Greyhounds eyeing a trip to Owensboro, but first, they must take down 16-time champion Bishop Brossart
Paris’ last region title came in 2017, when that team went on to win the overall small school state title
IVAN K. RICE I doctorofsports@aol.com
MT. OLIVET, KY – Later this evening in Robertson County, the Paris Greyhounds will be seeking their first All A Classic 10th Region basketball title since 2017, when that Paris team, coached by Terence Brooks, went on to win the Kentucky Statewide All A Classic State Basketball Championship.
Coach Shawn Ransom’s Hounds, following their upset of Nicholas County in Tuesday night’s semifinal game at Robertson County, will face an awfully familiar opponent in the finals when they take on 16-time champion Bishop Brossart, who ousted defending champion Augusta in the other semifinal game. Brossart won their last small school region title in 2023 when they knocked off host Paris.
The Mustangs, who will be the favorite coming into the game, has won the last 18 out of 21 meetings against the Greyhounds, including the last four in a row.
COBB CONTINUES TO SOAR – Greyhound senior leader Carter Cobb, who had an off shooting night against the Blue Jackets, did fill out his stat sheet with 8 points, 9 rebounds, 4 blocks, 3 assists, and 3 steals. He did come up big during their first game against Bracken County when he totaled 26 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, added 3 assists, and 3 steals.
“Tonight is a chance to make history for your school, community, and yourself. There will be a lot of emotions running through everyone’s head,” said Greyhound Head Coach Shawn Ransom. “Winning a championship is never easy but the reward is forever a memory that you never forget. Hard work, dedication, and preparation will be the deciding factor. The Paris Greyhounds will leave it all on the floor and as the buzzer sounds off at the end of the game, we want to be the last team standing!”
“I would love for this group of seniors to be rewarded for their leadership and dedication,” continued Ransom. “All these young men in our program deserves the opportunity to play for the Class A state championship and represent the 10th Region.”
Tip off for tonight’s championship game is 6:00 in Mt. Olivet.
Paris 67, Nicholas County 62
When Nicholas County blew past the Greyhounds 88-69 (and it wasn’t that close) back on December 17th in Carlisle, the Hounds were without the services of senior Elijah Webb and junior Andrew Johnson-Miles, while sophomore Quinton Rice saw limited minutes on that evening.
RICE IS BALLIN’ – Sophomore guard Quinton Rice, shown here getting off this floater over Nicholas County’s junior Preston Blake (#52) and freshman Peyton Hatton (#3), has been a bright spot for the Greyhounds during their run at an All A Region Title. During their two wins, Rice has averaged 16 points and 4 rebounds, after coming into the tournament averaging just 2 points and 1 rebound over Paris’ first 14 games.
On Tuesday night in Robertson County, those three guys, along with newcomer Myles Heilig, did play and they made the difference, offsetting the not-so-good scoring night from senior Carter Cobb, who scored 28 against the Blue Jackets the first time around.
Paris used a frantic finish that saw them grab a late seven-point lead, but because of missed free throws that could’ve easily sealed the deal down the stretch, had to hold off a furious Nicholas County rally at the end to pull the upset, 67-62 and advance to tonight’s championship game of the 2025 All A Classic 10th Region Tournament.
A three by Rice and a Cobb free throw that came off back-to-back steals by Webb, gave the Hounds a 55-49 lead with 4:46 left in the contest.
Nicholas answered with a 9-0 run to push in front of the stunned Greyhounds 58-55 at the 2:37 mark. The Blue Jackets’ run was highlighted by the scoring of senior Maddox Donovan and junior Caiden Smith.
Webb, however, wasn’t finished. He was actually just getting started, which was good for Paris but bad for Nicholas.
E-Webb jumpstarted the Hounds on a 10-0 run that saw him cap it off with an old fashion three-point play following another steal, one of eight on the evening for the Paris senior. That mini run pushed the determined Greyhounds back in front at 65-58 with just 26 seconds left on the clock. Webb scored 8 of his 17 points during that 90 second stretch of the game.
Ball game? Not hardly.
Free throw after missed free throw over the next 18 seconds by Paris allowed the Blue Jackets to crawl back into the game as they closed the gap down to three with 8.6 seconds showing on the clock. Another missed free throw gave the Blue Jackets a chance to send it into overtime but tough defensive pressure by Ransom’s Hounds kept NCHS from doing so and shortly after their miss, Johnson-Miles, finally, sealed the deal with two made free throws with just 3.8 seconds on the clock.
Paris grabbed the early advantage
Paris raced out of the gate quickly to take an 8-2 lead behind the scoring of Rice. But Nicholas, using the scoring of junior Braxton Martin and Smith, went on an 11-0 run to push past the Hounds, 13-8. A pullup floater by Cobb saw Paris close the lead down to 15-14, before the freshman Peyton Hatton nailed a three for the Blue Jackets that gave them an 18-14 lead at the end of the quarter.
The teams played pretty evenly during the second frame as Nicholas held onto their four-point lead thanks to Hatton’s late three, which made the score at the halftime break 33-29.
E-WEBB DOING E-WEBB THINGS – Greyhound senior Elijah Webb tries to make his way past Nicholas County’s junior Preston Blake during this fourth quarter drive. Webb, coming off the bench, came up big for the Hounds down the stretch with crucial free throws and a very important old fashion three-point play to save the day for Shawn Ransom’s Hounds. Webb finished his evening with 17 points, 8 rebounds, 8 steals, and 4 blocks.
The scoring of Johnson-Miles and the lockdown defense by junior newcomer Myles Heilig on Nicholas’s Hatton, who was a thorn in Paris’ side all evening long, helped the Hounds end the third quarter back on top at 46-45, setting up the nail biting fourth quarter, where Rice started it with a made floater and then followed that with a three to push the Greyhound lead to 54-49.
Webb’s huge night saw him with 17 points, 8 rebounds, 8 steals, and 4 blocks. Rice finished with a career-high 17 points and 5 rebounds. Johnson-Miles scored 14 points and dished out 3 assists. Cobb filled out his stat sheet with 8 points, 9 rebounds, 4 blocks, 3 assists, and 3 steals. Senior Kaden Frederick, who also came up big at times, totaled 6 points and 8 rebounds. Fred Carson’s 3 points and Zarion Snowden’s 2 points rounded out their scoring.
Hatton and Martin led the Blue Jackets with 16 points each. Donovan had 15, and Smith 11. Preston Blake’s 4 points completed their scoring.
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Paris 70, Bracken County 53
During their victory over Bracken County on Monday night in Brooksville, the Hounds never really took control of the game until midway through the third quarter when they used a 15-2 run to put some mileage between them and the host Polar Bears to advance to the semifinal round.
Paris led 16-15 after the first quarter and then, despite falling down by seven (27-20) in the second frame, used the scoring of Carter Cobb and Quinton Rice to crawl back into the game to actually maintain their one-point advantage into the half time break at 30-29.
The third quarter is when Paris decided to turn up the pressure on defense to finally put this game away. Big threes from Cobb and Andrew Johnson-Miles, along with the inside scoring of Zarion Snowden helped the Hounds win the quarter 21-12 to take a 41-31 lead into the final eight minutes.
RUNNING THE SHOW – Andrew Johnson-Miles prepares to set up the Paris offense despite being guarded tightly by Nicholas County’s senior Maddox Donovan. During their meeting against Nicholas in December, Johnson-Miles didn’t play, but this time he did, and the Greyhound junior finished his evening with 14 points and 3 assists and sealed the game with his two made three throws at the end.
A three by Rice, followed by back-to-back buckets from Cobb that was highlighted by three straight Polar Bears turnovers, saw the Hounds opened the quarter on a 7-0 run to move their lead out to 48-31. From there, they never looked back as they cruised home for the 70-53 victory.
Cobb led the way with 26 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals. Rice finished with 15 points, while Snowden totaled 13 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and 4 steals. Miles-Johnson added 8 points and 7 rebounds. Kaden Frederick scored 4 points and pulled down 4 rebounds, with senior Jordan Burbage completing the scoring with 3 points.
Senior Noah Nelson paced Coach Terry King’s squad with 23 points and 8 rebounds. Junior Teegan Feldhaus added 16 points and fellow junior Greg Benedict had 10 points. Rounding out their scoring saw senior Nash Jefferson with 3 points, and senior Ashton Buchanan finished with 1 point and 8 rebounds.
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ALL ACTION PHOTOS TAKEN BY WILL JONES/10TH REGION.COM
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FLYING HIGH TO THE “SHIP” – Paris avenged an early season loss to rival Nicholas County when they eliminated the Blue Jackets at the 2025 All A Classic 10th Region Tournament that took place at Robertson County High School on Tuesday night. Paris will play 15-time champion Bishop Brossart tonight at 6:00 with the winner earning a trip to Owensboro next week for the small school state tournament.
