12-21-17
BY JACK BULLOCK
DU QUOIN – In a game played on Thursday night between two unlikely regular season opponents, the Du Quoin Indians needed a couple of scoring runs to get an edge on visiting Webber Township.

Coach Justin Barrington got a 9-0 scoring run in the second quarter and a “drama ending” 9-0 run to begin the fourth quarter as his Indians evened their overall won-loss mark to 5-5 on the season with a 57-44 victory at Anders Gym.

Josh Heape, a 6-foot-3 junior, played a role in both runs and he accounted for all nine of the points in the second scoring burst that opened the fourth quarter.

This backcourt specialist led the Tribe with 15-points with all three of his 3-point shots coming in the first 1:20 of the final stanza.

Connecting on all three in sequence, Heape hit from both the left and right wings and then he took an inbound pass for a 3-point attempt from the left corner that found the mark which put the Indians up 48-30.

He also scored a key basket on a drive during the second quarter run that gave DQ a 23-11 advantage late in the first half.

In both of the scoring sprees, Coach Barrington's club took advantage of their situations to get their record back to .500 as they head into a brief break before playing in the Pinckneyville “Duster Thomas Classic” that will be played on December 29-30.

Sophomore guard/forward Lamontay Daughtery matched Heape with 15-points of his own while also proving to be a real nuisance on the defensive end of the floor.

The 6-foot-7 highly-regarded second year prep blocked and altered several Webber Township shots while hauling down eight-rebounds for Du Quoin.

Coach Barrington also got eight-points each from senior guard Hank Stewart and sophomore Braeden Pursell.

Stewart netted six of his eight-points in the first half while while Pursell tossed in three field goals in the third quarter.

“I thought we took them (Webber) out of their comfort zone with our length and athleticism. They have two kids (Neal and Stratton) who can score. They are going to be a handful in the postseason in 1A and when we were needing a game late in fall and they were needing one. It was great to get this game. Coach Beaty does a tremendous job. His teams always defend well. I was proud of our defensive effort tonight, especially in the first half.”

The Trojans saw their overall mark slip to 9-3 on the season with back-to-back defeats this week to 1A Midland Trail Conference rival Woodlawn on Tuesday night at home and Du Quoin on the road after winning the Wayne City Holiday Tournament the previous week.

Senior Dylan Stratton produced a game-high 19-points as he reached the 1,000-point plateau during the game.

Needing seven-points to reach the mark going into the contest, the 6-foot guard eclipsed the total in the third quarter.

Six-foot-four senior forward Charles Neal held his own in the middle against the strong front line of Du Quoin, collecting 14-points and eight-rebounds.

“We could have easily got a game on our schedule and guaranteed a win but we don't need that, not this team,” said Coach Beaty. “We have six seniors and their goal is to make a run in the postseason. And our job (coaches) is to find them the best schedule, the best competition and tonight was another Christmas present. We didn't get a win out of it, but I think we got a lot out of it.

One of the keys to the contest, and eventual defeat for the Trojans, was some early foul issues and Neal having to go to the bench in the second quarter as he tweaked his ankle.

While he was on the sidelines having his ankle re-taped, Du Quoin went on the first of its two 9-0 sprints.

After falling behind early in the game 13-8 after one quarter, Coach Beaty's club rallied to within three at 14-11.

But in a just over two minute stretch, the Indians took control.

Stewart and Heape both hit shots in the run as did senior guard Ashton Smith.

Then freshman Brian Winters canned a 3-pointer from the right corner to give DQ a 23-11 spread with 1:42 before intermission.

Stratton hit a pair of free throws before Heap scored on a cut to basket on a set play to close the half at 25-13 Indians.

Webber's first half saw them commit 12 of their game-total of 18-turnovers with seven coming in the second quarter as they went to the break down 12.

While Du Quoin had their own first half issues, mainly sending the Trojans to the foul line as the visitors shot 11 first half charity tosses while converting seven of them.

This allowed Webber to stay within striking range heading into the second half.

Stratton scored seven-straight points in the third quarter, hitting a 3-pointer to go along with a pair of drives to the basket that each resulted in made pull up jump shots.

The 3-pointer put gave him the 1,000-point total and the second made driving finish cut the Du Quoin lead to 33-24.

A Neal 3-point bomb and a drive to the basket by Webber senior forward Markeith Davis got the Trojans to with 37-29.

Daughtery scored on a pair of shots in the lane while close to the basket in the third quarter.

His second giving the Indians a nine-point lead heading to the fourth.

That lead became 18-points in a hurry and the outcome was settled soon after.

Du Quoin hit five of their first seven field goal attempts in the final eight minutes, putting the game out of reach.

Consecutive scores in the lane by Daughtery and senior guard Klayton Donaghue, on an assist by Daughtery, gave Du Quoin its largest advantage at 57-39

Stratton added two additional 3-point shots for Webber in the fourth quarter.

His second one, followed by a Davis tip-in, in the final minute closed out the scoring.

“We've got some other guys who can step up and hit shots. We missed some shots tonight but I thought tonight in the second quarter and the fourth quarter we got better cuts to the basket,” said Coach Barrington. “We cut harder, we cut better and we finished our cuts. That led to some easy baskets.”

Coach Barrington saw his club struggle in few categories in the contest, but they sent Webber to the foul line way too often.

Fortunately for the hosts, the Trojans were just 16-of-26 from the line, compared to 8-of-13 from DQ.

The Indians finished the match up by going 22-of-49 overall and 5-of-15 from the arc.

But DQ was a “red hot” 12-of-19 from the field overall in the second half.

The Webber numbers added up to 12-of-33 from the floor overall, and 4-of-11 from the 3-point standard.

Du Quoin held a slight 24-21 edge on the glass and they committed eight less turnovers (10) than the Trojans.

The Indians have a complete week off for Christmas before playing both Jerseyville (at 3:30 pm) and Elverado (at 8:00 pm) the first day at the “Duster Thomas Classic” next Friday.

They will play two more games on Saturday in the four pool play event that places teams in one of three different brackets.

Coach Beaty and his club have some time to regroup for a second half push as they are done for the holiday break with the next scheduled game coming on January 2 at home against Christ Our Rock Lutheran in conference play.

The two teams added this contest late in the fall when both were a game short on their regular season slates.

Although the outcome worked out better for Du Quoin, Coach Beaty got what he wanted as his 1A squad got to battle with a Southern Illinois River-to-River team that they normally wouldn't get to play.

“I really got out of that game (tonight) what I wanted to. I thought our guys competed hard but they (Du Quoin) exposed some things that we have to work on. We were coming off a tough loss on Tuesday night and tonight we were playing a Thursday night game on the road against a team picked second in the River-to-River Conference (ABV),” said Coach Beaty. “To be honest with you, I don't even know what the final score was. We got bumped around tonight and we had a great officiating crew and they let the kids play. I just like the way that we competed. I'm proud of our kids, that is exactly what I was looking for.”