Coyotes Pick Up First Win, Finish the Week 1-1

By Chris Willingham 

The Paris Coyotes picked up their first win of the season on Friday night against an unfamiliar opponent, Columbia Independent. The Coyotes rushed out to a fast start on the road building a 10-4 first quarter lead only to see the home team battle back and take a 15-14 lead to end the first quarter. The Coyotes early struggles were due to Columbia Independent's speed and athleticism, but the Coyotes adjusted well and put together an impressive second quarter offensively and defensively. The Coyotes dominated the quarter 21-7 and built a 35-22 halftime lead. The success came from aggressive offensive play and solid defense by a number of Coyotes. 

The Coyotes continued their solid play for the first half of the third quarter and extended their lead to 18 points. The Coyotes appeared to be poised for a runaway victory and were in complete control, but Columbia wasn't ready to oblige. They slowly started to chip away at their deficit and when the third quarter buzzer sounded, trailed 41-51. The two teams played back and forth for most of the fourth quarter and as the final minutes of play ticked away, Paris held a slim lead. The Coyotes were able to execute down the stretch and hit some key free throws to close out the hard fought 66-57 victory. "We did a lot of things well tonight, especially offensively. We still had too many turnovers and missed opportunities, but overall we played winning ball on that side. Defensively at times we were really solid and at other times we weren't very good. We need to gain some consistency on both sides of the ball. We are definitely improving though and excited for the week ahead at the Monroe City Tournament." Coach Jeremy Skinner

Stats: Cayden Podanny 13 points, 9 rebounds, 3 steals 
Andre Miller 12 points, 3 steals 
Landen Chapman 10 points, 4 rebounds 
Zeek Turner 10 points 
Luke Ensor 7 points, 7 rebounds

The Coyotes' other game last week was against Van-Far. The Indians took control in the middle two quarters and never looked back on their way to earning a 62-40 victory in Paris. The Coyotes battled against the much bigger Indians, but ultimately were unable to contend with the physicality and athleticism. Van-Far led 11-7 at the end of the first quarter, 29-16 at halftime, 49-24 at the end of the third and then reached the final of 62-40. 

Paris stats: 
Landen Chapman 10 points, 4 steals 
Cayden Podanny, 8 points, 3 rebounds 
Andre Miller 7 points 
Luke Ensor 7 points, 3 rebounds

Paris will play as the #6 seed in the 100th consecutive Monroe City Tournament this week.