Paris’ Shanice Hill (3) guards San Jacinto’s Kendricka Osborne (33) while Shanice Vaughan guards Elaina Baytop (22). (eParisExtra.com photo by Charles Richards)
PARIS – Three weeks ago, the question was whether the Lady Dragons – who lost eight of their first nine conference games – would even qualify for the Region XIV women’s post-season tournament.
Don’t look now, but Paris Junior College has won four of its last five – the latest victim being San Jacinto-North on Monday night by 60-51.
Paris trailed 51-50 with 4:02 to play, but Coach Sean LeBeauf’s team finished on a 10-0 run .
Ashley Johnson led the Lady Dragons with 18 points and 8 rebounds, with Maeghan Scott adding 13 points and Kelsei Ewings 10 points.
Paris led 35-30 at the half over San Jacinto, which played the entire game with just five players. That’s five players – as in no players on the bench. But they were tall, with two players at 6-foot-4, another at 6-foot-2, and two at 5-foot-11.
All five Lady Gators played 40 minutes and were huffing and puffing late in the fourth quarter when Paris pulled away.
Paris led most of the second half, but San Jacinto took advantage of Paris turnovers to take its 51-50 lead. Shanice Vaughan hit a couple of timely buckets to trigger the closing run.
Elaina Bantop and Arion Short each scored 19 points for San Jacinto.
Scott led Paris’ scoring in the first half with 13 points. Vaughan and Johnson combined to score 18 of Paris’ 25 second-half point.
San Jacinto had a significant height advantage. The Gators’ lineup had two players at 6-4, one at 6-2, one at 5-11 and one at 5-10.
Paris improved to 9-16 overall and 5-9 in league play, while the Lady Gators of San Jacinto fell to 7-18, 2-12.
The Lady Dragons have two more games – at home against Panola (5-10) at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday and at San Jacinto on Saturday in Pasadena.
by CHARLES RICHARDS
eParis Extra!
SAN JACINTO 30-21—51
PARIS 35-25—60
San Jacinto (2-12, 7-18) : Ginnesica Lawler 2 1-4=5, Krishuana Leftridge 1 2-4 4, Elaina Baytop 7 5-7 19, Arion Short 8 2-4 19. Totals 19 12-22 51. 3-Pointers: 1 (Short).Fousl: 14 (Leftridge 4, Short 4, Osborne 4, Lawler 1, Baytop 1). Fouled Out: None.
Paris (9-16, 5-9): Shanice Hill 0 1-2 1, Kelsei Ewings 2 6-8 10, Lea Holt 0 0-0 Shanice Vaughan 4 0-0 8, Maeghan Scott 6 0-0 13, Ashley Johnson 8 0-2 4 16, Brea Casgtro 1 0-0 2, Adriene Small 4 0-0 8, Voche Martin 0 0-0 0. Totals: 25 9-16 60. 3-Pointers” 1 (Scott). Fouls: 17. Fouled Out: None.
San Jacinto’s two coaches look on from bench bereft of any players. The Lady Gators had only five players, each of whom played the entire 40 minutes. (eParisExtra.com photo by Charles Richards)
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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