Sturgeon Earns Sweep Over Paris on Senior Night

Photo courtesy of Colin Schowe, Alpha Media Moberly

The Sturgeon boys and girls basketball teams earned hard-fought victories over Paris Monday night.

The boys’ game saw Sturgeon rally from a 13-point deficit for a 52-44 win over the Coyotes. Paris jumped out to an 18-5 lead at the end of the first quarter and held a 28-18 lead at halftime. A switch to a fullcourt press to start the second half allowed the Bulldogs to get back into the ballgame immediately

Colin Schowe with the call on Superstation KRES and centralmoinfo.com. The Bulldogs went on to outscore the Coyotes 18-6 in the third and pushed their advantage to 42-36 in the fourth quarter. Paris responded with a 6-0 run to tie the game with just over two minutes remaining. Ethan Benskin and Isaac Bolles provided a swift response for the Bulldogs.

Benskin scored all 19 of his points in the second half to lead all scorers while Bolles finished with 14. Coach Jacob Youse said a change in the press formation was pivotal in turning the game around.

Sturgeon has now won four of its last five games to improve to 11-13. Paris drops to 6-16. Andre Miller led the Coyotes with 17 points and Walter Rucker added 13. The Coyotes were missing regular starters Colton Kendrick and Brad Skinner due to illness. Coach Jeremy Skinner said he was happy with the way other players stepped up.

The girls game also came down to the wire with Sturgeon’s Brooklyn Dougherty hitting a pair of free throws with two seconds left to give the Lady Bulldogs a 32-31 victory. A final shot from just inside halfcourt by Sophia Crusha missed off the backboard. Dougherty accounted for the final four points of the game for Sturgeon to break a 28-28 tie. Coach Michael Smith said he was proud of his team’s defensive effort against Paris’ top scorer Reese Sutton.

Aydan Wilhite led the Lady Bulldogs with 14 points and Dougherty added 13. Melanie Moore scored 13 points for the Lady Coyotes while Sutton added 12. The Lady Coyotes struggled at the free throw line going 9-25. Coach Garrett Thomas discussed his team’s offensive issues.

Paris falls to 10-14 on the season. Sturgeon snapped an eight-game losing streak to improve to 8-15. You can hear full postgame interviews with the coaches online at centralmoinfo.com.

Sturgeon boys coach Jacob Youse