Houston needed 2 overtimes to defeat Southwind
Houston got punched in the mouth in the first quarter against Southwind on the Jaguars’ Senior Night, but the young Mustangs fought back. And landed the knockout punch. Late stops plus some late made free throws helped Houston defeat Southwind,…
Access all of Prep Hoops
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingHouston got punched in the mouth in the first quarter against Southwind on the Jaguars’ Senior Night, but the young Mustangs fought back.
And landed the knockout punch.
Late stops plus some late made free throws helped Houston defeat Southwind, 77-75, in double overtime. The win puts the Mustangs at second place (17-7, 7-2) in District 15 behind the Jaguars (18-6, 7-1), who came into Tuesday night’s matchup undefeated in league play.
Southwind plays at Ridgeway this Friday night, and if the Jaguars were to lose to the Roadrunners, there will be a three-way tie in the district.
Houston was down by as many as 16 points in the first quarter as Southwind had everything clicking on both ends of the floor. Offensively, the Jaguars were knocking down shots from 3-point range. Senior point guard Ashton Smith came out on fire, knocking down five 3s in the first eight minutes.
Senior shooting guard Dionte Anding made one of his own to help his team build a 20-4 lead, but that lead went away, and the shots stopped falling for Southwind.
The Mustangs fought their way back into the game and eventually built a 41-33 lead late in the third quarter.
“We didn’t take of the ball early on, and their aggressiveness, they fed off of it,” Houston head coach Charlie Leonard said. “We finally got a couple of buckets, and it took some wind out of their cells. We had cut it to eight by halftime.”
Houston stayed in front until the 4:38 mark of the fourth quarter when sophomore forward Zander Yates picked up a foul. Leonard picked up a technical foul for arguing with one of the referees about the foul called on Yates.
Smith made all four of his free throw attempts to give his team the 50-49 lead. Smith was a perfect 10 for 10 from the free throw line. He finished with a game-high 28 points.
Both teams traded scores the rest of the way. Anding gave Southwind the lead on a layup after a turnover by the Mustangs, but the Jaguars picked up a costly foul, sending Alex Marsh to the line as he made 1 of 2 foul shots.
Neither team was able to get in good position for a game winner, so an extra four minutes were needed.
Southwind built a 64-60 in the first overtime off of Ashton Taylor’s 3-point play, but fouls by the Jaguars helped Houston as T.J. Madlock and Yates each made 1 of 2 foul shots to tie the game 66-all to set up a second overtime.
Prior to that, junior guard Nick Tarrance had two fast break layups to bring his team within two (66-64). Tarrance led his team with 23 points.
In the final overtime, the Mustangs got some important defensive stops and grabbed a 75-70 lead with less than two minutes to go. Tarrance and Marsh each made 1 of 2 shots from the charity stripe to seal the win. Marsh finished with 15. Madlock had 14, and Yates added 13.
“It was one of those things that if you just won’t let your spirit get broken, you will always be in it,” Leonard said. “That was the big thing. We just grinded that one out.”
3 takeaways
- Southwind’s foul trouble proved to be the Jaguars’ downfall. Southwind had to finish the game without senior forwards Kameron Jones and Lavoris Jones. Kameron fouled out at the 4:55 mark of the fourth quarter. Lavoris fouled out at the 1:15 mark of the first overtime. Taylor also fouled out, with 2:08 to go in the second overtime. Taylor finished with 13. Kameron finished with 11. Lavoris added five.
- Houston missed 18 free throws in the first meeting, falling by the final score of 71-61. The Mustangs made the necessary shots from the line Tuesday night. Houston went 22 for 33 from the line.
- Once the Mustangs were able to get the Jaguars in foul trouble, Houston stopped taking jump shots and started driving. That led to the Mustangs getting plenty of opportunities from the free throw line.