12-03-11
BY JACK BULLOCK
CAMPBELL HILL – When a team commits 16 turnovers, misses 44 shots and fails to make a single free throw, this team should have gotten on the bus with a defeat.

But the Cairo Pilots managed to do enough things right on Wednesday night at the Du Quoin Tip-Off Classic to head home with their first win of the season.

Using their quickness to amass an amazing 50 rebounds (27 offensive boards) while limiting the host Indians to just 19, Cairo hung around long enough to create an opportunity for a win.

Reserve guard Terion Taylor produced the big shot with just under ten seconds to play and Cori Williams came up with a big steal, Du Quoin's 17th turnover, as Cairo and head coach Larry Baldwin improved to 1-2 overall and evened their tournament mark at 1-1 with a 51-50 victory in the second contest on Wednesday.

Taylor found himself open in the left corner as the Pilots trailed DQ 50-48 in the waning seconds working against the Du Quoin zone.

His shot from behind the 3-point line found the mark and forced a Du Quoin timeout.

The Indians got the ball in the hands of guard Dillon Boss, but he was quickly double-teamed when he crossed mid-court.

Williams knocked the ball away and took off for a fast break attempt as the buzzer sounded.

“That was the difference in the ball game tonight, they (Cairo) owned the glass on us,” said Du Quoin head coach Gabe Sveda. “We have to be more disciplined than that. I tip my hat to Cairo. They came down and knocked the shot down at the end and then they gambled by putting two guys on the ball and made the steal. They (Cairo) played awfully hard tonight.”

Cairo, who have struggled recently with coaching changes, has turned to veteran mentor Coach Baldwin to take back over the program and this coach is seeing progress in just three games that the Pilots have played in.

“Well the thing is, we played Pinckneyville to start the season and some people thought I was crazy for doing that but these kids have to learn how to play this game the right way,” said Coach Baldwin. “You can tell them, and tell them, and tell them but you have to show them. I told the kids when we get to Pinckneyville you are going to find out how the game is played (a loss last Saturday night) and Pinckneyville brought it out of us. After that ballgame these kids started listening more and learning.”

For the Indians it was a tough pill to swallow having been out rebounded by a much quicker team.

However the Tribe can look quickly to the stat sheet away from the rebounding column to find other reasons for their defeat.

DQ didn't take advantage of their chances at the foul line, hitting just 15-of-26 on the night.

The Indians shot the ball better from the 3-point line (7-of-14) than they did inside (7-of-22).

Three DQ players hit for double-figures with Cayle Diggins leading the way with 12-points on four made 3-pointers.

Brandon Williams muscled his way inside for 11-points while Daulton Beltz added 10.

Cairo had just one player with more than ten points as Cordell Johnson scored 12-points.

But Coach Baldwin saw signs early that the Pilots are on the right course.

“After Monday night (a loss to Vandalia 80-60) my kids saw that they (Vandalia) were playing hard,” added Coach Baldwin. “I think they are starting to realize that you have to work hard. We rebounded well tonight and did a good job of boxing out.”

The Pilots led after one quarter 11-9 in spite of itself.

This team hit just 5-of-16 shots in the opening stanza but got those additional shots by crashing the boards.

Setting the tone for the contest, Cairo grabbed six offensive rebounds in the first eight minutes alone.

Williams scored seven points in the early going for Cairo and his 3-pointer from the left wing gave his club a 7-5 advantage with 3:32 left.

Two fast break scores from Cairo closed the frame at 11-9 Cairo.

Du Quoin took a halftime lead by dialing up long distance in the second quarter, hitting four 3-pointers in the stanza to lead 27-24 at the break.

Diggins hit two of the treys to help rally the Indians.

Trailing 16-9 after Cairo made a quick 5-0 run to start the frame, Diggins connected from the top of the arc to get Du Quoin rolling.

Daulton Beltz provided the other two trifectas and his second one tied the score at 22-all with 1:19 remaining.

But Cairo, even though they trailed at intermission, was continuing to pile up offensive rebounds.

Of the six made baskets in the second quarter by Coach Baldwin's team, four of them came on offensive rebounds as Du Quoin couldn't keep the Pilots from second, third and sometimes fourth chances.

Cairo committed six turnovers in the third quarter but managed to stay close because of nine more offensive rebounds and three baskets directly off of those second chances.

Du Quoin led 40-38 at the end of three with a baseline shot by John Boss and 3-of-4 free throws by Galik and Boss.

The Indians, late in the fourth quarter, were set to escape with a win.

But DQ missed a pair of crucial free throws and after Nate Boss hit just the second of a two shot foul line chance, Cairo had reason for hope at 50-48 with :27.3 remaining.

Working the ball around the Indians zone, Taylor (who had scored just one other basket in the contest) passed up on an earlier shot but got the ball back on a ball reversal and his 20-footer from right in front of the Cairo bench, hit nothing but net with :09 remaining.

“We will learn from this. We're a brand new team and we will learn a lot and keep on getting better each day,” finalized Coach Sveda.

Both teams head back into action at the Tip-Off Classic as Cairo will play Benton at 6:30 pm while Du Quoin will have to regroup to take on Vandalia at 8:00 pm.

“If we can just keep this up (playing hard) and I know we are going to lose some ballgames but if they keep listening we are going to be alright,” Baldwin added.

Cairo (51) – D. Johnson 4 0 0-0 8, Williams 3 1 0-0 9, Childs 2 1 0-0 7, McIntosh 4 0 0-2 8, C. Johnson 6 0 0-0 12, Jackson 0 0 0-0 0, Cruthard 1 0 0-2 2, Taylor 1 1 0-0 5.
2FG-21, 3FG-3, FT-0-4, PF-16.
Du Quoin (50) – Di. Belz 0 0 0-2 0, N. Boss 0 0 3-4 3, Erwin 0 0 0-0 0, Diggins 0 4 0-2 12, Donoghue 0 0 0-0 0, Galik 1 1 4-4 9, Williams 4 0 3-6 11, Da. Beltz 1 2 2-2 10, Fred 0 0 2-2 2, J. Boss 1 0 1-2 3.
2FG-7, 3FG-7, FT-15-26, PF-9.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.

BENTON 65, WALTONVILLE 22
The Benton Rangers hit their first three shots of the contest, all 3-pointers, as they led from start to finish in a lopsided win over Waltonville in the opening game of the DQ Tip-Off Classic Wednesday night.

Waltonville (22) – Phillips 1 0 0-0 2, Rapp 0 0 0-0 0, Hale 1 2 0-0 8, Witges 3 0 3-5 9, Rodgers 0 0 0-0 0, Buza 0 0 0-0 0, Whisenant 0 0 0-0 0, McCoy 0 0 0-0 0, Laird 0 0 0-0 0, Barva 1 0 1-1 3, Winchester 0 0 0-0 0, Coggins 0 0 0-0 0, Zahn 0 0 0-0 0, Nelson 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-6, 3FG-2, FT-4-6, PF-17.
Benton (65) – Rock 0 0 0-0 0, Forby 2 0 2-4 6, Smith 1 1 0-0 5, Johnston 2 2 2-2 12, Garrett 2 1 0-0 7, Powell 0 0 0-0 0, Childers 3 0 2-5 8, Simpson 1 0 1-1 3, Ing 0 0 0-0 0, Lfeffler 2 1 0-0 7, Hartley 1 0 0-0 2, Hughes 2 0 1-2 5, Ward 4 0 0-2 8, LaBuwi 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-21, 3FG-5, FT-8-16, PF-14.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.