UPDATE: HamCo Next Up for Regional Champion Indians

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[ For the 29th time in its boys basketball history, <span id="lw_1235801500_0" class="yshortcuts">Du Quoin High School</span> is an <span style="border-bottom: medium none; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" id="lw_1235801500_1" class="yshortcuts">Illinois High School Association</span> (IHSA) Regional champion.

Friday night- in front of a nearly packed Thomas Gymnasium, the Indians defeated host Pinckneyville 57-44 to claim its second straight Class 2A regional crown.

Now 23-7, Du Quoin advances into Tuesday's <span id="lw_1235801500_2" class="yshortcuts">West Frankfort</span> Sectional to play 22-9 Hamilton County, which needed overtime to defeat Fairfield at the Carmi Regional.

Pinckneyville finished another banner season with a 22-8 mark- three of those losses coming to its Perry County rival. Du Quoin's three-game sweep of the Panthers- including two wins on Dick Corn Court- is the first in longer than anyone associated with <span style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(0, 102, 204);" id="lw_1235801500_3" class="yshortcuts">Du Quoin</span> basketball cares to remember.

"I just couldn't be any prouder for these kids and what they've accomplished this season," Indians coach Mike Crews said. "Going to school in Du Quoin and then coaching all the years in here (Thomas Gym) against the Panthers, makes you realize what a special feat it is to beat three times in a season. Twice on this floor...its probably been a long time since anybody has pulled that off."

Du Quoin started the game like a house afire, racing ahead 15-8 after one quarter.

A three-pointer from A.J. Hill and Matt Gossett's offensive rebound basket staked the Tribe to a 5-0 edge barely two minutes in.

<span style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(0, 102, 204); background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" id="lw_1235801500_4" class="yshortcuts">Pinckneyville</span> was down just 10-8 late in the frame when Shay Kellerman marked on the baseline, but another quick 5-0 burst stretched Du Quoin's cushion as the period ended.

Sophomore J.C. Davis buried a long three-pointer two late free throws from Gossett gave Du Quoin a seven-point edge.

The three-ball from Davis, with 22.6 left, turned out to be the last Du Quoin field goal for a stretch of 8:42.

Despite the shooting struggles- and making only 4-for-9 free throw tosses- the Indians managed to carry a precarious 19-18 lead to halftime.

Dalton Morgan- Du Quoin's leading scorer and rebounder- was blanked after early foul trouble. Morgan missed the last 11 1/2 minutes of the half with Seth Flint and Hill also sitting for extended periods.

"Once again I felt like our bench kids came in and held serve pretty well," Crews said. "Again we received some very good minutes from J.C. Davis and Logan Schneider. I just felt like if we could hang in there that some good things would happen in the second half."

Schneider filled in for Flint and accounted for all but one of Du Quoin's point during the frame. Gossett went to the low post in place of Morgan and had four rebounds.

As it turned out, Crews' forecast came true after intermission. Pinckneyville managed its second- and final lead (22-21)- two minutes into the quarter on a basket by Sims.

Morgan then went to work, pouring in eight of the next 12 dozen tallies for his team as Du Quoin went on 12-5 run. Morgan's spinner in the lane pushed the Indians ahead 33-27 and was the final basket of the quarter.

It also turned out to be a sign of things to come. A 7-0 run, with all the points coming from Morgan, ballooned Du Quoin's lead to 40-27 in the first 2:06 of the period.

The 6-foot-4 senior converted twice on turnaround jumpers and turned a nifty feed from Hill into a three-point play.

Enjoying a 13-point advantage, the Indians lead briefly narrowed to 10 after a three from Derek Kellerman. Two foul shots from Gossett and Morgan's conventional three-point play against the full-court Panther press sealed the victory.

Despite playing barely over 14 minutes , scored 17 points and had seven rebounds for the Indians. Hill contributed 15 and a season-high 12 boards. Gossett added 11 points.

Sims (17) was the lone Panther to reach double figures. Guards Drew Dudek and Dustin Winter each netted eight.

"I felt like we took better care of the basketball in the second half and turned up the defense quite a bit," said Crews. "Of course, Dalton Morgan was awfully tough down low and not many teams have an answer when he plays like that."

Foul problems plagued both squads. The Panthers lost Sims, Dustin Winter and D. Kellerman in the final quarter. Combined there were 33 turnovers in the game, 19 by the Panthers. Du Quoin had 14, just three in the final two periods.

Du Quoin last won repeat regional titles in 1998 and 1999.

"This is not just a championship for the kids, its a title for everyone to share," Crews said. "The school and this community should be very proud of this basketball program."

THREE-POINT BOMBERS

Clay Peck of Sparta drained his final seven attempts to win the Pinckneyville regional title in the Country Financial Three-Point Showdown.

Going 11-for-15, Peck is one of four shooters advancing to next week's West Frankfort Sectional.

Du Quoin's Davis (nine) finished second with Jake Hargis of <span id="lw_1235801500_5" class="yshortcuts">Sparta</span> and Red Bud's <span id="lw_1235801500_6" class="yshortcuts">Jake Hoffman</span> sinking eight each to nail down the final two advancing positions.

The quartet will shoot at 6:53 Tuesday, prior to the Indians vs. HamCo game.

PCHS (22-8):

Dudek 1 (2) 0-0 8, Chandler 0 0-0 0, Winter 4 0-0 8, Bathon 0 (1) 0-0 3, D. Kellerman 0 (1) 0-0 3, Pyatt 0 0-0 0, Lively 1 0-0 2, Sims 6 5-9 17, Morton 0 1-2 1, S. Kellerman 1 0-0 2. Total 13-39 (4-10) 6-11 44.

Du QUOIN (23-7): Hill 1 (1) 10-13 15, Reed 1 2-4 4, Morgan 8 1-3 17, Flint 0 0-0 0, Gossett 2 (1) 4-5 11, Davis 1 (1) 2-3 7, Clarry 0 0-0 0, Schneider 0 3-4 3, Youngman 0 0-0 0, C. Rose 0 0-0 0, D. Rose 0 0-0 0, Carson 0 0-0 0. Total 13-37 (3-6) 22-32 57.

PCHS 08 10 09 17- 44

DHS 15 04 14 24- 57

Three-pointers: PCHS 4 (Dudek 2, Bathon, D. Kellerman). Du Quoin 3 (Hill, Davis, Gossett). Rebounds: PCHS 25 (Dudek 6, Sims 6). Du Quoin 33 (Hill 12). Team fouls: PCHS 26, Du Quoin 15. Fouled out: Winter, Sims, Morton.