Photo by Keith Stewart
The Knights' Jeremy Plank fires from beyond the arc Tuesday. Plank, who was later chosen as the Tri-County holiday tournament MVP, knocked down five 3-pointers in his team's 47-44 loss to Paris.

December 31, 2014

Knights fall to Paris in championship

by Keith Stewart
keith@newsprogress.com

Paris fans may have thought it absurd, but Knight fans perhaps knew all too well.
With 3.5 seconds remaining on the clock in the fourth quarter and with Paris up 47-44, the Knights had the ball at the opposite end of the court, ready for the in-bounds pass. Much like a few years ago against Central A&M in the Arcola regional championship, the inbounds pass was hurled down court, this time by Avery Schrock to Jeremy Plank who caught the ball mid-air. While the pass was taking flight, Tyler Schuring sprinted down court and to the left of Plank, who then dished the ball to the open senior. Schuring immediately popped up, getting a decent look at the basket and fired.
But unlike the fateful 3-pointer two years ago that Clayton Honn made to win the title, Tuesday night’s attempt banged off the rim in depressingly deciding fashion as Paris held on to defeat Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-Hammond 47-44 for the Tri-County tournament crown.
“We executed perfectly and got the shot we were hoping to get, the shot we had to have, the 3-pointer,” said head coach Dale Schuring. “Tyler struggled in the second half, but matchup wise, we thought he had the best chance at hitting that on the move, so that’s what we went with.”
The Knights made it to the championship after three wins, the first of which, a 75-29 route of Windsor Saturday morning followed by a 62-47 victory over eventual fourth place finishing Hutsonville-Palestine that evening. The Knights then stamped their ticket to Tuesday’s championship with a 45-32 win over Westville Monday.     Login or Subscribe to read the rest of this story.