lions. “We came back to the locker room tied at halftime and it was all intense. The energy was really up.”
Smith represents a big strength for the Tigers. Size.
She and fellow junior Riley Gross will give Conroe and advantage most nights.
“Definitely our height,” Smith, who was all-district honorable mention, said when asked about the team’s strengths. “If we can utilize our height to the fullest, we’ll definitely be unstoppable.”
Gross, a second-team all-district selection who averaged 6.1 points per game, concurred.
“We have a lot of height,” Gross said. “We’ll definitely take advantage of that and that will be one of our strengths.”
Sneed, who averaged 9.7 points per game and was the co-Defensive MVP for the district, will have a lot to work with while quarterbacking the offense.
“Our strength is going to be our inside, our height,” Sneed said. “We have two posts about 6-foot tall and now we have more people comfortable shooting from the outside. Just inside and out, just working the ball around.”
Houston had complementary things to say about her returning roster.
Starting with Sneed, who the Tigers will rely on her quiet form of leadership.
“She’s really embraced it and she takes pride going and getting a bucket,” Houston said.
Gross was described as a constant worker who can be seen getting up extra shots before and after school.
“I think she’s grown taller over the summer,” Houston said of Gross. “She gives you an inside presence that should open it up for some of our guards.”
Houston also lauded Smith for the work she’s put in.
“She’s another kid that has really worked on different parts of her game that she struggled with as a sophomore,” Houston said. “She had to grow through some things last year. But just watching her in the offseason, you can tell she’s really been focused on being able to be a contributing factor for us.”
Sophomore Carley Boothe was second-team all-district at guard after debuting on varsity as a freshman a year ago.
Houston appreciates Boothe’s dedication to not only basketball, but she is also a serious theater student. The coach reflected on a game-tying shot Boothe made against Oak Ridge last year that sent the game to overtime.
“She’s another kid that really comes in here with a desire to have success on the basketball court,” Houston said.
Another contributor is junior Damiri Anderson, a track athlete who shows speed and is dependable on defense.
Junior Anastacha McGowen returns after a 16-rebound performance against Spring in the bi-district round. McGowen just finished volleyball season.
Freshmen Kayleigh Phillips, also a volleyball player, and Christy Rogers, a post player, could make an impact.
Another possible impact player coming up from the junior varsity is Lisa Jacques, the daughter of Conroe legend Rod Jacques. Rod played for the Tigers during their successful teams in the 1980s before going to TCU.
The goal on the minds of Conroe is to extend the playoff streak and get out of the first round for the first time since 2022.
“I feel like we have like a barrier to break,” Gross said “The last two years, we didn’t make it past the first round. So I think that’s this year that is our goal. Try to make it past the first round.”
First, Conroe will have to withstand a challenging District 13-6A that features returning playoff teams in Oak Ridge, Grand Oaks and The Woodlands. College Park, Caney Creek, Willis, New Caney and Cleveland round out the nine-team league.
“I feel like we’re going to do pretty well this year,” Sneed said. “I feel like we have more returners coming back as we’ve lost just two or three. Everyone else has (nearly) lost their starting five. I think we’ll be in the conversation this year.”
Conroe basketball players (from left) Riley Gross, Carly Boothe, Alissa Sneed and Taylor Smith return as impact players for the 2024-25 season. (Chris Zorzi/SportCast Media)
