staff report
PARIS, ILL. — Paris rallied to defeat Marshall 43-41 to win the Paris Class 2A Regional in dramatic llinois boys high school basketball action Friday night in Ernie Eveland Gymnasium.
The Tigers outscored the Lions 17-12 in the third period and held off Marshall at the end for the victory.
Paris will meet the Shelbyville Regional winner — either Effingham St. Anthony or Teutopolis — on Wednesday in the St. Anthony Sectional.
Josh Griffin had a double-double for the 14-15 Tigers with 14 points and 16 rebounds and scored what turned out to be the winning basket in the final 30 seconds. He had eight of his points in the final period.
Marshall had two shots at the basket but they did not drop and the Lions closed out a 21-5 season.
Paris trailed the Lions 16-15 at the intermission, but Zach Henn scored 12 of his 16 points in the third period and the host team took a 32-28 lead into the final eight minutes.
Paris had its biggest lead at 41-34 but Marshall scored the next seven points to gain the final tie at 41-41 with Taylor Duncan hitting a 3-pointer to knot the score.
Duncan led the Lions with 18 points, seven rebounds and two assists and had all of Marshall’s points in the second period.
Marshall scored the first five points of the game and had an 8-6 lead after one stop. Dustin Morey had four of the points and seven for the game.
Griffin had four of his points in the second stanza as the Tigers outscored the Lions and Taylor Duncan 9-8.
Jake Tucker finished with seven points for the Lions. Jacob Duncan and Logan Cannady each had five.
Both teams hit 6 of 10 free throws and Paris canned 3 of 5 3-pointers while Marshall was 3 of 15 from trey range. Paris also had a 28-21 edge on the boards.
Marshall had beaten the Tigers by eight points in the regular season.
PARIS (43) — Mason 2 0-0 4, Temples 1 1-1 3, Cunningham 1 1-1 4, Griffin 6 2-2 14, Henn 6 2-2 16, Cary 1 0-0 2. Totals 15 6-6 43.
MARSHALL (41) — J. Duncan 1 2-2 5, Tucker 3 0-0 6, Cannady 2 0-0 5, T. Duncan 7 3-5 18, Morey 3 1-2 7, Strohm 0 0-0 0, Sanders 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 6-9 41.
Paris 6 9 17 11 — 43
Marshall 8 8 12 13 — 41
3-point field goals — Henn 2, Cunningham; J. Duncan, T. Duncan, Cannady. Total fouls — P 11, M 12. Fouled out — none.
Next — Paris (14-15) advances to the Effingham St. Anthony Sectional. Marshall concludes a 21-5 season.
In other Illinois action:
• Maroons win — Robinson and Cumberland were other winners in Illinois regionals played Friday.
Robinson defeated Flora 67-55 to win the Flora Class 2A Regional and will meet the winner from Tolono on Tuesday in the St. Anthony Sectional.
Derek Hannahs led the Maroons with 20 points and advanced in the 3-point competition. Meyers Leonard had 17 for the winners and Austin Siler tallied 13.
Cumberland bested Neoga 61-59 to win the Hutsonville Class 1A title while Salt Fork defeated Chrisman 49-46 to win the Chrisman 1A championship and Edwards County edged Red Hill 56-54 to win its own regional.
