The Conroe Tigers were two steps ahead of this week’s winter storm warning.
How so?
Because on the game schedule, any sort of snow and cold weather that the Greater Houston area might see over the next 24 to 48 hours won’t leave the Tigers scrambling to make up a game. It most certainly will affect practice plans with school already canceled through Wednesday, but the Tigers were previously scheduled for a bye Tuesday night.
The forecast is favorable leading into Friday, however, before another humongous game for the Tigers as they continue to fight for playoff contention in District 13-6A.
Conroe’s (13-9, 7-5) opponent is Oak Ridge, a team they are tied with for fourth place as the week starts.
Oak Ridge (15-15, 7-5) will be in a holding pattern to start the week as its Tuesday home game with New Caney will have to wait for the snow storm to clear through and the roads to become less treacherous.
It will be considered a must-win 6:30 p.m. Friday at home for the Tigers. The War Eagles won the first meeting between the two back on Dec. 10, 37-32.
Conroe needs a win here to split the season series and to force any sort of tiebreaker game if the Tigers and War Eagles are tied at the end of the regular season.
Back in the first meeting between the two, Conroe held a seven-point lead near the beginning of the fourth quarter. But the War Eagles outscored it 15-5 over the final eight minutes to pull out the win on their home floor.
Sophomore Maliyah Harrison led a balanced Conroe game that night with eight points while Synarea Reece led all scorers with 13 for Oak Ridge. Conroe senior Alisa Sneed grabbed 13 rebounds and made five steals.
Since that game, both programs’ trajectories have gone in different directions. Conroe is 6-2 in district games while the War Eagles are 3-4.
Most notably last week, both teams played second-place College Park. Conroe won 45-40 Tuesday night while the War Eagles fell 31-26 to the Cavaliers Saturday afternoon. The 26 points were the second-lowest output on the season.
Conroe outscored College Park 23-19 in the second half. Sneed led with 13 points, six steals and six rebounds while junior Riley Gross contributed 11 points and four rebounds.
The Tigers returned to the floor Saturday afternoon for a 68-31 win over New Caney where they held the Eagles to seven points in the second half. Junior Taylor Smith led with 15 while freshman Kayleigh Phillips had a season-high 13 and fellow freshman Christy Rogers had 11.
Conroe hasn’t much luck on its side against Oak Ridge in recent years. The War Eagles have won five straight in the series. The five-point win back in December was actually the largest margin of victory during the streak. The War Eagles have won the by games by an average of 3.4 points per game.
Conroe’s last win over Oak Ridge came back in January 2022, a month before the Tigers made a run to the Region II semifinals.
The Conroe Tigers celebrate during a win over College Park on Jan. 15, 2025. (Chirs Zorzi/SportCast Media)
