02-02-16
BY JACK BULLOCK
WEST FRANKFORT - In a battle of SIRR teams who have struggled to pick up victories in 2015-16, it was the hosts who got the job done on Tuesday night.

Coach Kevin Toney saw his West Frankfort Redbirds crash the boards to clean up a lot of errors made on the offensive end.

And eventually his club hit enough free throws in the final seconds to seal a 55-50 win over DuQuoin at Max Morris Gym.

With both teams struggling offensively from the outset, it was the Redbirds who commanded the glass and eventually the outcome.

West Frankfort grabbed an outrageous 44-rebounds in the game, including 19-offensive boards, with just enough put-backs to get their seventh win of the season.

Their ruling of the bounces on this night overshadowed the final shooting numbers and turnovers as the Redbirds improved to 7-14.

Six-foot-two senior Chase McLearen was a bright spot for the home team on Tuesday night, scoring 15-points and grabbing 19-rebounds, 11 of which were on the offensive end.

Junior point guard Noah Allen also netted 15-points on the night, hitting a pair of key 3-pointers, and sophomore Keagan Thrash teammate added nine to the point total.

“He (McLaren) has played hard and rebounded well all year for us,” said Coach Toney. “Anytime you can take the lead by four then that is a whole other dynamic. We didn't have to guard the two and just had to worry about them shooting the three. It was nice to see the kids relax and finally make the free throws at the end.”

Although they struggled shooting the ball on the floor and at the stripe, they still outworked the Indians on both ends of the floor for the win.

West Frankfort managed to hit just 19-of-55 from the field (34.5 percent), 2-of-14 from beyond the 3-point arc.

They also only connected on 15-of-25 free throws.

Add 21-turnovers to the mix and these figures would add up to a sure defeat on most nights.

However the Redbirds effort allowed them to figure out a way to get the “W.”

For DuQuoin the chances to snatch up a triumph on the road were aplenty.

The Indians didn't shoot the ball well, either, but they were in the ballgame right until the end as the game had seven lead changes and four ties.

First year head coach Justin Barrington saw his club rally late but they didn't make enough plays to get back the lead as they fell to 5-17 overall.

They took care of the ball better than the Birds, committing just nine-turnovers.

Nevertheless this group was just 17-of-48 (35.4 percent) from the floor, 5-of-20 from the arc.

“We had some looks, we just didn't make them. We missed too many free throws in the fourth quarter tonight to win a road game. But our inability to secure a rebound was what really did us in tonight,” said Coach Barrington. “We had them for 18-offensive rebounds and those are things that we have to fix and clean up. We talked about it before the game and we talked about it at halftime. That is how it goes on the road, you have to be ready from the beginning. We didn't hit enough shots down the stretch to win the game.”

The bright spot for the Tribe was 6-foot-3 junior Caleb Vogel, who netted a game-high 19-points.

He scored 14 of his points in the first half as the Indians stayed in the game.

Tucker Kuhnert also stepped up, as he added 13-points including a trio of 3-pointers.

“Tucker has really stepped up for us, he was huge tonight for us hitting some 3's. We just need a third guy to give us double-figures (scoring) with Caleb and Tucker. I tell the guys all the time, I don't care who it is as long as somebody does it,” said Coach Barrington.

Those two helped keep DuQuoin in the game up until the final horn.

Vogel scored seven-points in the first quarter, including one of his two fast break slam dunks in the game.

His steal near mid-court produced a run out for slam to tie the game at 5-5 in the early going.

Kuhnert hit the first of his 3-point bombs to give DQ a 12-11 lead, its first of the night, at the end of the first quarter.

While DuQuoin managed a one-point lead in the first quarter, West Frankfort was missing shots and grabbing rebounds. This was a trend that continued throughout the contest.

Allen nailed a 3-pointer and McLearen put in a shot on a pass from Allen in the opening stanza.

West Frankfort made a scoring run in the second quarter, its best of the evening.

Allen, McLaren and 6-foot-4 junior lefty Austin Glodich each produced points in an 11-2 burst.

Thrash cleaned up the glass in the lane as he was fouled by Kuhnert on his second consecutive rebound of his own misfires.

His converted free throw gave West Frankfort its largest spread at 24-18 with 3:14 to go before the half.

DuQuoin cut into the WF lead before the break, when 6-foot-4 junior forward Braden Heape scored in the lane and Vogel canned a 3-pointer, the final points of the quarter.

Despite four turnovers in the second, the Indians were down just 26-23 at intermission.

West Frankfort attempted enough shots in the third quarter to run away and hide from the Indians but they couldn't make enough of them to pull away.

The Redbirds were 6-of-22 from the field in the frame but they snagged nine offensive rebounds in the stretch.

DuQuoin got the lead back in the third, with scores by senior Brock Bullar, sophomore Ashton Smith and a 3-pointer by Jacob Wright, a 5-foot-10 senior guard, that gave the Indians some momentum.

Wright's bomb evened the score at 31-31 and the Bullar and Smith baskets forced a WF timeout as DQ led 36-33.

West Frankfort got scores from Glodich and McLaren and a pair of free throws by Brenden Russell after a technical foul called on Bullar as the Redbirds reclaimed the lead at 40-39 heading to the fourth quarter.

Vogel made another steal that resulted in another fast break dunk and Kuhnert followed that up with a drive down the baseline for a lay in and 43-42 advantage with 5:55 left.

This turned out to be the final lead for the visitors.

Baskets by Allen and McLaren followed by a Thrash fast break on a pass from Allen put WF up 49-45.

DuQuoin had two different chances to cut into the lead shooting free throws but Vogel missed on back-to-back 1-and-1 chances.

Coach Toney's club failed to put away DQ until :04.4 left when Lucas Wolfe, a 5-foot-6 sophomore guard, hit both of his free throws to push the lead to five at the end.

“Every time we would get something going we would give up a rebound or easy look,” said Coach Barrington. “There are going to be some growing pains with the young kids we are playing.”

Both teams head back into conference play this weekend DuQuoin will play at rival Pinckneyville Friday night and then host Herrin in a non-conference crossover game.

West Frankfort will travel to Benton on Friday and then crossover to play at Pinckneyville on Saturday.