Senior Night at Du Quoin: Defensive Tribe Romps to 21st Victory
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[ The Du Quoin High School Boys Basketball team put the finishing touches on its most successful regular season since 2003 Friday night , coasting past Sparta 63-40 in Anders Memorial Gymnasium.
With a 21-7 record, Du Quoin hooks up again Monday night with Sparta (8-19) as the Pinckneyville Class 2A Regional opens. In Mississippi Division play of The River-to-River Conference, the Indians finished 8-2 and one game back of Nashville in the final loop standings.
"There's more important business to take care of Monday night- and this was really a strange situation for both teams tonight- but I felt like we played pretty well," Indians coach Mike Crews said. "All four of our seniors had good nights and just have brought so many positive things to this basketball program the past four years. I am very proud of them all."
Senior Dalton Morgan again topped Du Quoin, scoring a game-high 15 points while pulling down eight rebounds, Classmate A.J. Hill added 12 points with seniors Cody Youngman (five points) and Seth Flint (two points, six rebounds, four steals) also enjoying solid efforts.
21 of Du Quoin's 27 first half markers came from its seniors- led by Hill's 10- as the Indians raced ahead 27-12 by intermission. A stifling defense, which forced 18 Bulldog turnovers, limited the visitors to just five field goals.
A big run to start the third quarter erased any doubt of the final outcome. Morgan scored off a no-look pass from Jamor Reed to push the margin to 39-18, In front 44-27 to open the final frame, Du Quoin scored 11 straight points and opened a 57-30 lead with five minutes left.
Reed scored on a short baseline jumper and sophomore guard J.C. Davis nailed three straight shots from beyond the arc to send a big home crowd into a frenzy. The margin eventually reached 61-32 when Cody Rose slipped inside for a basket.
Reed was rock-solid again. He had 11 points six rebounds, seven assists and six steals in a reserve role. Youngman drew the starting assingment for Senior Night at the point guard spot.
Dartanis White (14) and Malcom Oliver (10) led Sparta. The Bulldogs managed just 11 field goals, but scored 17 times from the charity stripe.
"We'll have to line-up and do this again Monday," Crews said. "We Sparta's not going to lay down for us, They are going to bring everything at us and we'll have to be ready to play."
Du Quoin 63, Sparta 40
Du QUOIN (21-7, 8-2): Youngman 1 (1) 0-0 5, Hill 5 2-2 12, Morgan 6 3-6 15, Flint 1 0-0 2, Gossett 1 1-2 3, Reed 2 (2) 1-1 11, Clarry 0 0-0 0, Schneider 0 0-0 0, Davis 0 (3) 0-0 9, C, Rose 2 0-0 4, Bigham 0 0-0 0, Baxter 0 0-0 0, D. Rose 0 0- 0 0. Total 19 (6) 7-11 63.
SPARTA (8-19, 3-7): D, White 4 6-814, Austin 0 0-0 0, C, Peck 3 0-0 6, Hargis 0 0-0 0, M. Oliver 1 (1) 5-5 10, Samms 0 0-0 0, Buch 0 2-2 2, A, White 0 2-2 2, Jackson 0 0-0 0, A. Peck 1 2-4 4, Thompson 0 0-0 0. Total 10 (1) 17-21 40.
Du Quoin 15 12 17 19- 63
Sparta 8 6 10 16-40
Three-pointers: Du Quoin 6 (Youngman, Reed 2 , Davis 3). Sparta 1 (M. Oliver). Team fouls: Du Quoin 15, Sparta 14.
THE PERFECT SEASON
With six different players scoring at least seven points, Keith Eliis' junior varsity team completed an undefeated campaign, winning for the 16th time by a 63-51 margin.
A 34-12 advantage in the middle quarters provided the Indians with plenty of cushion after Sparta played the young Tribe to a 16-16 first period draw.
Logan Carson paced Du Quoin with 14 points. David Rose added 11, Seth Baxter 10, Sam Gossett nine, C, Rose eight and Davis seven,
Du Quoin's 16-0 record included a perfect 10-0 run through the SIRR .
Du QUOIN (16-0, 10-0): Bigham 0 (1) 2-2 5, Baxter 2 (2) 0-0 10, S Gossett 4 1-4 9, Carson 4 (2) 0-0 14, D, Rose 5 1-2 11, C, Rose 3 2-3 8, Davis 1 (1) 2-2 7, Schneider 1 0-0 2, Clarry 0 0-0 0, Williams 0 0-0 0, Kuhnert 0 0-0 0, Wagner 0 0-0 0, Hirsch 0 0-0 0.
Du Quoin 16 13 21 17- 63
Sparta 16 8 4 23- 51
Three-pointers: Du Quoin 6 (Carson 2, Bigham, Baxter 2, Davis).