CHEROKEE — Notching their first victory of the season, the Parsons Vikings boys bested the Baxter Springs Lions, 51-49, on Thursday in the second game of the Lancer Classic at Southeast High School.
Parsons then fell to Columbus, 5351, on Friday to wrap up the tournament.
“It was great for our kids to finally taste some victory,” Parsons head coach Anthony Houk said. “They put in a lot of time and hard work. They’ve been in some games and weathered the storm. It was a long time coming. So it was nice for all of them. It was a good team win.”
In Thursday’s win over Baxter Springs, Connor Largent led the Vikings with 16 points — 10 coming in the third quarter.
“He did a great job on the boards,” Houk said. “He was a presence around the rim. Jason Shaw did a fantastic job finding him on some pick-and-rolls and we took advantage of that. Those two seniors stepped up. Andrew (Houk) also shot the ball really well. We got to play inside-out and it was fun to watch.”
Andrew Houk added 13 points, including a trio of 3-pointers.
“It’s nice to see him get some confidence and see a couple go through,” Houk said. “It took him a while after that torn ligament. Hopefully it keeps going for him. His teammates have done a great job of finding him.”
Friday’s tilt against Columbus teetered and tottered — the Titans leapt out to a 22-13 lead through the first quarter before Parsons’ defense stiffened.
The Vikings led, 37-34, heading into the final stanza.
“We just didn’t guard very well in the first quarter and they took advantage of that,” Houk said. “We left shooters open a couple of times. We tightened up in the second and third quarters. Then we didn’t guard terribly well in the fourth and we started turning the ball over. That let them score so much in the fourth and that was the difference. We still had a shot to win.”
Aundre Ford led the Vikings with 14 points in the loss.
“After having such big point discrepancies in our games, losing by 30 or more so many times, it was nice to have some games where we got to learn and be close,” Houk said.
Up next
Parsons heads to Cherryvale on Tuesday.
“We know they’ve got some young talent and they play hard as a group,” Houk said. “That’s a team that beat Columbus, which is the team that just beat us. So we’ll have a dogfight on our hands. It’ll be at their place, so I just hope our guys continue to do the things that will keep us in ballgames and compete. We also want to compete in our league, which starts on Friday. We feel like we’ve gotten better and we want to go prove that.”
