GIRARD — Losing their season opener on the road, the Parsons Vikings boys fell to the Girard Trojans, 62-50.
“We got that first game under our belts and saw a lot of positives,” Parsons head coach Anthony Houk said. “We’ve got a very inexperienced group when it comes to varsity minutes. We played nine guys the whole night and we’re using these early games to see who’s ready for the late game. It’s going to be a challenging week for us, so we’ve got to get as many guys ready as we can.”
Jason Shaw led Parsons with 13 points. Kai Gregory added 11.
“I love the effort and the attitude that we got from all of our guys on Friday night,” Houk said. “Jason Shaw and Connor Largent really led the way for us. They had great nights for us. I’m happy for them with their approach as seniors.”
Houk lamented Parsons’ ball security in the defeat.
“What we have to clean up is our turnovers,” Houk said. “We cannot give up 11 offensive rebounds. Or even double- digit offensive rebounds. When you look at the guys that are boxing out, it’s Jason or it’s Connor. They’re doing their job setting the tone for everyone. Our sophomores and our juniors, they’re playing tough.”
Up next
Parsons plays in the T-Bird Classic this week. The Vikings face Mulvane on the road on Tuesday, host Collegiate and hit the road on Saturday to face Circle.
“We’ve just got to keep on going right where we left at in the second half in Girard,” Houk said. “I liked the way my group responded after being down 15 at halftime. We won the third quarter. There’s no quit in this group. We’ve got to develop some of the grit. And we want to cut down our turnovers.”
Jason Shaw (23) of the Parsons Vikings drives to the rim during Friday night’s loss to the Girard Trojans at Girard High School. Tryston Ridgeway/Sun photo
