The 75th annual Conroe Lady Tigers Classic didn’t quite go how the host wanted it to go. But it’ll be something to build off of as the Tigers were able to play some competitive games as they trend toward district play next week.
Conroe went 2-2 overall at the tournament. The Tigers dominated Dekaney on Thursday before dropping games to Katy Tompkins (47-39) and Fort Bend Travis (39-38) on Friday. In the finale on Saturday, Conroe regrouped for a 48-30 win over Laredo United to exit the first full week of the regular season with a 4-2 record.
Georgetown won the Lady Tigers Classic championship 60-47 over San Antonio Sotomayor on Saturday, while Klein Collins gathered the third place plaque with a 53-40 win over Tompkins.
How did the Tigers do over the final three games? It was a balanced offensive attack, something Conroe has shown to be a strength game in and game out so far this season.
The most consistent scorer Friday and Saturday was the Tigers’ senior point guard. Alisa Sneed scored eight points against Tompkins, totaled 12 against Travis and finished the tournament with eight more against United.
Other big performances included junior Taylor Smith netting a team-high 13 points in the Travis game. Smith heated up in the second half after scoring four points on a field goal and two free throws in the first half.
Junior Riley Gross was the leading scorer in the Tompkins game as she totaled nine points. Sophomore Carly Boothe added seven points against the Falcons while Ciarra Wilson, a senior guard, added six.
As Smith and Sneed contributed 25 of the 38 points against Travis, freshman Kayleigh Phillips added five points and junior Damiri Anderson had four.
Eleven different Tigers contributed offensively in the United win.
Off the bench, sophomore Lisa Jacques led the way with nine points, seven of which came in the second half. Anderson finished with eight points while Gross had all six of hers in the first half. Smith also had six points in the first half.
The Tigers schedule is lighter this week as District 13-6A starts next Tuesday.
On Tuesday night, Conroe travels to Tomball. The Cougars are 3-0 on the year with wins over Alief Elsik, Porter and on Friday night, they topped Oak Ridge 55-33.
Tomball, out of District 15-6A, went 25-10 last year but were eliminated in the bi-district round against Cypress Lakes.
Conroe and Tomball met in November last season where the Cougars won 36-29. Sneed had 10 that night for the Tigers.
Since 2006, Tomball is 10-9 against Conroe. The Tigers last won in 2018 and have defeated the Cougars twice in the past decade.
Conroe returns home on Friday at 5 p.m. for a non-district game with Liberty, a Class 4A program. The Panthers are 1-1 after a one-point loss to Port Neches-Groves last week, followed by a 54-18 stomping of Sam Rayburn.
Liberty went 29-8 last season. It made it to the regional quarterfinals where it fell to Madisonville.
Conroe and Liberty have no recent meetings.
Conroe freshman Kayleigh Phillips handles the ball against Dekaney on Nov. 7, 2024 during the 75th annual Lady Tigers Classic. (Chris Zorzi/SportCast Media)
