Houston punches tourney ticket

CORDOVA — The Houston Hawks are headed to the 3A state tournament.

The Houston boys swuad punched its state tournament ticket with a 39-35 win over Homer in the Southcentral Conference Championships third-place game Saturday in Cordova.

Matt Barron scored a game-high 20 points to lead the Hawks.

Houston, which suffered a first-round loss to Homer in the quarterfinals on Thursday, needed three consecutive wins on the consolation side of the bracket to make it to state.

Houston beat Nikiski on Friday and scored a win over Seward Saturday morning to reach the third-place game.

For more about the Hawks, see the Tuesday edition of the Frontiersman.

Houston boys 39,

Homer 35

Southcentral third-place game

Saturday, Cordova

Homer 8-6-4-17—35

Houston 9-11-11-8—39

Homer (35) — Reutov 2 1-2 5, Daugherty 3 3-4 9, Schneider 3 5-8 12, Brown 1 0-0 3, Hunter-Harris 2 0-0 4, Hutt 0 2-4 2; Totals: 11 11-18 35.

Houston (39) — Kleewein 2 0-0 4, Baird 1 0-0 2, L. Taylor 0 4-4 4, Elson 1 0-0 2, Barron 8 2-4 20, C. Ruta 2 0-0 5, J. Taylor 0 2-2 2; Totals: 14 8-10 39.

3-point field goals: Homer 2 (Schneider, Brown 1), Houston 3 (Barron 2); Total fouls: Homer 11, Houston 17.