Conroe couldn’t be stopped at home during an important stretch run of the season.
The Tigers honestly haven’t struggled in The Pit this season but in the month of January, they very much shined at home.
Conroe honored its seniors and took a 57-38 win over Willis Friday evening to finish 5-0 on the month at home.
“You’ve got to protect home court and then go steal some on the road,” Conroe coach Tamisha Houston said. “I don’t think I’d thought about up until that point that we won those games (in the second half of the season). That’s a good thing for us. Playing in front of your home crowd and everybody is excited and cheering you on. That gives you a little extra motivation. That put us in the position that we are in.”
The Tigers (16-10, 9-6) came into the month 3-4 in District 13-6A and find themselves in fourth place entering Tuesday’s season finale at Caney Creek.
They can clinch the final playoff spot with a win over the Panthers. A lose could result in a tiebreaker game with Oak Ridge.
“I like to let them know what lies ahead so there’s no surprises,” Houston said. “Whatever it takes to get them ready to face that…then they do it. I don’t want them to think that we are out, I don’t want them to think they are in. I just want them to continue to work.”
First things first, the Tigers honored seniors Alisa Sneed and Saterria Poehlein.
Both earned the start and it will go down as a memorable night.
Sneed spent the first two years of her high school career playing in Marsha Porter Gymnasium, located on the south side of campus off Highway 105.
Ending her final stretch of home games in the glimmering gym in the new athletic wing was a great memory made and key to Conroe still being in playoff contention.
“It’s very important,” Sneed said. “It’s important to have that reputation of starting strong and finishing strong in this building. But it’s also important for us to have that record going on.”
Willis (8-19, 5-10) came in off a season-high offensive night after topping New Caney 71-27 on Tuesday. The Wildkats made things interesting early against the Tigers.
It was a fairly tight game in the first half.
Poehlein started strong with a layup and a 3-pointer while Sneed made a couple free throws in the first quarter.
The Wildkats, however, were led by Heaven Sims’ five points for a 12-10 lead to end the first quarter.
Willis took a five-point lead at the 3:23 mark on a layup by Amy Roberts.
Down 18-13, Conroe went on a 7-0 run and didn’t trail the rest of the half as it took a 24-22 lead into the break.
Freshman Kayleigh Phillips made a baseline drive, drew the foul and hit the free throw to tie the game at 18-all. Phillips then made a layup on the following possession, off a nice feed from Sneed, to take the lead. Junior Riley Gross capped the run with a putback and then kept her team ahead after a Willis bucket by Hannah Sees. Gross made a field goal underneath the hoop for the 24-20 lead before Willis’ Nija Caylen made a layup at the 41-second mark to make it a two-point game.
“We came in and we talked at halftime that I wasn’t surprised,” Houston said. “Willis has nothing to lose. They want to upset some people. They’re coming in relaxed, they’re playing loose and they want to beat you. I don’t feel like we were focused like we should have been coming into this game.”
Conroe went on to outscore Willis 33-16 in the second half.
Sophomore Carly Boothe connected on a pair of 3-pointers and Poehlein added a layup to spark a 8-0 run right out of the break. Conroe held a double-digit lead the rest of the way.
Gross finished with a team-high 12 points. She also led Conroe in the Dec. 20 win over Willis when she had 10. Boothe finished with 11 points, Poehlein had 10, Phillips added nine, Smith finished with eight and Sneed totaled five.
Houston was happy to see things turn around in the second half as Conroe returned strong offensively after a season-low 26 points in a three-point loss at district champion Grand Oaks Wednesday night.
“They have to go figure it out,” Houston said. “We had the shots, they just weren’t falling. I couldn’t be too upset about not getting opportunities. We hadn’t turned the ball over a whole lot at that point. It was just not being solid on defense and the shots weren’t falling.”
Calyen finished with 12 for Willis. Sims had eight.
Willis wraps up the season at home against Oak Ridge Tuesday night.
Conroe has now won 18 straight against its neighbors from up Interstate 45.
Conroe senior Alisa Sneed (3) dribbles through traffic against Willis on Jan. 31, 2025. (Noah Mabry/SportCast Media)
