LOYAL. LOCAL. COMPLETE.
Road trips to Teutopolis (Dec. 10) and Sullivan (Dec. 7) resulted in back-to-back losses for the Paris Tigers, dampening the mood after Paris reached its fourth-straight win last Friday. The most recent victory, Paris’ home opener against Newton, marked the Tigers’ first conference victory in two seasons.
Paris travels to Marshall (4-1) Friday, Dec. 13 for a 6 p.m. JV tip against the Lions, before hosting Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond (1-4) tomorrow, Dec. 14 at 2 p.m. to conclude the week.
Teutopolis 55, Paris 39
TEUTOPOLIS—Few things are more consistent in downstate Illinois high school boys basketball than the Teutopolis Wooden Shoes. A program built on pressure defense and taking care of the ball, T-Town showcased the latest edition of their formula on Tuesday, Dec. 10, hosting the Paris Tigers.
Paris committed seven turnovers in the first quarter to T-Town’s two. When a team is taking care of the ball that well, it’s crucial to keep them off the glass. However, the hosts had a handful of possessions where they grabbed multiple offensive rebounds before finally cashing in. They grabbed three offensive boards on the first possession of the game.
A Karic Vitale free throw put Paris on the scoreboard two and a half minutes into the game. Then Jackson Rigdon hit a turnaround three on the right wing after grabbing an offensive rebound of his own and dribbling out to the perimeter. He had two offensive boards in the first half, and his triple put Paris back within three points, 7-4.
The Tigers scored only one more point in the first period and trailed 15-5 going into the second quarter. A four-minute scoring drought allowed T-Town to build a 16-point lead. When the half was over, the Shoe lead was 18.
That hole dug by Paris proved to be costly in their quest for a signature road win.
A tremendous effort out of halftime pulled the Tigers within just eight points heading into the fourth. Jackson Rigdon accounted for 10 of Paris’ 18 third-quarter points. On the other end of the court, the Tiger defense held T-Town to only two field goals in the period. A Wooden Shoe free throw gave them six total points and a 38-32 lead with eight minutes to play.
Paris was unable to duplicate those results in the final frame and was outscored 17-7, resulting in a final score of 55-39.
Rigdon led all scorers in the contest with 19. Vitale had eight, Carter Eastham and Jacob Staley chipped in five apiece and Madox Hutchings had two points off a Rigdon assist.
Sullivan 63, Paris 49
SULLIVAN—The phrase “don’t let him beat us” is typically used when confronting a one-man team – a team with one particular player who doesn’t just give the team their best chance to win, but gives them their only chance to win. Usually, players who score 35 points in a game would qualify for this designation, but scouring the internet and social media for lights-out performances from Camden Watkins of Sullivan returned nothing prior to Saturday, Dec. 7.
Whether his performance was just a blip or a sign of things to come, Watkins’ scoring happened early and often against the 4-1 Tigers on the road.
The Redskin senior scored nine of his 35 points in the first quarter, as Sullivan built a 20-8 lead. Sullivan outscored Paris in each of the first three quarters of the game and took a 51-33 lead into the fourth quarter.
Senior Jackson Rigdon again paced the Tiger offense, pouring in 21. Carter Eastham finished with nine. Carter Crippes scored eight and Braylen Mills netted five. Karic Vitale scored three, Jacob Staley notched two points and Madox Hutchings hit one of two free throws on the afternoon.
The total effort was not enough to continue the Tigers’ four-game winning streak. Watkins hit three triples and went 10 for 11 from the free-throw line. Paris, on the other hand, combined to go nine of 21 from the charity stripe.
Paris 48, Newton 37
PARIS—The long-awaited Paris boys basketball home opener on Friday, Dec. 6 did not disappoint, as the Tigers picked up a 48-37 victory over the visiting Newton Eagles. The win stood out, as it was their first conference win in nearly two years. The Tigers entered the game at 3-1 after participating in the Schlarmann Tournament during Thanksgiving week and rolled with that momentum.
With a packed schedule, the boys had to turn around and head to Sullivan the next day, but for head coach Chase Brinkley, the focus was on the conference opponent.
“We were really focused on Newton because we knew we had a shot to go 1-0 and get our first conference win in two years,” he explained, adding, “For the most part our game plan worked. They missed a lot of shots, especially from the three-point area, and eventually in the fourth quarter we were able to pull away”
It was a quiet game on the scoreboard in the opening minutes, as Paris missed some short-range shots and Newton kept missing three-pointers. Carter Eastham got the first Paris bucket at the three-minute mark to the approval of the crowd. Jackson Rigdon followed it with a three-pointer, a long-range pass to Carter Crippes for a three-point play, followed by another three from the corner before the clock expired.
Down 13-6 into the second quarter, Newton rattled off nine quick points as the Paris offense cooled off, leading to a Tiger timeout. Sophomore Braylen Mills nailed two three-pointers for the Tigers, waking his team back up after a dry spell. Paris played excellent defense for the remainder of the quarter, punctuated by a Newton shot attempt Eastham swatted right into the Paris student section.
Coming out of halftime, Newton scored five quick points to tie the game at 21-21. Eastham continued his work inside with a basket, and though he struggled from the free throw line, he put both Eagle post players in foul trouble all evening. The momentum Eastham generated carried over to a productive fourth quarter from the Tigers.
Up 28-25, Jackson Rigdon got the offense started with a bucket and a nice assist to Staley on an inbounds play. Eastham got two more baskets down low, as the Tigers went up 40-28 more than halfway through the period. The game ground to a halt as the Eagles started making three-pointers in the last two minutes, leading to fouling and time-outs as the deficit briefly dipped under double digits. Rigdon and others were able to keep the lead stretched out and finish the game off.
Coach Brinkley approved of how his team took care of business.
“It’s a good group of guys, and they took it upon themselves in the locker room to fix some things, and that’s what you're looking for from your team. Jackson sparked us with big shots and passes, and Carter Eastham has really taken to his role, and you can see the effort he is putting in from off-season weights is really transferring over to the court. He’s a guy we know we can go to, and that gives him confidence,” Brinkley said.