The Paris News

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Nine second-half assists by Raymond Sims helped Paris Junior College turn a two-point lead midway through the second half into a 71-61 victory Friday afternoon against Walters State Community College.

The victory was PJC's 30th of the season and moved it into the consolation bracket's final game against Chipola College Saturday to determine seventh and eighth place in the NJCAA Tournament.

The Dragons (30-6) trailed throughout a large portion of the first half, but the Senators weren't able to get more than a five-point lead at any time. PJC took a 27-25 lead at halftime, and were slowly able to inch away in the second half.

“I thought their zone bothered us in the first half,” PJC coach Ross Hodge said. “We just didn't do as good a job as we should have attacking inside-out. The difference was when we started getting good penetration against the zone, and we started getting good shots against the zone.”

That's when and where Sims jumped in and asserted himself.

Sims finished with 11 assists — a tournament high — and during a crucial 10-0 run in the second half, he was responsible for every point, either with an assist or a basket. He had three assists and one three-point play during the run.

“He put it on himself to make us solid,” said Eric Tramiel, who finished with a game-high 18 points. “He's the point, so he runs the floor — he's the general of the floor. He came up big for us.”

The Dragon frontcourt — Tramiel, Ronnie Morgan and Charles Funches — combined for 40 points. Morgan scored 13 on 5 of 6 shooting, and Funches had nine points and seven rebounds.

“I thought the way to stop them was to stop their inside, and we were doing a terrible job when we tried to go man-to-man,” said Walters State CC coach Bill Carlyle, who was inducted into the NJCAA Hall of Fame Monday. “If we could keep it away from their two big guys, which we did a very poor job of doing, I thought we had a great chance to win.”

The game was more or less decided by free throws considering field goals were nearly identical. PJC made 20 free throws, and Walters State CC made 8.

The Dragons shot 47.1 percent on 24 of 51 field goal attempts and made 3 of 14 3-pointers. The Senators shot 47.2 percent on 25 of 53 field goal attempts and made 3 of 14 3-pointers.

Despite 23 turnovers, the Senators (32-3) managed to stay in the game until late when Courtney Waters, star in Wednesday's game, came through for the Dragons again.

In the last 32 seconds with his team up six, Waters had four points, grabbed a key rebound and had a steal to seal the game. He finished with 11 points, four rebounds and three steals.

PJC had 17 steals, including four by Marcus Carson, three by James Livingston and two each by Morgan and Funches.

“That's been our backbone all year long,” Hodge said. “Our guys have bought in to playing defense. They truly believe if you sell out defensively, you're going to have a chance to win every night.”

A.J. Thomas led the Senators with 15 points. Sirlester Martin scored 12, and Michael Jenkins had 10. Terrance Britt had eight assists.

PJC 71, WALTERS STATE CC 61

WSCC 25 36 — 61

PJC 27 44 — 71

Walters State (32-3) — A.J. Thomas 15, Sirlester Martin 12, Michael Jenkins 10, Terrance Britt 8, Austin Woodrick 5, Laquantis Stewart 4, Freeman Pinkney 2, Chris Talley 2, Darrin Custis 2, Ian Hill 1. Free throws: 8-16. Field goals: 25-53 (47.2 percent). Threes: 3-14 (Thomas 2, Britt). Rebounds: 33 (Martin 5). Assists: 8 (Britt 8). Steals: 10 (Stewart 4). Turnovers: 23. Fouls: 24.

PJC (30-6) — Eric Tramiel 18, Ronnie Morgan 13, Courtney Waters 11, Charles Funches 9, DeCarlos Riley 8, Raymond Sims 6, Marcus Carson 4, James Livingston 2. Free throws: 20-31. Field goals: 24-51 (47.1). Threes: 3-14 (Riley 2, Waters). Rebounds: 35 (Funches 7, Carson 7). Assists: 20 (Sims 11). Steals: 17 (Carson 4). Turnovers: 18. Fouls: 17.

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