The Paris Eagles senior high boys team was eliminated Monday night in the first round of the district basketball tournament being held this week at Lamar High School, The 54-37 loss to the Bearcats ended the basketball season for the Eagles, as well as ending the high school careers of two Paris seniors: Nick Bazyk and Luke Trusty.
The Eagles started two freshmen in the game, giving Paris fans a glimpse of the future. Freshmen Jesse Wells and Sam Muldrow started the game and played significant minutes. The Eagles were within five points at the half, but could not find enough consistency with their outside shooting as several shots just wouldn’t go down for the Eagles.
Paris also had difficulty shutting down the outside shooting of Booneville as the Bearcats’ Jacob Herrera shot well and kept any signs of a Paris run at bay and preventing a second half comeback by the Eagles.
The Paris Lady Eagles, a four seed in the tournament, will play today at 4 p.m. against Fountain Lake, a #7 seed who pulled the mild upset in the first round against the #5 seed Atkins Lady Red Devils. A Paris win this afternoon will advance the Lady Eagles to the regional tournament next week in Rose Bud, and will set up a semi-final showdown with the top seed and host school, Lamar Lady Warriors on Thursday.
The Paris Eagles have much to be proud of this year. They fought hard in every game and never gave up. It is always tough to have the season come to an end with a tournament loss, especially for seniors who have played their final high school games. Nick Bazyk and Luke Trusty will have much to look back on with pride after the sting of their final loss diminishes and they begin to reflect on the contributions they made to the rebuilding of the boys basketball program.
Resident Press will have complete coverage of the Lady Eagles game today in tomorrow afternoon’s edition. Stay with RP for complete Paris Lady Eagles coverage!
