Paris effective at line in 51-42 Sturgeon consolation final victory vs Community R-6

From the start of the game, the Paris boys didn’t think they would be in the position to seal the game with free throws.

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After falling behind 24-8 to start Saturday’s Sturgeon Tournament consolation final, Paris overcame deficits to defeat Community R-6 51-42. The Coyotes knocked down 18-of-25 free throws – 10-of-12 in the fourth quarter after holding Community to 18 points in the second half.

Paris head coach Brad Skinner said the first quarter made it seem like it would be a long day after allowing 18 points in the first eight minutes, but his players clamped down on defense to initially cut Paris’ deficit to 24-21 at halftime and then take a 35-33 lead after the third quarter. He said it was nice to defeat the Trojans after they spoiled Paris’ Courtwarming on Jan. 20 with a 49-35 loss.

“Last Friday, we gave up 18 points in the first half, and this time, we gave up 18 points in the first quarter,” Skinner said. “We didn’t give up double digits in any quarter after that. We weren’t talking, we weren’t moving our feet, they were getting by us, and our help side wasn’t there. Once we picked it up defensively, we played like we should.”

Community (11-10) executed well in the first quarter, head coach Tad Shotten said, as Eli Johnson, Mason Carroll and Gavin Allen each hit a 3-pointer in that eight minutes. After the first few minutes of the second quarter, shots weren’t falling for the Trojans, allowing Paris to close the first half on a 13-0 run.

Shotten said he didn’t like the shot selection throughout the game as those along with turnovers gave Paris opportunities to score at the other end.

“We forced some bad shots. When you take bad shots, it’s a turnover,” Shotten said. “They ramped up the defensive pressure a little bit.”

Carroll led Community with 15 points, seven rebounds and two 3-pointers, Gavin Allen followed with 13 points, five rebounds, three steals and two blocks, Tucker Robnett had seven points and seven rebounds, and Eli Johnson finished with seven points and two 3-pointers.

Mason Edwards led Paris (9-9) with 14 points, hitting three 3-pointers, Evan Smothers followed with 13 points, Colton Poddany had eight points, and Alex Williams finished with six points and five rebounds.

Edwards knocked down his 3-pointers at key times, including two as the Coyotes climbed back into the game in the second quarter and an immediate response to Eli Johnson’s 3-pointer in the third quarter, making it 33-31 Community at the time. He said the Coyotes had added motivation against the Trojans this time around following the events of Courtwarming.

“We really wanted to beat this team,” Edwards said. “We were pretty fired up, and when we got down, we were like, ‘We’ve got to come back and win this game.’ I think that’s what led to runs

“I haven’t really been able to hit 3s too well this year, but this game was different. I made a 3, and my shot just felt smooth. When I was open and found the chance to shoot, I just tried to help out my team and it ended up working out.”

Shotten noticed that the Coyotes were more effective shooting than the first time, but he said a constant with Paris’ physicality. Community lost the lead late in the third quarter after Williams put back an offensive rebound to tie and Edwards hit a couple free throws for the lead and had to deal with being in the penalty at seven second-half fouls.

“When you get into foul trouble against them, it’s tough because they’re a really physical team,” Shotten said. “There were a lot of fouls on both ends, and we’re not the deepest team so fouls definitely hurt us.”

The game was tied at 37 in the fourth quarter until Paris surged out ahead permanently while the Trojans struggled from the field. Carroll was fouled on a 3-pointer, knocking down all the free throws, but Paris also didn’t miss much at the line.

Smothers finished 5-for-6 on free throws, and Poddany converted on all four of his free throws. All of those free shots were awarded to them in the fourth quarter.

“If we don’t knock those down, it’s a completely different ballgame,” Skinner said. “We’ve been talking about how free throws win close games all year. Sometimes, we’re shooting around 50 percent, and tonight, we shot closer to 75 percent. That was the difference in the ballgame.”

Paris (2-1 L&C) hosted Missouri Military Academy (7-7) at 7:30 p.m. Monday, winning 47-33, before hosting Lewis and Clark Conference foe Harrisburg (13-5, 2-0 L&C) at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.

Lady Coyotes look to diversify shots after 46-28 loss to New Bloomfield in Sturgeon Tournament

The Paris girls wish they could remove one quarter from their Saturday game against New Bloomfield.

The Lady Coyotes dropped the Sturgeon Tournament consolation final after losing 46-28, being outscored 21-9 in the third quarter and allowing 10 3-pointers throughout the game. New Bloomfield’s Ashlyn Peters accounted for six of the Lady Wildcats’ 3-pointers, finishing with a game-high 27 points along with three steals off the bench.

Head coach Garrett Thomas said Paris (5-14) did lose track of Peters a lot, especially in the second half, but the Lady Coyotes’ offensive approach didn’t help them up to that point.

“We could offset their one lopsided quarter if we had been a little more efficient,” Thomas said. “I thought one of our biggest challenges today is we weren’t very versatile in the ways we looked to score. We shot really poorly from the outside, and we continued to look to shoot from the outside.”

Prior to New Bloomfield (5-14) exploding to a 31-14 lead with two minutes left in the third quarter, Paris had cut its deficit to 17-14 after some made shots from midrange from Rachel Shoemyer and Kameron Arnett. Thomas said the Lady Coyotes didn’t let those opportunities develop enough until the hole was too big.

Reese Sutton led Paris with 10 points and seven rebounds, Arnett followed with seven points, Sophia Crusha finished with six points and four steals off the bench, and Alyssa Webb pulled down seven rebounds.

Peters accounted for a majority of New Bloomfield’s points after knocking down three 3-pointers in the third quarter, when the Lady Wildcats hit five 3-pointers in the eight minutes.

“I’m disappointed we didn’t adjust better to covering her,” Thomas said. “I thought we gave her way too many open looks.”

Paris was outscored in almost every quarter but stayed close to New Bloomfield’s total outside of the third quarter. The Lady Coyotes trailed New Bloomfield 7-4 after the first quarter, were outscored 8-4 in the second quarter and then won the fourth quarter 11-10.

Crusha tallied most of her steals by the end of third quarter, leading a Paris defense that was able to disrupt the Lady Wildcats for the most part. On Thursday, Paris was able to hold off Westran 36-31 to earn the right to play on Saturday.

“I thought, in general, in our zone, everybody rotated fairly well in the first half,” Thomas said. “I feel like we had a great game leading up to this game where we showed a lot of experience despite being a pretty young team. I think we’re headed in the right direction, but today, in general, we just looked young again.”

Paris (0-3 L&C) hosts Lewis and Clark Conference foe Harrisburg (10-9, 1-1 L&C) at 6 p.m. Thursday.