By David Sharp
Highland came out of the blocks strong, reeling off a streak of ten unanswered first quarter points for a 54-43 win over Paris in the boys championship semifinal round of the 99th Annual Monroe City Tournament.
The Cougars (2-4) hit the offensive boards hard, especially in the first half. Highland height and length appeared to alter Coyote scoring attempts. Brady Campen buried a three ball with 15 seconds to play in the first period.
Briscoe Post completed a three point play with two seconds to play in the quarter for a 17-3 lead. Bracy Campen slam dunked the ball through the cylinder for the first two points of the second quarter.
Carson Smothers answered with a Paris three for a 23-6 Highland lead with three minutes to play until halftime. Highland took a 26-10 advantage to intermission. Highland employed some of their younger players in the second half.
The Coyotes kept playing, pulling within the 54-43 Highland win. Colton Kendrick led Paris with 17 points. Brad Skinner was in double figures with ten Coyote points.
Brady Campen scored a game high 20 points. Briscoe Post powered home 17 Cougar points. Sawyer Harshberger scored six points. Lane Hinton and Alex Oenning put in four points each. Kane Stegeman added one HHS point.
