LOYAL. LOCAL. COMPLETE.
PARIS–If the first two weeks of the regular season were any indication, the opening night of the Little Illini Conference schedule featured a matchup between two of the league’s top teams.
Both the Paris Lady Tigers and the Newton Lady Eagles entered Thursday, Dec. 5’s contest with identical 4-1 records. Paris weathered a strong second quarter and a rally in the fourth to secure a 48-40 win and improve to 5-1 on the season and 1-0 in the LIC.
The Lady Tiger offense sputtered early, turning the ball over on their first three possessions. They promptly responded by scoring on their next three possessions. Macy Bicknell knocked down a three to kick things off at the 6:10 mark of the first quarter. She followed that with a layup on the next trip to make the score 5-2. Kilee Edwards connected on a three-pointer, Taylor Clark made a layup and Kailey Young scored on a pair of layups to give the Tigers a 14-4 lead with three minutes left in the period. Freshmen Paedyn Keys and Paelynne Camp made back-to-back threes to extend the lead to 20-6 at the end of the first quarter.
Paris scored on their first possession of the second period as Clark was the beneficiary of the best ball movement of the night for the Tigers. After that, the Tigers struggled to correct sloppy ball-handling and cold shooting over the next three minutes before Edwards ended the drought with her second three of the night. The triple gave the Tigers a 25-11 lead at the 4:35 mark of the second.
The Eagles, shaking off their first-quarter lapse, embarked on an 11-3 run to cut the lead to 28-22 with under a minute left in the first half. The only basket during that stretch came from Bicknell, who sank a three at the 2:40 mark. Camp made a layup at the buzzer to give Paris a 30-22 lead at intermission.
The third quarter started much like the first, with the Tigers not scoring until Peighton Smith found the bottom of the net with 5:40 left, making the score 33-25. Shortly after, Camp forced a turnover and found Edwards cutting to the basket, but she was fouled on the play.
A Newton Lady Eagle said something irksome to one of the officials on the play, resulting in a technical foul. Edwards made one of two free throws and the Tigers maintained possession. Senior Graci Watson connected from three right in front of coach Dave Tingley and the Tiger bench to give Paris a 37-27 lead and a little bit of breathing room. Newton cut the lead to 37-33 with 40 seconds left in the period before Bicknell made a layup with seven seconds left to give Paris a 39-33 advantage after three.
Content with the lead to start the fourth quarter, Paris held the ball for nearly 90 seconds on their first possession. They were rewarded for their patience as Watson hit her second three from nearly the same spot as her first, giving Paris a 42-33 lead at the 5:55 mark. Newton, refusing to go gently, mounted a 7-0 run to cut the lead to just two points at 42-40 with 2:42 left in the game.
Paris ended their three-minute, 38-second scoring drought when Bicknell made the second of two free throws to make it 43-40 with 2:17 left. Young was fouled after three missed shots from Newton and converted on one of two from the line to increase the lead to 44-40. Young proceeded to make three of four free throws in the final minutes to seal the win.
Bicknell led the Lady Tigers in scoring once again with 12 points. Young, whose free throws down the stretch iced Newton’s comeback attempt, stuffed the stat sheet with nine points, seven rebounds and three assists. Edwards knocked down a pair of threes on her way to seven points. Watson connected on a pair of threes to finish with six and Camp added five points, five rebounds and two steals off the bench. Clark ended with four points and Smith added two to round out the scoring.
Newton’s C. Martin led all scorers with 20 points in the contest.
The Tigers won’t get to enjoy much of a break, as they host Sullivan on Saturday, Dec. 7. The junior varsity contest is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. at Paris High School.