The boys basketball team defeated Paris today 53-34 with a full house, most of those from Wildcat country, at Texas A&M Commerce’s ‘Fieldhouse’.

The Eagles were up against a good offensive team, who took #2 ranked Dallas-Lincoln out of the state mix the night before.

“We came into it knowing that we were the best team and we worked together,” senior Christian Splain said. “They didn’t really play as a team as well, so we knew that our team could be a lot stronger.

Going into the finals, the Eagles knew they had their work cut out for them.

“They had two really good players, #14 and #0, and we just knew they were definitely going to lead their offense,” Splain said.  “They play offense first, and they are a very strong offensive team. We just  knew we would have to slow them down enough and have our offense run the way we know how to run it. But, I’m really excited about the game, and I can’t wait for next week.”

Senior captain David Davis is looking forward to next week’s game, but today he just wanted to relish this win.

“I’m so excited!” he said.  “I can’t explain how excited I am! It was such a fun game, and it was so weird playing in the atmosphere with this many people, but the fact that we won is just so exciting. I haven’t really thought about next week and the teams that are in there, but I’m just excited to go.”

The Eagles next matchup will be in the State semi-final game on March 10.

“We were very confident because we prepared ourselves both offensively and defensively for this moment,” senior Nathan Priddy said, “to make it to state, and to win state.  We’ve prepared every practice, every day.  It’s what we’ve been working for.”