Conroe heads into Thanksgiving break on lopsided New Caney win

Conroe came out Tuesday looking like a team ready to separate itself from a frustrating start to District 13-6A last week.

After suffering a pair of losses to College Park and The Woodlands by a combined seven points (games they were in contention up until the final moments), the Tigers looked like a team not only hungry for Thanksgiving dinner later this week, but also for a win and to get back on track.

Conroe jumped way up on New Caney with a 14-0 start, led by 25 points at halftime and went on to a 66-24 for its first league win at The Pit this season.

“Going into district, we had two really tough games to start,” Conroe sophomore guard Carly Boothe, who had a varsity career-high 15 points, said. “We lost our first one, which sent our energy down and we lost the second one (which did the same). We were really looking for a spark of energy and to make shots.”

The Tigers (6-5, 2-1) broke the two-game losing streak by going above their 42.4 points per game average and can feel a little more satisfied as it won’t play again until Dec. 7.

New Caney (2-9, 1-1) saw its solid start to league play last Friday against Cleveland diminish a little in the lopsided loss.

Friday’s 39-35 loss to The Woodlands was especially crushing for the host. Conroe hadn’t started district play 0-2 since 2011 and the game was theres to have until the Highlanders went on a 9-0 run in the fourth quarter.

“We came in on Monday and we watched the entire game,” Conroe coach Tamisha Houston explained. “We didn’t practice and we watched that game. I made them keep track of every mistake that was made, whether it was a missed block out, a missed free throw, somebody didn’t get back on defense, we turned it over. I made them keep track of everything because I wanted them to see that we were hurting ourselves.”

Conroe came out forceful in the first half as it caused havoc with the usage of a full-court press that helped to 17 Eagle turnovers before the break. New Caney didn’t make a field goal until a Kassidy Hammond bucket underneath the hoop at the 2:33 mark of the second quarter.

Overall, New Caney made just four field goals total – Emily McCants had two 3s and a team-high 12 points – and turned it over 30 times.

The 24 points fell below Conroe’s defensive average of 32.9 per game coming in.

“That’s something that we’ve been able to hang our hats on is to play defense,” Houston said. “Rather it be a zone press, man-to-man press or even in the half-cour, our man-to-man defense. We’ve had some miscues in the last couple games. Tonight, we were able to force some turnovers and anytime your defense can start your offense, you’re headed in the right direction.”

The Tigers, meanwhile, spread out the offense with seven members contributing to 47.7% effort (22-for-41) from the floor in the first half.

“Shots were falling and that’s been our struggle,” Houston said. “We just haven’t been able to put the ball in the hole. So tonight, I think a couple people saw the ball go in and that did a lot for their confidence. That has been our thing. We just could not score. We still struggled tonight from the free-throw line and we still missed some easy shots. Those things have to start going in for us.”

Boothe scored two total points in the first two district games and has been coming off the bench since Friday. She knocked down a 3 on her first appearance against the Eagles in the first quarter and had six points at halftime.

“It was awesome,” Boothe said of getting out her personal offensive funk. “Those last two games and even some of the games before that, I’ve been in a shooting drought, and I think all of us have been. I think to be able to come out tonight, hit some shots and get the energy going, and especially to win by this many points, was awesome.”

Houston emphasized the importance of Boothe providing offense, especially with her outside shot. She had 11 points against Lake Creek in the second game of the season, a quarter of her points this season entering Tuesday.

Against New Caney, Boothe had two 3s and nine points in the second half as Conroe continued to pull away.

“She’s a kid that’s capable of knocking down shots,” Houston said. “She works on her shot and she hit some big shots as a freshman for us. If those fell tonight had fallen in previous games, I might not have extra grey hair that I have on my head. I hope this gets her going again.”

Senior Alisa Sneed added 12 points with eight in the first half. Junior Riley Gross had nine points and sophomore Anastacha McGowen, starting for the second straight game, had eight.

Conroe had a feeling that New Caney might be an opportunity to get things going. The Tigers had previously won four straight against the Eagles the past two seasons and won those games by a wide margin – 29.3 points per game.

“Going into district, we had two really tough games to start,” Boothe said. “We lost our first one, which sent our energy down and we lost the second one (which did the same). We were really looking for a spark of energy and to make shots.”

They did just that by scoring well over the 42.4 points per game the Tigers were averaging coming in. Boothe marks the first Tiger to reach double figures since junior Taylor Smith had 13 points against Liberty on Nov, 15.

“I hope that this is what gets the ship sailing in the right direction,” Houston said.

Conroe won’t play again until Saturday, Dec. 7. The Tigers host Cypress Ranch, Cy-Fair and Brazosport all in one day as the Lady Tigers Booster Club hosts the event.

“To end on win, that’s energy you’re going for the next few weeks, especially on a bye week,” Boothe said. “It will determine how you practice, watch film and bond as a team. So going into the bye week, I think it was very important that we won this game.”