Houston boys control tempo against Su Valley

The Houston Hawks hosted the Su Valley Rams Friday, concentrating on a slow-paced tempo that led to a low-scoring game at Houston High School.

With a mindset on ball control, the Hawks dominated play throughout to take a 41-15 victory.

"We didn't score as many points as we usually do but that's okay," said Houston coach Thad Schumacher. "We wanted to concentrate on making the extra passes to work the ball inside; I thought we did that tonight."

The tempo was evident from the onset of the game as the Hawks methodically moved the ball around on offense to find the open shooter. The Rams did well to force Houston into a half-court game and not allow them to run for easy fast- break points.

The last time the two teams met, Houston was able to score many points off fast-break opportunities. In Friday's rematch, the Rams denied that opportunity.

"Every time we got a defensive rebound, they would have a guard hustling back to cover against the fast break," Schumacher said.

After scoring the first nine points of the game, Houston led 9-2 at the end of the first quarter. The slow pace continued through the second quarter as the Hawks took a 17-6 lead into halftime.

The Rams began to pack the inside against Houston in the third quarter to deny inside penetration.

The Hawks responded with perimeter shooting from D.J. Sandidge and Travis Webb to spread the Rams' defense.

Both teams enjoyed their highest scoring in the third quarter, with Houston scoring 12 and Su Valley scoring seven as Houston advanced to a 29-13 lead at the end of the third quarter.

Houston continued the pace in the fourth quarter, scoring 12 points again but holding Su Valley to two as the Hawks took the 41-15 win.

One of Schumacher's goals for the Hawks was to play better defense without committing the fouls that have plagued them earlier in the season.

"We're not good defensively playing man-to-man," Schumacher said. "We wanted to work on tight man-to-man defense tonight without fouling so much; we did a good job with that tonight."

The Houston girls defeated the Rams 59-28 earlier in the program.

Britnee Lapham scored 13 points for the Hawks and Melissa McNulty scored 14 for the Rams.