02-25-11
BY JACK BULLOCK
SPARTA – Du Quoin head coach Gabe Sveda has talked all season about how his seniors have stepped up in big games.

In the title game of the Sparta Class 2A Regional against Perry County rival Pinckneyville – those vets got the job done again.

Behind Conner Wheeler's 22-points and nine rebounds and a big defensive play by Seth Baxter with :12 left – Du Quoin won its fourth consecutive regional championship with a gut-wrenching 46-44 win over the Panthers Friday night at Fulton Gym.

Baxter made the play of the game with a steal while Pinckneyville was looking for a game-winning shot.

Wheeler connected on 6-of-7 free throws – including two straight with :09.6 remaining to ice the win following the Baxter steal.

“When we needed to hit free throws we got them and we just played well down the stretch,” said Conner Wheeler. “When we needed to hit free throws we stepped up and hit them and that was so big for us.”

Pinckneyville – who had used its final timeout with just under a minute to play – was unable to stop the clock after a Hunter Queen 3-pointer found the bottom of the net with under :05 left that cut the final margin to two.

When the Panthers have been good this season – they were hitting their outside shots.

On Friday night Pinckneyville struggled from behind the arc – connecting on just 3-of-16 from deep.

The Panthers saw their season come to a close at 20-9 while the Indians improved to 23-6 with the victory.

It appeared as if this contest – the third game between these schools – would be over early after Du Quoin sprinted out to a 15-2 lead in the first quarter.

Wheeler scored nine points in a 13-0 run that broke a 2-2 early deadlock.

His fast break score on a pass from Baxter forced a timeout with 3:52 remaining.

But the Panthers gradually got themselves back into the game after they finally turned the game into a half-court battle instead of the early relay race that they were forced into early.

“Tip your hat to them. They (Du Quoin) made a few more plays than we did tonight and they got the win,” Waggoner said. “That was the game-plan was to get this into a half-court game. We don't have the athletes that they do to run up and down the floor and once we got them contained and into a half-court game we got back to guarding the ball.”

Settling down after four early turnovers – Pinckneyville cut the deficit to just 18-9 at the end of one quarter.

Pinckneyville's Christian Shopinski topped the Panthers with 14-points – including five points in the opening stanza.

His 3-pointer from the left corner got Pinckneyville back to under a 10-point deficit.

Getting the ball underneath to their big kids and doing a better job of getting back on defense in the second quarter – the Panthers rallied to within six points at intermission.

Shopinski scored twice more in the second frame on drives to the basket and his lay in just before the buzzer sent the two teams to the break at 28-22.

Pinckneyville finally got its first lead on the contest with a 7-0 run to take a 31-30 lead with 3:52 left in the third quarter.

Shopinski got some help on the inside as 6-foot-7 senior Kyle Lamb netted a pair of big shots in the paint while Payton Nippe hit 1-of-2 free throws to give Pinckneyville a temporary lead.

Shopinski's second made trey evened the score at 34-all heading into the final quarter.

Pinckneyville's final advantage came after a pair of buckets by 6-foot-3 senior Steve Brueggeman.

His second shot from near the basket put Pinckneyville up 38-37 at the 5:21 mark.

However Wheeler – while Du Quoin was struggling in its half-court offense – found himself open coming around a screen near the top of the arc and his 20-footer put Du Quoin up for good with 4:19 to go.

Pinckneyville would miss four key shots in the final quarter.

After the Panthers got to within a point at 42-41 with just under a minute left – Du Quoin made four consecutive free throws with Baxter and then Wheeler converting 1-and-1 chances.

“Seth (Baxter) made those big free throws and his steal was huge for us,” added Coach Sveda. “He does so many good things for us.”

With Pinckneyville working for an open look for a tying trifecta – Baxter got a hand on a pass and took it away from the Panthers before getting the ball to Wheeler.

Wheeler's pair from the foul stripe gave the Indians a five-point spread.

Queen's window dressing bomb closed out the scoring and the season for Pinckneyville.

Following Shopinski in scoring for Pinckneyville was Brueggeman with 11-points and Lamb with nine.

Pinckneyville hit just 15-of-41 shots from the field and committed 12-turnovers.

Du Quoin wasn't much better from the floor in this defensive struggle – netting just 16-of-42 overall.

Pinckneyville held a slight 24-23 rebounding edge.

“Our kids stepped up tonight and our seniors came out with a lot of intensity and I'm very proud of them,” said Coach Sveda. “We had a bit of a lull there in the middle of the game but give Pinckneyville credit. They (Pinckneyville) played their hearts out and gave a great effort. I thought the key was our defensive effort. This was the best defense we played all year and I'm so proud of these kids. They deserved this.”

Du Quoin will now face Harrisburg on Wednesday night at the Harrisburg Class 2A Sectional – a team that they defeated at Harrisburg back on December 11 by a score of 78-68.

The Bulldogs rallied past Massac County 53-51 to win the Massac County Regional.

“We had three straight possessions where we had the lead and we couldn't score and they (DuQuoin) hit some shots and hit a big three (Wheeler) and it swung the momentum,” said Pinckneyville head coach Bob Waggoner. “Overall we showed a ton of fortitude getting back into this game after being down 15-2. We had opportunities but at this stage of the season you can't have any bad possessions and we did that tonight.”

Pinckneyville (44) – Hardin 0 0 0-0 0, Nippe 2 0 2-4 6, Shute 0 0 0-0 0, Queen 0 1 1-2 4, Brueggeman 3 0 5-6 11, Shopinski 4 2 0-0 14, Lamb 4 0 1-2 9. 2FG-13, 3FG-3, FT-9-14, PF-16.
Du Quoin (46) – Baxter 1 0 2-3 4, Davis 0 0 0-0 0, Smith 0 0 1-2 1, Wheeler 5 2 6-7 22, Gossett 3 0 0-2 6, J. Williams 3 0 2-2 8, B. Williams 2 0 1-2 5.
2FG-14, 3FG-2, FT-12-18, PF-16.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.