Game 74: Paris vs. Decatur Eisenhower (Girl's Basketball)

Game 74
Paris vs. Decatur Eisenhower (Girl's Basketball)
Charleston Holiday Tournament (5th place game)
(12/29/10)

The Paris Lady Tigers battled the Lady Panthers of Decatur Eisenhower for 5th place at the Charleston Tournament. This was my first look at Eisenhower during the tournament. In fact, I hadn't seen a few of the teams out of the Gold pool. They played in different sessions, or a different gym in pool play.



Today was a day that I could have used some 5-hour energy. Jimmie Carr and I had a conversation about the energy booster while we waited for the teams to arrive yesterday at Charleston High School. I mentioned I had only used it twice, and it worked only once. He swore by it, and says he uses it several times a week. My conclusion was that my coffee addiction probably has something to do with the ineffectiveness of 5-hour energy. Traditionally, I only drink a 16 oz. cup on the morning commute to work. However, with my schedule over winter with all of the basketball games and early mornings at work, I tend to head down to the employee coffee pot at the office throughout the day. This is something I need to cut out. I won't make it a New Year's Resolution...because frankly those are ridiculous! If you want to quit something....just quit. Don't wait and say, I'll quit on Monday. It's like people going on a diet gorging themselves the night before. Never understood that.

Upon review, I sound a little hypocritical in regard to my quitting fast food for two weeks before my holiday roadtrip extravaganza. I'll live!

This game featured a lot of turnovers! Eisenhower jumped out to a 14-9 lead, despite several turnovers. Neither team was capitalizing on the other's mistakes. Eisenhower led by 6 at halftime (19-13).

Paris made a run after the halftime break, and closed the gap to just 4 points heading into the 4th quarter, but Eisenhower held on for the double-digit win (46-36).

At one point down the stretch, there was some miscommunication at the scorer's table. Jessica Rose of Paris had fouled out, but the scoreboard showed just 4 fouls. Lady Tigers head coach Bob Abernathy did not go to his bench after the foul out horn sounded. The referee approached the coach, and Abernathy put his hands in the air asking what, and pointed to the scoreboard, showing 4 fouls. After a meeting at the scorer's table, it was confirmed she had fouled out. I had Rose with 5 fouls also, not sure how the mixup occurred.

Kriza Allen led Eisenhower with a game-high 19 points. Maya Houston added 10 points. Callie Keys paced Paris with 13 points and teammate Alexis Barnes added 12 points.

Charleston Tournament All-World Team (named after cities)
Maya Houston (Decatur Eisenhower girl's)
Dallas Banning (Charleston girl's)
Madison Spence (Charleston girl's)
Trenton Frey (Effingham boy's)
Austin McCloud & Austin Welz (Highland boy's)