SAYBROOK TOWNSHIP — Followers of the Lakeside boys have come to expect big things from Emelio Parks.
On Tuesday, the junior center didn’t disappoint, as he was a terror on the inside. He put in 31 points — more than half his team’s total — and added seven rebounds, as the Dragons turned back visiting Riverside, 60-52, in the Premier Athletic Conference opener for both schools.
Lakeside (4-0, 1-0) jumped to a 22-4 lead early in the second quarter, saw the Beavers (1-3, 0-1) slice the deficit to one point and then recovered. Parks played a major role both early and late, as he put in 14 points in the initial nine minutes and then 15 in the game’s final 10 minutes.
“Emilio really played a nice game, I think, rebounding and scoring,” Lakeside coach Rob Pisano said.
“He played a great game,” Riverside coach Rob Winton said. “Very, very good shooting touch.”
Ace Jones added 20 points for the Dragons, while Fred Spikes dished out seven assists.
Riverside (five of its seven 3-pointers in the second half), closed to 35-29 late in the third period. But Parks scored the rest of his team’s seven points in the quarter, staking Lakeside to a 42-33 lead.
The Beavers went on an 8-0 run, slicing it to 42-41. However, after a layup by Steve Luoma (4 assists), Parks and Jones did the rest of Lakeside’s scoring, and eventually the Dragons ran off the contest’s final six points, beginning with a one-and-one by Parks, in the final 50 seconds to extend a 54-52 edge.
“(We were) not ready to play,” Winton said of the poor start. “After being at Mentor and being at Harvey, I just was dumbfounded that we weren’t ready to play.”
“We need to just keep harping to these guys about staying focused and staying fundamentally sound for four quarters,” Pisano said.
The Dragons shot 54.5 percent from the floor. The Beavers missed six of their nine free throws.
Mike Debalski (10 points), Andrew Tompkins (9 points, 9 rebounds, 5 steals), L.T. Smith (8 points), Shawn McClure (9 points) and Mycheal Delano (8 points) were the top scorers for Riverside.
Goldman is a freelance writer for South Euclid.
Sports
Related Photos
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EMELIO PARKS of Lakeside shoots a J during the Dragons’ PAC victory against visiting Riverside on Tuesday night at Lakeside Gymnasium. DAVE JIVIDEN / IgotchYa.dot photo.com
Discussion
Dragons prevail in matchup of ’sides
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Riverside sneaks past Edgewood
Riverside wrestling coach Scott Blank learned a good deal of what he knows from Edgewood coach Greg Stolfer as a former Warrior great. Thursday, he used a bit of that knowledge to get the better of his old coach as the Beavers bested the Warriors, 31-28, at Edgewood.
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Madison rolls past Geneva
Madison recovered from coming out on the short end of a pin in the first match of the night by taking six of the next seven matches against Geneva and capped the night with pins from their last pair of grapplers in dismantling the Eagles, 49-17.
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Boys tourney returning to county
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Dragons dump Lakers in drink
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Mustangs dominate Heralds
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Clark, Francis help give Falcons Liberty
Paige Clark led an attack that saw three Jefferson players reach double figures and Rachel Francis had a triple-double as the Falcons blasted visiting Liberty, 59-17, in an All-American Conference game Thursday night in Falcon Gym.
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Scholastic Statistics:
WRESTLING
NON-CONFERENCE
Riverside 31, Edgewood 28
at Edgewood -
Scholastic Schedule:
FRIDAY, FEB. 10
Boys Basketball
n Lakeside at Madison
n Conneaut at Edgewood
n Liberty at Jefferson (WFUN)
n South at Geneva
n PV at Bloomfield
n Grand Valley at Southington
n Riverside at North
n Harvey at Perry -
PV prevails
Cody Miller and Zach Campbell knew what they had to do in order for the Pymatuning Valley wrestling team to complete a come-from-behind victory over Jefferson on Wednesday at triangular match at PV.
The pair delivered exactly that and the Lakers pulled off the win, 37-36. -
Eagles bounce back
The Geneva girls didn’t have much time to regroup. But just one day after a heartbreaking defeat, they were able to knock off a strong Perry team on the road, 39-33.
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