Paris pulls away from short-handed Marshall

Andy Amey, The Tribune-Star, Terre Haute, Ind.
·5 min read

Dec. 7—Paris clamped down on visiting Marshall in the second half of a Little Illini Conference girls high school basketball game Monday night, blowing up what was a nine-point game at halftime into a 63-28 victory, with a running clock for the last few seconds.

"The second half was a little more like what I expected," coach Dave Tingley of the Tigers said after the game. "We were able to speed [the Lions] up and get some turnovers. In the first half we got turnovers, we just didn't finish."

The Lions had just seven players in uniform Monday, and leading scorer Maya Osborn wasn't one of them. And Paris is as deep as any team in the Wabash Valley.

But for two quarters, Osborn's absence seemed to affect the Tigers as much as it did the Lions.

"Maya and Kai [Engledow] have played against our girls for a long time," coach Tingley noted, "and [her being out] took a little bit of the hype out of it."

"We're making progress [without Osborn]," said coach Kathy Miller of the Lions, who expects Osborn to return for Thursday's road game but who had several other players unavailable for the Tigers. "Hopefully it will make us a better team in the long run."

Paris zipped out to a 14-3 lead Monday, but by the end of the first quarter Marshall had trimmed the deficit to 16-10. Early in the second quarter, a rebound basket by Adi Scott and a 3-pointer by Nolee Sollars brought the visitors within 18-15. The Tigers finished off the half on a 9-3 run, but it was still just a 27-18 game at intermission and Kate Littleton of Paris was in foul trouble.

"I'm proud of the way we played in the first half," Miller said. "We had a couple lapses you can't have against a good team, but we came out and competed. I was proud of the effort we put forth."

Littleton and Mady Rigdon — who was honored before the game for scoring her 1,000th point earlier this season — got the first eight points of the third quarter in less than two minutes, however. Marshall got baskets from Scott and Ashley Sanders to get back within 37-22, but Paris got the next 10 points on its way to the 26-6 run that closed out the game.

"They are a very deep ballclub," Miller said later. "We're the walking wounded."

Asked if he was satisfied with his team's 6-1 start, Tingley said, "Before tonight I was satisfied. There's a little edge that we were missing tonight. We played hard, but not with the intensity and smarts that we need."

Rigdon had a game-high 20 points and Littleton 15 for Paris, with Kendra Young adding eight points, five rebounds, four assists, four steals and a block and Trinity Tingley handing out five assists. Sollars scored 11 points, Scott had 10 and Sanders had a game-high nine rebounds for Marshall.

—Coach honored — Rigdon wasn't the only person honored in a pregame ceremony. The Tigers also made a presentation to Miller, who is in her final season with the Lions.

"This is it," the veteran coach confirmed after the game. "I've enjoyed it. I've had some really good teams and some really good kids. [Marshall is] a great community with a great school system, and I have nothing but nice things to say."

MARSHALL (28) — Scott 4-6 2-3 10, K.Engledow 1-6 0-0 3, Sanders 1-3 0-0 2, Sollars 4-12 0-0 11, McFarland 1-2 0-0 2, Z.Engledow 0-2 0-0 0, Smith 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 11-32 FG, 2-3 FT, 28 TP.

PARIS (63) — Rigdon 7-14 2-3 20, D.Hawkins 2-5 0-0 4, Young 3-11 1-2 8, Littleton 5-10 2-2 15, Tingley 1-3 0-0 3, Mills 3-6 1-1 7, Coombes 2-5 0-0 4, Sullivan 0-0 0-0 0, Watson 0-0 0-0 0, Clark 1-2 0-0 2, Moore 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-56 FG, 6-8 FT, 63 TP.

Marshall=10=8=7=3=—=28

Paris=16=11=22=14=—=63

3-point shooting — Marshall 4-15 (Sollars 3-8, K.Engledow 1-6, Z.Engledow 0-1), Paris 9-23 (Rigdon 4-8, Littleton 3-6, Tingley 1-2, Young 1-3, D.Hawkins 0-1, Clark 0-1, Coombes 0-2). Total fouls — Marshall 6, Paris 8. Fouled out — none. Turnovers — Marshall 23, Paris 5. Rebounds — Marshall 28 (Sanders 9, K.Engledow 6, Scott 5, Sollars 4, McFarland 2, Team 2), Paris 28 (Young 5, Mills 5, D.Hawkins 4, Rigdon 3, Tingley, Coombes, Sullivan, Team 8). Assists — Marshall 9 (K.Engledow 3, Scott 2, Sanders, McFarland, Z.Engledow, Smith), Paris 17 (Tingley 5, Young 4, Watson 3, Rigdon, D.Hawkins, Littleton, Mills, Coombes). Steals — Marshall 4 (K.Engledow 4, Sollars), Paris 18 (Young 4, Rigdon 3, Tingley 3, D.Hawkins 2, Littleton 2, Mills 2, Coombes 2). Blocks — Marshall 6 (Scott 3, Sanders 2, K.Engledow), Paris 2 (Young, Mills).

Next — Both teams have Little Illini Conference road games on Thursday, Paris (6-1, 2-0) at Olney and Marshall (7-3, 1-1) at Lawrenceville.