In one of the best played and entertaining high school basketball games this season, the Paris Eagles picked-up a huge 3A-4 conference win over the defending champion Waldron Bulldogs at Paris Gymnasium. The Eagles, who led for most of the game, survived a furious Bulldogs comeback attempt that saw Waldron take the lead late and eventually tie the game in regulation play. But it was Paris who eventually held on to win in overtime by the score of 60-57.
Paris had a three-point lead in overtime when Eagles senior Mequeil Ellingberg grabbed a big rebound but was called for traveling with .02 seconds remaining in overtime. Waldron took possession of the ball, and after a timeout, put up a desperate shot attempt to tie the game. But here is where it gets interesting, and, for this reporter, became a point that I learned after the game.
The Paris rebound took place with .03 seconds remaining in overtime and when the traveling violation was called, .02 seconds remained. By rule, the game was officially over. The reason is that by rule, a last shot cannot take place under .03 seconds remaining in a period. Due to the emotion of the Paris and Waldron crowds, the game was allowed to play out, but the game was over and the result of the shot attempt would not have mattered. This is a rule that I have never seen come into play, and it makes sense. The spirit of the rule prevents a home team clock operator from manipulating the clock and leaving time for the home team to make a desperation heave for a tie or win. It was amazing at the time that only .01 of a second actually ticked off the clock after the rebound. If that situation had worked out in another circumstance where the home team was trying to tie or win the game, the shot would have proven to be controversial.
Although the game was chippy at times, it was a result of two very good programs who take a lot of pride in their programs and who are very competitive. Waldron is the defending 3A-4 conference champion from 2021, and the Bulldogs will be a force to be reckoned with in post season play this year. Paris, under first year coach Josh Ferrell, is improving each week and may be on a path to peak just at post season tournament time. With the loss of players and other obstacles that have challenged the first year coach, he, in my judgement, has done a remarkable job at the Eagles helm in his first year.
After the game, I asked Coach Ferrell for his remarks and thoughts about his team’s big win over Waldron. Coach Ferrell responded by saying, “I am very proud of my guys tonight. We have been battling some adversity and we fought hard. I thought we played well defensively down the stretch when we needed some big stops or big rebounds. Waldron is a great team. I am very proud of the way we didn’t quit when we were up and they hit a shot at the buzzer to send it into overtime. We battled it out against a tough opponent and found ways to win. I think everyone stepped up and played a part in our win.”
Paris senior Mequeil Ellingberg and Jude Simmons were just two of the many standouts in the Paris win. Both seniors were big on the offensive and defensive boards, and an in-bounds play drawn up by Ferrell that released Simmons uncontested to the basket late in the game was a key moment for the Eagles in the win.
The Paris boys completed the sweep of Waldron Friday night after the Lady Eagles won convincingly over the Lady Bulldogs by the score of 47-11. Like the boys game, the Lady Eagles won a big conference game over Waldron and will now focus their efforts on a big week ahead that includes a road match-up against the undefeated Booneville Lady Bearcats in a rescheduled game that will be played on Thursday.
It was a great night of high school basketball Friday night in Paris and both the Lady Eagles and Eagles may have won games that could spring board them into the last part of January and into the February conference schedules. Teams are now concentrating of accumulating conference wins and increasing their seedings in the post-season conference tournament.
Stay with Resident Press for the most complete coverage of River Valley high school basketball action. And, look for more photos next week on Facebook at Paris Eagles Sports from the Lady Eagles and Eagles’ games with Waldron.
