Conroe has won ball games this year. They wouldn’t be in playoff contention if they didn’t.
Wednesday night was most certainly the Tigers’ biggest win to this point.
Against a team on a month-long winning streak and positioned in second in District 13-6A, the Tigers held on for a 45-40 win on their home floor.
Conroe (13-9, 6-5) went above .500 for the first time this season in district play and have won four of its last five, including three wins since the calendar turned to 2025 two weeks ago.
Junior Riley Gross had one of her best games of the season as she contributed in some way shape or form in every quarter.
“It was really big,” Gross said of snagging the win. “It was a step closer to making it to the playoffs and it definitely brought our confidence up a lot.”
College Park (15-9, 8-2) came in winners of seven straight, its longest winning streak since taking 13 straight in the 2008-09 season.
Cavaliers head coach Shayna Brown’s team – which is looking to return to the playoffs after missing last year – hadn’t lost since Dec. 7 against Chaparral. It’s lone district loss coming into the night was by a single point in overtime to first-place Grand Oaks.
“College Park is a very disciplined team,” Conroe coach Tamisha Houston said. “They can shoot the ball, they do a great job penetrating to the basket. So for us to get a win, it does a lot for our confidence. It also, quite naturally, helps us keep the our dream of making it to the playoffs alive.”
With 2:49 left, College Park’s Valentina Campos, who led her team with 12 points, made a layup to put the Cavaliers up 40-39. The Cavaliers didn’t score the rest of the game.
Junior Taylor Smith had a huge putback for the Tigers at the 2:31 mark to take the lead and freshman Kayleigh Phillips made a field goal with 1:45 left. Gross split at the line with 6 seconds left and senior Alisa Sneed did the same with 3.7 seconds left to secure the win.
“(Head football coach Cedric) Hardeman came in and talked to the girls about how every game is a playoff game,” Houston said. “It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish. We showed tonight that things could go bad for us in the beginning, but we finished the game.”
Conroe outscored College Park 25-19 in the second half in the back-and-forth battle.
Gross had a big first half, including a putback at the buzzer to give the Tigers a 22-21 lead.
The junior post caught fire early with three consecutive baskets to take an early 6-3 lead in the first quarter. Gross totaled eight points at the break.
“It lifted our spirits and brought up our confidence coming into the second half,” Gross said of putting in the shot at the buzzer.
College Park was paced by the 3-pointer in the first half. The Cavaliers were 4-for-10 from downtown as Katie Westwood arched in three while Valentina Campos made a 3-pointer as a part of her eight-point first half.
College Park led 10-8 after the first quarter and a majority of the second quarter until Gross’ buzzer-beater, which came off a baseline jumper by Sneed, who totaled seven points in the first half. Sneed knocked down a 3-pointer at the 3:37 mark to tie the game. She later made a layup with 33 seconds until halftime to make it a one-point deficit.
To cap a back-and-forth third quarter, Gross made another buzzer-beater under the hoop for a 34-30 lead. She finished with 11 points on the night.
“Riley can do that every night,” Houston said. “It’s just about her being determined to not let people guard her. She’s going to be taller than almost everybody. She has that outside shot. If we could just elevate her a little bit, there isn’t anybody that’s going to be able to block her shot. It was good for her to see the ball go through the hoop and she can go on a run by herself and put this team in position to win.”
Sneed had a game-high 13 points. It was the senior University of Texas softball signee’s fourth straight game leading the Tigers offensively.
“I want her to realize her talent level,” Houston said. “Yes, she’s a softball player. But she’s a kid that can do things on the basketball court that a lot of people can’t do. She’s strong, she’s fast, she’s athletic and now she’s coming in the morning – every morning – and she’s shooting. Now she’s beginning to get confidence in that shot. She’s knocking down a 3 and that’s good for her.”
Phillips, who started, played huge minutes all night and factored offensively and defensively. She finished with six points.
“Kayleigh’s adjusting to varsity basketball and she’s playing extremely hard,” Houston said. “She’s just us trying to get her to control the game and take what she can take and then when you don’t have it, pull it out and set something up. She’s a kid with a bright future and she gives us that spark.”
Smith also had six points. Sophomore Maliyah Harrison made a 3 and totaled five points. Freshman Everly Cumpian also played some important minutes and knocked down a 3 in the fourth quarter.
“It’s a sigh of relief because now it shows the girls that playing to the final buzzer can end in a win,” Houston said. “So many times we’ve been right there – so close – and then the ball just doesn’t fall in our favor.”
Westwood finished with nine points for College Park while Gretchen Wright had eight and Brooke Smith added seven.
College Park won the first meeting to open district play all the way back on Nov. 19. The Cavaliers won by three points, but Conroe won the turnover battle.
The Tigers did again this time around.
“We took care of the ball a lot,” Gross said. “We had fewer turnovers than past games and we played as a team.”
Conroe hadn’t beat College Park since last February, but have won four of the last six meetings.
Conroe takes to the road Saturday for a 12:30 p.m. tip-off at New Caney. College Park will host Oak Ridge at the same time.
Conroe senior Alisa Sneed (3) goes for a steal against College Park during the fourth quarter Jan. 15, 2025. (Chris Zorzi/SportCast Media)
