Playing against the District 13-6A champion Grand Oaks Grizzlies and sizing up their prolific scorer Bree Riley one last time before she graduates, the Conroe Tigers held the Grizzlies all-time leading scorer mostly in check.
Until Riley knocked down a huge shot near the end.
With the game tied at 26-all, Riley hit a jumper with 15 seconds left and teammate Hannah Reynolds, the game-high scorer of the night, split at the line with 2.7 seconds left as the No. 15 Grizzlies prevailed 29-26 Tuesday night to remain undefeated in district play.
After Reynolds missed her second attempt, the Tigers were unable to get a final shot off.
With Oak Ridge (16-16, 8-6) idle, Conroe (15-10, 8-6) dropped back a half-game in the standings and are now tied with the War Eagles. The loss snaps Conroe’s season-high winning streak at four games while Grand Oaks set its single-season record with its 28th win and have taken 16 straight wins dating back to Dec. 7.
Reynolds finished with 11 points for Grand Oaks (28-3, 15-0) while Riley, an Abilene Christian University signee, had 10, 17 below her season average of 27 per game.
“I’ve been coaching against Bree for the last four years,” Conroe coach Tamisha Houston said. “She’s a talented player and she knows how to get her shot off. When you’re playing against somebody like that, you just have to hope they miss.”
The Tigers outscored Grand Oaks 9-7 in the final frame after trailing 22-17 after three quarters.
Riley made a 3-pointer to start the fourth quarter to put the Grizzlies up eight, the biggest lead of the night.
Conroe responded with a successful drive to the hoop by senior Alisa Sneed and a three-point play by Damiri Anderson. Freshman Everly Cumpian connected on a jumper and junior Taylor Smith made a bucket inside at the 3:25 mark to make it 26-all,, and ended up being Conroe’s last points of the night.
The Tigers were 3-for-9 from the line and turned it over 25 times, including 11 in the third quarter when they scored just six points.
“I talked to them about winning the battles within the game,” Houston said.
Conroe scrapped to an 8-6 lead after the first quarter, but failed to get much else going in the third quarter.
A single 3-pointer by sophomore Carly Boothe at the 3:51 mark was the only bucket the Tigers made as they went 1-for-10 as a team with six turnovers.
Conroe junior Riley Gross, who led the first meeting between the two teams with 17 points and 17 rebounds, totaled five points in the first half.
Grand Oaks emerged from there for a five-point lead at halftime as it ended the second quarter on a 9-0 run.
Riley made a three-point play on a step-back jumper with 1:11 left to cap the run. Hannah Reynolds led with six points in the first half.
Smith and Sneed each finished with six points while Gross had five.
Houston noted that her team had more 2-pointers made than Grand Oaks, but the Grizzlies had more 3s.
“That’s the difference in the game,” Houston said. “Although we gave them everything we had and we executed the game plan pretty good, it just comes down to those little things. The getting on the floor, the blocking out and not throwing cross court passes that I’ve been talking about. That’s what it came down to.”
Grand Oaks had allowed 32 total points over the past two games, including just 13 allowed last Thursday against College Park, which came into the week tied for second in district play.
The Grizzlies had previously clinched the district title last week, their third in the past fourt years.
Grand Oaks won the earlier meeting with Conroe, 45-43, back on Dec. 17.
Conroe succeeded for the most part in holding Riley in check and Houston was pleased about that. Riley scored 26 the last meeting.
“That was the goal was to hold her and not let anybody else go off,” Houston said. “I tell them all the time that everybody can shoot at this level. You have to come out and contest everything.”
It was another excruciatingly-close district lose for the Tigers. Conroe’s six losses have come at a combined 22 points, an average margin of 3.7 points per game.
The Tigers return home to The Pit for their final regular season game of the season at 6:30 p.m. Friday against Willis. It is senior night.
Conroe will also have interest in the Grand Oaks at Oak Ridge game running at the same time.
The regular season ends next Tuesday at Caney Creek.
Conroe junior Riley Gross (32) blocks a shot against the Grizzlies in the fourth quarter Jan. 28, 2025. (Chris Zorzi/SportCast Media)
