It was a day of opposites for the second day of the Class 3A, District 4 basketball tournament being held at Paris High School. The girls bracket highlighted the day with two last second wins by Hackett and Paris to advance to Thursday’s semifinal round. On the boys side of the tournament, the Cossatot River Eagles continue to impress with a 15 point victory over Cedarville to also advance to the semis on Thursday.
The Charleston Lady Tigers could not overcome a series of missed opportunities to score and take the lead before the last minute of the game when the Lady Tigers tied the game 41-41 on a three pointer with 22 seconds remaining in the game, only to allow a driving layup by Hackett with 8 seconds remaining to lose the game, 43-41. It was a devastating way to end the season, but it was a season played by a young Charleston team that has the chance to be very competitive next season. Hackett, with the win, advances to play Cossatot River, the top seed in the girls bracket, on Thursday in the semifinals.
In the 7 p.m. game, the homestanding Paris Lady Eagles hosted Cedarville. Paris had defeated Cedarville in both games played during the regular season with the latest being last Friday in the final regular season game. Paris had Annabelle Perry back in the starting lineup and were at full strength in the their liineup and having had a first round bye on Monday.
In a very physical game that has been characteristic of the series, Cedarville played hard-nosed basketball for the entire game. Both teams had foul trouble going down the stretch turning the outcome into a game of attrition. With approximately 3 minutes remaining, Cedarville’s Caroline Morrow fouled out. Paris, down by six point late in the game, clawed their way back, hitting free throws down the stretch to pull within range to win the game. Paris sophomore Preslee Bowman stepped up to the line late to hit critical free throws to eventually give the Lady Eagles the win by the score of 50-46.
With the win, Paris advances to Thursday’s semifinal to play the Booneville Lady Bearcats who are the number two seed in the tournament.
At press time for this story, the final game of the day was being played in the boy’s brackett between Booneville and Hackett. The winner will advance to the semis on Thursday to play Paris.
As a result of the second day of the 3A-4 tournament, Thursday’s semifinals will be as follows:
GIRLS BRACKET
Cossatot River vs. Hackett, 4 p.m. (Winner advances to tournament final on Friday)
Paris vs Booneville, 7 p.m. (Winner advances to tournament final on Friday)
BOYS BRACKET
Charleston vs Cossatot River, 5:30 p.m. (Winner advances to tournament final on Friday)
Paris vs Booneville / Hackett, 8:30 p.m. (Winner advances to tournament final on Friday)
The four semifinal teams in both brackets have now punched their tickets to next week’s regional tournament at West Fork High School. A semifinal win by any school will improve their regional seed to no worse than a two-seed in next week’s regional that will also qualify them for the state tournament. So, Thursday’s semis are very important to each team.
The tournament will take a break on Wednesday and will resume on Thursday. RNN Sports will be there on Thursday to bring you all of the action. You can follow the tournament with updates on our website at residentnewsnetwork.com
