02/14/2023
BY JACK BULLOCK
DU QUOIN - The Nashville Hornets have really turned things around since the beginning of the year and they closed out their regular season schedule with an overwhelming performance on the road Tuesday night.

Nashville cruised into DuQuoin and put a damper on the Indians' Senior Night Celebration.

Six-nine senior Bennett Briles scored 27 points, 20 of them in the first half as the Hornets left zero doubt in their 81-40 win to improve to 20-11, 5-3 in the Mississippi Division of the SIRR.

At one point during the season Coach Stote Reeder's team was 7-9 after a 1-4 finish at the Breese Mater Dei Holiday Tournament.

They're now 13-2 since which included some big wins.

The Hornets closed out their regular season playing their best basketball heading to a regional they are hosting.

“He (Briles) is a nightmare matchup and I'm glad I don't have to coach against him and prepare,” said Coach Reeder. “He is scoring in the paint first, getting his back to the basket. He has become a guy who can score anywhere on the floor.”

Briles scored from all over the floor on Tuesday night, creating a huge matchup problem for DuQuoin.

Senior guard Trey Reinburg added 12 points for Nashville and senior guard Carter Schoenherr scored 10.

Another senior, Conner Cameron, hit a trio of 3-point shots for nine points as 10 different Nashville players scored in the contest that was a rout from the beginning.

DuQuoin (11-17) had eight players score but eight points by senior Jakob Eaton was the top number for Coach Jason James as no one reached double digits.

The Indians play a lot of players as the press and try to speed up the games that they play.

Nashville had an answer.

“We attacked it. We knew they were going to press and we wanted to attack it,” said Coach Reeder. “And we did and we shot a lot of lay ups off of it.”

The game statistically was just as uneven.

Nashville out-rebounded the Indians 35-19 and they gave up only two offensive rebounds in the first half as they put the game away before halftime.

Coach Reeder's club nailed down 30-of-46 shots from the floor (65.2 percent) and 9-of-13 from long range (69.2 percent) as they were on target.

Six of the missed shots were in the final eight minutes of continuous clock.

DuQuoin got seven points from senior Gage Green, four of the points came in the first quarter.

The first Green score tied the game at 2-2 with 7:34 remaining.

That was the game's only tie and the only instance that the Indians were still in the game.

Nashville scored the game's next 14 points.

Reinburg scored six of the points, all on cuts to the basket and his third such score forced a DuQuoin timeout at 14-2 with 4:25 to go.

Nashville hit 6-of-8 free throws in the quarter and Briles hit his first of three 3-pointers.

A rebound score from senior forward Quintin Loquasto and two free throws from Schoenherr made it 23-6 at the end of the opening frame.

DuQuoin managed to hit three 3-point shots in the second quarter with junior Eli Maynor hitting two of them.

A trey from senior forward Owen Cornett cut the Nashville margin to just 27-13 early in the second quarter.

Eleven consecutive points by Nashville was the response.

Briles scored five of the points with a drive to the goal and a 3-pointer from the left wing in the run.

The Hornets removed what little doubt there was with another scoring run to close the half.

Reinburg hit two of his 3-pointers in the final minutes of the second quarter and senior guard Aidan Heiman scored on a nice drive in the lane during the run.

Both Briles and Loquasto scored inside before Cameron nailed down a shot from near half-court at the buzzer for a 55-19 halftime bulge.

The Hornets force eight first half DuQuoin turnovers and they beat the Indians press repeatedly as they took complete control of their conference foes.

Briles added nine more points to his totals for the team and Cameron added two more 3-pointers as the lead reached 72-30 by the end of the third quarter.

The Nashville JV team played the final quarter as the seniors earned their rest as the crew will prepare for the postseason with a few days off after the regular season finale.

The Indians were just 16-of-50 overall, 5-of-19 from the arc.

“We are playing very, very well. On January 7th we were 8-10 and tonight we got our 20th win. It has been one heck of a turnaround,” said Coach Reeder. “I'm kind of without words right now. I'm so proud of the boys. I'm happy for these kids. Thinking about where we were at over Christmas (break) we were pretty low. I couldn't be more excited that we are playing our best basketball at the right time of the year.”

Nashville's next game will be in the regional semifinals at home against the winner of the DuQuoin vs. Breese Mater Dei contest next Wednesday.

The Indians and Knights will play Saturday in the first round at Mater Dei.

Nashvile (81) – T. Schoenherr 0 0 0-0 0, Hammer 0 0 0-2 0, C. Schoenherr 3 0 4-7 10, Ritzel 0 0 0-0 0, Hill 1 0 0-0 2, Renken 1 0 0-0 2, Heiman 2 0 0-1 4, Reinburg 3 2 0-0 12, Cameron 0 3 0-0 9, Blazier 0 0 0-0 0, Gajewski 1 0 0-0 2, Loquasto 3 0 2-2 8, Briles 6 3 6-6 27, Kirsch 0 1 0-0 3. 2FG-21, 3FG-9, FT-12-18, PF-13.
DuQuoin (40) – M. Jones 1 0 0-0 2, Maynor 0 3 0-0 6, Green 3 0 1-3 7, Woody 0 0 0-2 0, Hugya 1 1 0-0 5, Howerton 1 0 0-1 2, Cornett 1 1 1-2 6, Eaton 2 1 1-2 8, Whitfield 2 0 0-4 4, Hanks 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-11, 3FG-5, FT-3-14, PF-13.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.