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Du Quoin Tip-Off Classic: Waltonville's 2-0, Tribe Wins Curtain-raiser

Posted December 02, 2009 10:00 pm

Jeff Profitt

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Despite some defensive speed bumps, Du Quoin High School's Boys Basketball season started with a fairly smooth ride Wednesday night.

The host Indians held back an improved Carterville squad, 73-62, to end session two of the 12th Annual Du Quoin Tip-Off Classic

Waltonville leads the standings as the round robin event heads towards its weekend turn. The Spartans, 2-0, defeated Cairo 75-63 in Wednesday's early game.

Du Quoin (1-0) is followed by Cairo (1-1), Benton (0-1) and Carterville (0-2) in the team standings.

Action resumes Friday night with Benton vs. Waltonville (6:30) and Du Quoin facing Cairo in the 8 p.m. nightcap.

Struggling out of the gates early, the Indians trailed 8-2 before catching offensive fire. A 21-5 rush to end the first quarter staked Du Quoin to an early 10-point edge.

J.C. Davis and Jamor Reed swished long three-pointers during the flurry, which included nine points from senior Matt Gossett and pair of hoops by 6'5 classmate Logan Schneider.

"At times-and I stress at times-we did some pretty nice things offensively," Indians coach Mike Crews said. "And as the game wore on we had some pretty good flashes, but overall our shot selection and patience left a lot to be desired."

Another huge run by the Indians-this a 9-0 burst-doubled the score (32-16) with 5:09 left in the first half. Two more three balls by Davis and Reed were sandwiched around Reed's steal and easy lay-up.

Carterville, however, refused to die and promptly held Du Quoin to just a single free throw from sophomore Sam Gossett in the final five minutes.

A pair of deep three's by Drew Bonner (16 points) kept Carterville in the game. As the half ended, the Lions pulled within 33-27 as Daniel Allen sank another three.

Bonner had 13 of his points during the first half.

"We struggled defensively on the perimeter at times and that's disappointing," Crews admitted. "Three or four times we lost their shooter. And three or four times we got burned by that."

Du Quoin roared out of the lockeroom following intermission, piecing together another big run.

Scoring 14 of the next 16 points,

the Indians fed M. Gossett for six easy points on the blocks. Two of the hoops came following great passes by Davis.

M. Gossett had 10 of the Tribe's points as the margin reached 57-39 by quarters end. David Rose rebounded a miss by Seth Baxter as the period ended, giving the Indians their biggest lead.

A rim-rattling slam dunk-on the tail end of a baseline drive by Logan Carson-highlighted the flurry.

Carterville had eight points in the final frame by Ryan Bonifield (14 points, six rebounds) but could get no closer than the final 11-point margin.

"Matt Gossett is so tough inside and when Du Quoin gets going in the full court they are really good," Lions coach Scott Burzynski. "They are just so athletic. That's a nice ballclub."

M. Gossett had 11 rebounds, seven assists and six steals to go along with his game-best scoring effort.

Reed (14 points, five steals, four assists) was also solid.

Davis and Rose both scored eight. Schneider managed only four points, but hauled in a team-high 12 rebounds. All totalled, 11 different Indians scored.

"Its an old cliche', but we certainly learned that we have a lot to work on," Crews said. "Our defense and rebounding need to improve and we didn't value the ball a lot of the time (11 turnovers).

Bonner and Bonifield were joined in double figures by Zach Watson, who had 14 points.

Du Quoin 73, Carterville 62

Du Quoin 23 10 24 16-73

Carterville 13 14 11 24-62

Du Quoin (1-0): D. Rose 4 0-0 8, Davis 3 0-0 8, Schneider 2 1-2 5, S. Gossett 0 4-6 4, Clarry 1 1-1 3, C. Rose 1 1-3 3, M. Gossett 9 4-6 22, Jones 1 0-0 2, Baxter 1 0-0 2, Carson 1 0-2 2, Reed 5 2-2 14, Williams 0 0-0 0, Kuhnert 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 28 13-22 73.

Carterville (0-2): Lenzini 2 2-2 6, Mann 2 0-0 4, Martin 1 0-0 3, Allen 1 0-0 3, Rossi 0 2-2 2, D. Bonner 5 2-3 16, Watson 6 1-4 14, Bonifield 7 0-1 14. TOTALS: 24 7-12 62.

THREE-POINTERS-Du Quoin 4 (Davis 2, Reed 2), Carterville 7 (D. Bonner 4, Watson, Allen, Mann.) TEAM FOULS)-Du Quoin 14, Carterville 14. FOULED OUT-Mann.

WALTONVILLE'S 2-0

As the 12th Annual Du Quoin Tip-Off Classic heads into its third round, there's a familiar name atop the leaderboard.

Waltonville's Spartans-who've won or shared the last three consecutive championships of the round robin event- improved to 2-0 in the 2009 tourney with a 75-63 win over Cairo.

At 6:30 Friday night, Waltonville challenges Benton (0-1),

Cairo, which knotted the score at 59-59 midway through the final quarter, dropped to 1-1.

Joseph lewis poured in a game and tournament best 28 points for Waltonville with Skyler Witges adding 17. Witges was perfect in eight trips to the foul line as the Spartans extended their fourth quarter lead.

Gavin Bassett contributed 13 points.

Cairo saw a pair of early nine point leads slip away as Waltonville pulled ahead 32-29 by halftime and 51-47 starting the final quarter.

The Spartans radar-controlled foul shooting down the stretch (14-of-16), kept the Pilots at bay.

For the game, Waltonville missed just five of 24 free tosses.

Arthur Williams and impressive freshman Darius Brown shared scoring honors for Cairo with 15 poiints apiece.

Waltonville 75, Cairo 63

Waltonville 15 16 20 24-75

Cairo 19 10 18 16-63

Waltonville (2-0): Wheatley 3 0-0 6, Stanhouse 3 0-0 6, Johnson 2 1-2 5, Lewis 11 4-4 27, Witges 3 13-14 19, Bassett 5 2-7 12. TOTALS 27 20-26 75.

Cairo (1-1): Hill 2 2-2 6, Woodson 2 1-2 5, Jones 2 0-0 4, Woods 1 0-0 2, Holder 1 0-0 2, Williams 8 1-4 17, Brown 6 4-6 16. TOTALS: 26 11-18 63.

THREE-POINTERS-Waltonville 1 (Lewis), Cairo 0. TEAM FOULS-Waltonville 15, Cairo 12. FOULED OUT-Brown.

12th Annual

Du Quoin Tip-Off Classic

All games in Anders Gym

Monday, Nov. 30

Cairo 68, Benton 53

Waltonville 79, Carterville 70

Wednesday, Dec. 2

Waltonville 75, Cairo 63

Du Quoin 73, Carterville 62

Friday, Dec. 4

Benton vs. Waltonville, 6:30

Du Quoin vs. Cairo, 8:00

Saturday, Dec. 5- Session #1

Du Quoin vs. Benton, 12:30

Carterville vs. Cairo, 2:00

Saturday, Dec. 5- Session #2

Benton vs. Carterville, 6:30

Waltonville vs. Du Quoin, 8:00

CURRENT STANDINGS

Waltonville, 2-0

Du Quoin, 1-0

Cairo, 1-1

Benton, 0-1

Carterville, 0-2

CURRENT SCORING LEADERS (2 games played-according to my book)

1-Joseph Lewis, Waltonville, 43

1-Skyler Witges, Waltonville, 43

3-Ryan Bonifield, Cartervile, 38

4-Drew Bonner, Carterville, 31

5-Arthur Williams, Cairo, 29

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