12-02-13
BY JACK BULLOCK
DU QUOIN – When you commit nearly one turnover per minute that you play in a basketball contest, the outcome is never going to be good.

On Monday night in the opener of the Du Quoin Tip-Off Classic, Vandalia did just that.

The Cairo Pilots “vandalized” the Vandals as Coach Brian Buscher saw his young club get caught up in an up-tempo sort of game that they didn’t want to play.

The end result was 28 turnovers in 32 minutes as the Pilots used an 18-2 third quarter spurt to pull away for a 75-56 victory.

Coach Brian Brandtner’s club turned up the heat in the second half and Vandalia couldn’t keep from getting caught up in the moment.

“I think our depth really helped us out there. I could sense they were getting tired there at the end,” said Coach Brandtner. “When you can bring four or five kids off the bench with the same intensity it really adds up.”

Seven of the turnovers were steals by the Pilots, many of which turned into easy baskets.

RaQuan Nelson turned in a stellar performance for Cairo, getting loose for 28-points while canning four 3-point shots.

Freshman Dave Taylor also contributed, scoring 15-points while teammate Jarvis Woodson added 11.

“The kid (Nelson) can score and being so little he has to get creative sometimes,” said Brandtner. “Sometimes when you first see him play and he does something like that (drive to the basket) your stomach kind of turns. But he can get it done inside and outside.”

Cairo (1-0) used its depth well on Monday night as 11 different Pilots inked the book.

The afore mentioned 18-2 was part of a third quarter in which Vandalia committed nine of their miscues which resulted in four transition scores.

Nelson connected on two of his 3-point bombs and Taylor, sophomore Melvin Duncan and Bryce Gardner all scored in the sprint.

The run turned a 34-33 Vandalia edge into a 51-36 Cairo advantage.

All of which happened in less than four minutes of playing time.

By the time Vandalia made a brief run in the final minutes of the third quarter, most of the gas was out of the tank.

“Incredible, isn’t it?” said Coach Buscher about the turnovers. “We didn’t do a good job being strong with the ball. We like to play up-tempo, but not that fast. They (Cairo) took us out of our game plan.”

An 8-0 run midway through the fourth quarter ended the suspense.

A three-point play by sophomore Carlton Jackson and 6-of-7 made free throws in the final moments sealed the win for Cairo, who opened their regular season with a confident performance.

The Pilots were 32-of-62 overall from the floor (51.6 percent) and held their turnovers down (12) considering the up-tempo way that they play.

Meanwhile Vandalia hit a pretty decent percentage from the field (45.2 percent) as they were 24-of-53.

But the 28-turnovers stood out like a sore thumb, as this team couldn’t match the intensity of the opposition.

Vandalia held a 36-26 rebounding edge but they gave up 15 offensive rebounds to the Pilots.

Many of which turned into second chance points.

Colton Woolsey was a bright spot for Vandalia, as he muscled his way for 19-points.

However no other Vandal player reached double-digits for Coach Buscher.

Vandalia (56) – Nesheroad 4 0 1-3 9, Harre 2 1 2-2 9, Durbin 1 0 0-0 2, Redemacher 0 0 0-0 0, Lott 0 0 0-0 0, Smith 1 0 0-2 2, Shulman 3 0 2-4 7, Woolsey 7 1 2-4 19, Hollinshead 4 0 0-1 8.
2FG-22, 3FG-2, FT-6-14, PF-15.
Cairo (75) – Woodson 5 0 1-2 11, Nelson 8 4 0-0 28, Graham 3 0 0-0 6, Gardner 2 0 0-0 4, Houston 1 0 0-0 2, DeWitt 1 0 0-2 2, Taylor 5 0 2-2 12, Henderson 0 0 1-2 1, McCree 0 0 2-2 2, Duncan 2 0 0-0 4, Jackson 1 0 1-1 3. 2FG-28, 3FG-4, FT-7-11, PF-15.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – Cairo Bench.
In the other opening night game, Du Quoin's rally fell short as they lost to Hamilton County, 49-42 in the nightcap.