In the first two games of the 2023-2024 season, the Houston High School boys basketball team came away with a win and a loss this week.
The Tigers opened the campaign with a 75-53 victory Monday at Koshkonong and then fell to Eminence, 69-40, Tuesday night in Tiger Fieldhouse.
With the success in the opener, the Tigers matched their win total from the entire ’22-’23 season.
“There’s no doubt that we’ve improved,” said head coach Jim Moore. “We still have a long way to go, but I’m excited about the journey. We have a plan, we just need to execute it.”
The contest at Koshkonong was tied at 19-all at the end of the first quarter before the visiting Tigers outscored the host Blue Jays 15-8 in the second period to lead 34-27 at halftime. The two teams then scored 21 points apiece in the third period, but Houston took command in the fourth, putting up another 20 points while Koshkonong managed only 5.
The Tigers’ back court duo of sophomore point guard DJ Riley and junior guard Jordan Arthur both had big offensive performances in the win. Riley drained five 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 25 points, while Arthur was scoreless in the first half and then poured in 21 points after the break.
The Tigers sank 9 treys in the contest, as Arthur made one and senior forward Stone Jackson drilled three on the way to scoring 11 points and grabbing a team-high 7 rebounds. Senior forward Brady Brookshire also scored in double-figures for Houston, finishing with 10 points, while also recording 4 boards, 3 assists and 3 steals.
The Blue Jays’ balanced offensive attack was led by senior forward Hayden Summers with 11 points (including three treys), while five other players scored at least 6.
The Blue Jays hung around early with a barrage of 3-pointers.
“We kind of kept them around for about 2 ½ quarters,” Moore said. “We turned the ball over too much and I didn’t think our defense was great. But you have to give them credit; they were shooting deep threes, and when you’re hitting 25-foot threes, it’s going to keep you in the game.
“But I thought we played pretty decent team ball and moved the ball around pretty well. And we had lots of guys who were scoring and the ball fell for us.”
Things turned sour in a hurry the next night, as Eminence jumped out to a 9-0 lead to open the contest and never looked back. The visiting Redwings 19-9 after one quarter and were ahead 33-13 at halftime before coasting home in the second half.
Arthur led Houston in scoring in the game with 11 points, while Riley went 7-for-7 at the free throw line and finished with 9 points. Brookshire and sophomore center Gavyn Daily added 6 apiece.
Junior forwards Drew Foster and Eddie Rich led Eminence in scoring, as Foster had 20 points (including 15 in the first half) and Rich knocked down 4 triples and finished with 16. Junior guard Carter Blackburn added 11 points for the Redwings, all in the first half.
Unlike the night before, the ball didn’t find the bottom of the net with much regularity for Houston. The Tigers went just 2-for-16 from 3-point territory and shot 31% overall, while the Redwings went 8-for-24 from deep and shot 46%.
“We struggled to make shots,” Moore said. “If we make shots like we did the night before, it’s a different ballgame. Maybe we still don’t win, because they’re a good team, but it would have been different.
“But I don’t think the score depicted how we played. I didn’t think we moved the ball as well as we did at Kosh, but we did have lots of good looks and we just couldn’t get them to fall.”
The Tigers don’t play again until next Tuesday at Seymour, and they’ll host Winona on Friday, Dec. 8.
“It’s good to have a few days like that to work on things, especially this early in the season,” Moore said. “It gives us a chance to reflect on what we did wrong and what we did right, and then try to correct what we did wrong and duplicate what we did right.
“That’s the plan, and then we’ll try to put ourselves in a position to win another game or two.”
