Nimitz pulls away from Conroe in second half for bi-district win

The bi-district game turned on a dime after halftime. And with that, Conroe’s season also did.

The Tigers were feeling positive at halftime with a tie game against District 14-6A champion Aldine Nimitz Tuesday night in the Region II-6A Division I first round playoff game at Kingwood Park High School.

But the Cougars came out on a 12-1 run out of the break, didn’t allow Conroe to make a shot until six minutes into the quarter and pushed on to a 66-53 win from there.

Conroe (17-11) saw its seventh straight playoff appearance end in the bi-district round for the third straight season. Nimitz (25-8), winners of 11 straight, will face Cypress Ranch (25-8) later this week in the area round after the Mustangs beat Klein Oak Monday night.

Conroe ended the third quarter with 12 turnovers, two field goals made and three missed free throws as Nimitz outscored them 22-8.

“We talked about them coming out and them being aggressive and trapping,” Conroe head coach Tamisha Houston said. “I just don’t think we handled it well. I think that instead of us having people that would come up and alleviate some of that pressure, they were just waiting for them to get out of it and then do something.”

Conroe never got any closer than eight points in the fourth quarter as the Cougars advanced to the second round for the second consecutive year.

“The focus tonight for me was not putting too much pressure on them and just let them play through things,” Houston said.

The Tigers led by one after the first quarter as junior Riley Gross knocked down a left-wing 3

on the first possession and the Tigers roared to a 9-2 start against the Cougars.

As junior Taylor Smith had seven first-quarter points for Conroe, Nimitz narrowed the gap to a 20-19 deficit after the first quarter.

“We started out great,” Houston said. “For them to see the ball go through the hole a couple of times in the beginning…I was like…okay, there’s no nerves. But I told my assistants I probably should have called a timeout at some point. They came back and tied it up.”

Gross hit a 3 at the 6:20 mark of the second quarter and Smith had a putback on the next possession for a 25-22 lead.

The Tigers didn’t make a field goal again until 46 seconds left before halftime as Smith knocked down a shot in the lane. Junior Damiri Anderson made a layup with 17 seconds left before halftime for a two-point lead.

The Tigers were 4-for-16 in the second quarter after an 8-for-11 start in the first.

Nimitz tied it at the buzzer as the Cougars’ leading scorer on the season, Aniah Richard, drove to the hoop for her 13th point of the half and to make it a 31-31 game at the break.

Richard finished with 22 points for Nimitz while Kira Hubbard and Chloe Williams each had 14 points apiece.

Conroe was led by Smith’s 17 points. Gross added nine and junior Damiri Anderson, making the start, had eight points. Freshman Kayleigh Phillips had six.

“I’m super proud of them,” Houston said. “It could have got ugly super fast. I think there were some calls that could have gone our way that didn’t. But ultimately, we’ve got to make shots.”

Senior Alisa Sneed ended her high school basketball career with five points. Sneed missed last year’s playoff game with an injury.

The Tigers were 18-for-38 from the floor and 11-for-23 at the line. They turned it over 25-plus times.

Nimitz’s last four wins of the regular season were by an average margin of 27.2 points per game. The 13 point advantage Tuesday night wasn’t quite that, but it was Conroe’s second double-digit loss of the year, which is pretty impressive to only have two of 11 losses out of range.

Conroe’s defense over the final 10 regular season games only allowed 34.4 points per game.

Nimitz is now 5-2 against Conroe since 2008 and the teams hadn’t played since Conroe beat them in 2020.

The Tigers clinched a playoff spot last Tuesday after defeating Caney Creek in the final game of the regular season. Conroe was 2-4 in District 13-6A before going 8-2 the rest of the way.

“Overall, I’m proud of their effort,” Houston said. “There was a time that I wasn’t even sure we would be here and we are. In my book, this was a successful season. I think I grew more as a coach and I hope they grew more as players than any other season previously.”