Reddie men blow past Ecclesia
ARKADELPHIA — Chris Parker scored a career-high 22 points and dished out 8 assists to lead Henderson State to a 112-67 win over Ecclesia, Saturday at the Duke Wells Center.
Parker was one of six Reddies to score in double-figures with the freshman from Plano, Texas, hitting on 10-of-18 shots from the field.
The Reddies, 5-4 on the season, jumped out to a 19-6 lead in the first five minutes with the help of Kaylon Tappin’s 8 points during the run with Josh Jones, a junior from Memphis, Tenn., and a transfer from Richmond, adding
7 points. Tappin is a senior from Little Rock and a transfer from Arkansas State University Mid-South in West Memphis. The Henderson defense forced four consecutive turnovers during the stretch.
Henderson would continue to put together several runs while hitting on 57 percent from the field during the first half to build a 55-36 lead at the break. In the second half, Henderson dominated the action, hitting 70 percent of its shot attempts, knocking down 24-of-34 attempts from the field. The Reddie defense forced 25 turnovers during the contest, scoring
42 points off the Royals’ miscues. Tappin added 20 points in the game along with four assists, while Jones finished with 17 points and five dishes.
Brad Nairn posted a double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Nairn, a senior from Nassau, Bahamas, connected on 8-of-10 shot attempts from the floor.
Also scoring double-figures were Matt Panaggio who had 16 points along with 5 rebounds, and D.J. Franklin scoring 13 points. Panaggio is a senior guard from Port Orange, Fla., and a transfer from Mercer. Franklin is a sophomore from Monticello.
The Reddies finished the game shooting 64 percent from the field knocking down 47-of-74 attempts from the field including 6-of-19 from the 3-point arc.
Henderson will take a break for the Christmas holiday and return to action on Dec. 30 when the Reddies play host to Paul Quinn with tip-off set for 2 p.m. the Duke Wells Center. Two 15-yard penalties on Mount Ida’s defense in the fourth quarter allowed Foreman to work on the clock.
“Those are uncharacteristic mistakes for us,” White said. “Maybe we were trying too hard to make things happen.”
Mount Ida junior Jonathan Lagrange carried 33 times for 161 yards, his two-yard run tying the game at 14 in a back-andforth first quarter. Senior Cade Helms, MVP of Mount Ida’s 27-26 win over Hampton in last year’s 2A title game, scored from 24 yards out on the Lions’ second possession. Helms had a teamhigh seven tackles and junior Ethan Winkley six for the Lions.
Sophomore Isaac Carver had 11 tackles, junior Davin Cross 10 and senior Logan Lindsey nine for Foreman. Lindsey and Mount Ida senior Caleb Woodfield received Burlsworth Award trophies after the game.
Foreman’s 11 seniors finished 1-9 as sophomores but went 8-4 as juniors, two games deep in the playoffs, giving Mount Ida a scare (34-33) after losing 53-0 at Stidman Field in 2015.
As seniors, the Gators earned King the Farm Bureau Insurance Award as Class 2A coach of the year and brought a state championship to Little River County.
“We don’t get here without last year’s team,” King said. “I was their fourth coach in four years and they could have tuned me out. But I told them that I was there to win a championship and they bought into it. I’m tougher on them than anybody, but when kids love you and believe in you, they’ll do anything in the world for you.”