Paris stops L-E
Twice Liberty-Eylau was able to battle back from large deficits against Paris on the Leopards’ Senior Night.
The Wildcats were able to withstand the fourth-quarter surge by L-E to take sole possession of second place in the District 14-4A standings with a 75-71 win Friday at the Rader Dome.
In the other district games, Pleasant Grove nipped North Lamar, 46-43, and Pittsburg topped Atlanta, 60-53.
The Hawks can finish no worst than co-district champions. Paris is playoff-bound, as is North Lamar. The final playoff spot will be decided Tuesday with Pittsburg facing Paris and the Leopards traveling to NL.
Liberty-Eylau (11-12, 4-5) took its first lead of the
game early in the third quarter at 28-26 and had another at 30-29. Midway through the third the Leopards tied the score at 36-all, but the Wildcats closed the quarter on an 18-7 run to take a 54-43 lead into the fourth quarter.
L-E wasn’t done.
The Leopards slashed their way back to 66-64 with 3:30 left and were down 69-67 at 2:51. With 1:54 the deficit was one point (71-70) but never any closer.
Liberty-Eylau shot 46 percent on 25-of-55 shooting. The Leopards had 13 turnovers—10 in the second half—and out-rebounded Paris, 32-28.
The Wildcats shot 51 percent (29 of 57) and were 17 of 21 from the charity stripe. Paris finished with 10 turnovers.
The Leopards’ shooters were cold to start the game and connected on just three of 15 attempts from the field in the first quarter. L-E finished the half shooting 8 of 26 for a 31 shooting percentage.
The Wildcats built a 6-0 lead early and held a 14-6 advantage at the first break after scoring the last four points of the first quarter. Paris extended that streak to 10-0 by starting the second period on a 6-0 rally, going up 20-6 with 6:04 left in the half.
The final six minutes before intermission belonged to the Leopards, however.
R’Akeim Harris and Decorian Phillips each hit a pair of free throws for L-E, and Kentraile Atkins scored on a layup following a Wildcat turnover—one of five in the second quarter by Paris.
Following a Paris bucket with 2:57 remaining to make it 24-13, Liberty-Eylau closed the half on a 10-2 rally.
Howard Barron took a dish from Phillips in the paint for a layup, Dominique Williams drained a pull-up jumper and then a 3-pointer with 49 ticks left to cut the deficit to 24-20.
After a driving layup by Paris, Phillips converted a traditional 3-point play on a layup and free throw with 10 seconds left to make it 26-23 Paris at the break.
Phillips poured in a game-high 27 points for L-E, Dominique Williams added 14 points, Howard Barron had 10 and Atkins nine. Orion Williams had eight rebounds, and Barron seven.
Travon Dennis led the Wildcats with 23 points and eight boards. Travion Johnson scored 15 points, Jordan Mitchell 11 and Cameron Jones and Jameon Mitchell 10 apiece.
Paris wont he junior varsity game, 50-47, in overtime. Damian Henderson led the Leopards with 12 points, and Takylan Hampton had 10.
Paris’ freshman won, 71-28. Isaiah Hill led Liberty-Eylau with 10 points.