The Road to Peoria: HamCo Surprises, Du Quoin

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[ During March Madness and its Road to Peoria things can change in a hurry.

Tuesday night in the opening semifinal game of West Frankfort's Illinois High School Association (IHSA) Class 2A sectional, Du Quoin learned that lesson the hard way.

A five-point lead with six minutes remaining slipped away during a wild fourth quarter, as Hamilton County rallied to surprise the Indians 67-60.

Known primarily for their clock-controlling offense and sticky man-to-man defense, the Foxes shredded Du Quoin for 35 points in the final quarter. A pair of big runs- 13-0 straight points and another 15-4 burst-sealed the Indians' fate.

"I felt like we just became a little too aggressive and a little too hungry on both ends of the floor at the wrong times," Du Quoin coach Mike Crews said.

"At times, our decision-making lacked. And any mistake we made in the fourth quarter, Hamilton County made us pay."

The Indians, 23-8, clung to a precarious lead ranging from two-to-five points for most of the first three quarters.

Du Quoin was in front 23-20 at halftime, gaining momentum on David Rose's buzzer-beater from just inside the elbow.

Holding the three-point edge, Du Quoin's defense quickly went to work following intermission.

The Tribe forced five HamCo turnovers in the opening segment of the third frame, building a 29-20 lead three minutes into the quarter.

Consecutive run-out baskets from Dalton Morgan and Jamor Reed forced a Foxes timeout. A few seconds later, the Indians looked to stretch the margin to double-digits.

The Tribe, however, misfired on three straight possessions before

Seth Thomas kept HamCo alive with a long three..

Du Quoin's lead was whittled down to just one in the closing seconds.

Morgan, who finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds, turned a missed shot by Gossett into an easy stickback as the Indians went to the fourth ahead 35-32.

Gossett's baseline jumper made the score 41-35 with 6:08 left before HamCo came to life.

Reserve guard Jacob Denham hit a pair of three's to jump-start Hamilton County's surge, the second putting the Foxes ahead to stay at 42-41.

Williams and Kane Smith accounted for the other seven points during the fray.

By the time Morgan scored with 3:45 left, HamCo had ripped off 13 unanswered points and was ahead 49-41.

Du Quoin would get no closer until a three by Cody Youngman with 17.6 seconds left sliced the lead back to 64-60.

Youngman and sophomore J.C. Davis kept the Indians afloat in the closing minutes, combining to hit four three-point baskets.

Reed-who netted a season's best 22 points-tossed in a pair of field goals as Du Quoin kept battling.

Williams (28 points, 13 rebounds) hit 4-of-6 free throws down the stretch and had 15 points in the fourth period alone.

Smith scorched the nets for 14 over the final eight minutes with Denham's three's also big.

"We got ourselves too spread out and didn't do a very good job of defending in the second half," Crews said. "The Williams kid played a nice game for them and we didn't do a very good job of guarding him. And we lost their three-point shooter (Denham) a few times and he really hurt us. Give all the credit to the Foxes. They played well."

Reed and Morgan were the lone Indians to reach double figures.

Gossett had seven points and six boards before fouling out with 86 seconds remaining.

Morgan and Reed each had five steals with Reed passing out four assists.

Smith (17) and Thomas (12) provided Williams with plenty of support for HamCo, which advances to play the Massac County (29-1) vs. Herrin (16-17) winner in Friday's finals.

"We changed our offense just a little in the second half and our kids started putting the ball in the hole," veteran Foxes coach Curt Reed said. "Not only Williams, but Denham and Smith starting to hit shots and were taking the ball to the basket."

Crews, who's team enjoyed Du Quoin's winningest season since 2003's 28-victory campaign, heaped plenty of praise on his seniors.

"I can sum this season up with four names," he said with an emotion-soaked voice.

"A.J. Hill, Dalton Morgan, Seth Flint and Cody Youngman. Our seniors were not only outstanding players, but just outstanding kids to work with and be around. I couldn't be any prouder of not only those four, but our entire team. These kids had a great, great year. It's just hard to see it end like this."

THREE-POINT SHOOTOUT

Davis will represent Du Quoin in Friday's final round after sinking six hoops in the Country Financial Three-Point Showdown.

Jake Hargis of Sparta (10) captured first place and teammate Clay Peck hit seven to share second with Zach Xanders of Fairfield.

Eight more competitors will gun for the remaining four slots in the finals, which start at 6:50 Friday night.

HamCo 67, Du Quoin 60

Du QUOIN (23-8): Hill 1 0-0 2, Reed 7 (1) 5-7 22, Morgan 5 3-5 13, Flint 1 0-1 2, Gossett 3 1-2 7, Schneider 0 0-0 0, Youngman 0 (2) 0-0 6, Clarry 0 0-0 0, Davis 0 (2) 0-0 6, D. Rose 1 0-0 2, C. Rose 0 0-0 0. Total 18-36 (5-12) 8-15 60.

HAMILTON COUNTY (23-9): Smith 5 (1) 4-5 17, Thomas 3 (2) 0-0 12, Biggerstaff 2 0-2 4, Williams 11 6-10 28, Reyling 0 0-0 0, J. Webb 0 0-0 0, Denham 0 (2) 0-0 6. Total 24-50 (5-9) 10-17 67.

Du Quoin 11 12 12 25- 60

HamCo 11 9 12 35- 67

Three-pointers: Du Quoin 5 (Reed, Youngman 2, Davis 2). HamCo 5 (Smith, Thomas 2, Denham 2). Rebounds: Du Quoin 22 (Morgan 11), HamCo 31 (Williams 11). Team fouls: Du Quoin 17, HamCo 16.

Fouled out: Gossett. Technicals: Morgan. Officials: Steve DeClerk (Vandalia), George Martin (Olney), John Sallee (Nashville).

WEDNESDAY's PREVIEW

While Crews, 62, and the 67 year-old Reed combine for almost 85 years of prep coaching-both are retired educators who've continued to coach-Wednesday's semifinal also features a hall-of-fame coach and plenty of interesting storylines.

Massac County's Joe Hosman is a Herrin native and has won nearly 500 games.

This season, Hosman leads perhaps his best squad ever into the sectional as the prohibitive favorite.

The athletic and talented Patriots are paced by sure-fire all-state wing Byron Bailey. The supporting cast around Bailey is also solid.

Jarelle Johnson (6'0, jr.), Zach Kester (6'5, sr.) and Dustin Korte (6'2, sr.) join Bailey as double-digit scorers.

Massac's lone setback came against 3A Carbondale at mid-season.

In last week's Anna-Jonesboro regional, the Patriots blasted Carterville and then rallied from 11 points down in the final quarter eliminating a red-hot Murphysboro team, 69-66.

Herrin (16-17) caught fire soon after a 45-37 early January loss to Du Quoin to win 13 of its last 15.

At the Eldorado regional, the Tigers sent rivals West Frankfort (58-44) and Harrisburg (51-45) packing.

Massac's beaten the Tigers three times, the last a narrow three-point decision earlier this month.

6-foot-8 center Alex Brown is a dominating force inside for the Tigers, who also rely on the play of 6-2 power forwards David Mallow and DeMarlo Harris. Just a freshman, Harris has moved into the starting line-up.

Senior guard Greg Guebert is a constant threat from three-point land along with 6-2 junior forward Eric Gottberg.

"This is very big for our program," said Herrin coach Irv Lukens said following the win over Harrisburg.

"It's been five years since we've won anything and we've had some bad times. We made the turn and it's given these kids some excitement. We're going to give our best effort and see what happens. Massac is very solid. They're a quality team and we'll go back to work and see what we can do."