Kelsei Ewings goes up for a goal and a 35-24 Lady Dragons lead over Tyler. (eParisExtra photo by Charles Richards)
PARIS – Just two weeks ago, Paris Junior College women’s coach Sean LeBeauf was trying to rally his team to a good enough finish to make the post-season tournament.
Only eight of the nine Region XIV women’s teams qualify, and the Lady Dragons, a 1-and-8, weren’t looking good.
Wednesday night, Paris led from wire-to-wire in an easy 49-32 victory over Tyler Junior College, and it was the Lady Dragons’ third victory in four games.
LeBeauf’s goal now is to get as high a seed as possible. The two lowest seeds must play Trinity Valley (27-10) or Blinn (26-1) in the opening round March 6 at UT-Tyler’s Herrington Patriot Center.
Voche’ Martin scored 14 points and Kelsei Ewings 12 points for the Lady Dragons, who improved to 9-16 overall and 4-9 in conference. Tyler fell to 10-17 overall and 3-11 in league play.
With three games left in conference, Paris controls its own destiny. The Lady Dragons are off Saturday, play their last two home games on Monday and Wednesday against San Jacinto (7-17, 2-10) and Panola (13-15, 5-9), then a game on the road on March 2 against San Jacinto.
“We still turned the ball over too much, but we didn’t put them on the free throw line like we did when we played them in Tyler,” LeBeauf said.
He was also pleased with his players’ defense.
“We guarded them,” he said.
In the game’s closing moments, 5-foot guard Shanice Hill brought the crowd to its feet with a fast break that she punctuated with a behind-the-back pass to Ashley Johnson for an uncontested lay-up.
“That surprised me,” LeBeauf said. “I knew she was going to pass it, but not behind her back. That showed some confidence on her part.”
Shernise Robertson led the Apache Ladies, as she did in the teams’ earlier meeting, but she scored just 10 points this time instead of 25. Robertson made 17-of-18 free throws in that game and just 3-of-4 this game.
By CHARLES RICHARDS
eParisExtra.com
TYLER 16-16—32
PARIS 24-25—49
Tyler (10-17, 3-11) – Kzane Anderson 0 0-0 0, Shernise Robertson 3 3-4 10, Sierra Henry 1 2-2 4, Carolina Lopez 2 3-5 7, Raiosha Preston 1 0-0 2, Adrienne Phillips 2 1-2 5, Bria Emanuel 0 4-6 4. Totals: 9 13-18 32. Three-Pointers: 1 (Robertson 1). Fouls: 19. Fouled Out: None.
Paris (9-16, 4-9) – Shanice Hill 2 0-0 4, Kelsei Ewings 4 4-6 12, Lea Holt 0 0-0 0, Shanice Vaughan 4 0-0 8, Maeghan Scott 2 0-0 4, Ashley Johnson 1 1-3 3, Brea Castro-Gambrell 1 0-1 2, Adriene Small 1 0-0 2, Voche’ Martin 6 2-4 14. Totals: 21 7-14 49. Three-Pointers: None. Fouls: 15. Fouled Out: None.
Charles Richards Charles Richards moved to Paris in 2004 after retiring from a 40-year career in journalism – the last 26 years as a news writer and sports writer with The Associated Press in Dallas and Washington, D.C. In mid-2004, The Paris News coaxed him out of retirement, and he began covering the police, court and regional beat for The Paris News. Then in early 2005, he was switched to coverage of a sharply divided Paris City Council. He was appointed by the City Council in 2006 to the 12-member City Charter Review Commission, which extensively rewrote the outmoded document. His writing awards include two first-place awards in statewide competition for feature writing. The most recent was his 2005 story on a Paris doctor’s startling use of leeches in a successful attempt to re-attach a man’s severed ear. Over his career, Richards’ interview subjects include Alabama Gov. George Wallace, President Bill Clinton, President George W. Bush, David Koresh, Arnold Palmer, Muhammad Ali and numerous other political and sports figures. He is an alumnus of Texas Tech, where he was editor of the school newspaper. He lives in Paris with his wife, Barbara, who is retired after 30 years as a teacher and high school counselor.
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