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2009 DTHC Round #1: Du Quoin's in the drivers seat at 2-0

Posted December 28, 2009 10:00 pm

Jeff Profitt

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[ As the 3rd annual Duster Thomas Holiday Classic enters its stretch run, a Perry County showdown to decide who takes home the event's biggest trophy no longer looms on the horizon.

Du Quoin, 2-0, took a giant step towards winning Pool B with a hard-fought 64-49 win over Red Bud Monday night.

At 1 o'clock Tuesday, the Indians (9-1) battle Benton (2-8, 1-1) in the final game of round robin competition. Olney East Richland knocked off Pinckneyville in the final game of opening day, making another match-up of Du Quoin vs. the Panthers only possible in the third place encounter.

Working against Red Bud's 2-1-2 zone defense, Du Quoin made just enough shots from the perimeter- connecting seven times on three-pointers- to fight back the Musketeers.

"Red Bud really did a good job of cluttering things underneath the basket and forced us to hit a few shots from the outside," Indians coach Mike Crews said. "They crowded it up and we were able to get some pretty good looks."

After shredding Red Bud's defense for an early 18-7 lead, Du Quoin's offense bogged down until midway through the third quarter. Leading just 26-22 at the break, the Indians saw Red Bud pull within 33-32 on a hoop by Kory Liefer.

J.C. Davis buried the first of his three third quarter trays to push the Indians lead back to four. Davis then played a key hand in the next two Tribe hoops, setting up Marcus Clarry and Logan Schneider for easy baskets. Du Quoin extended its lead to 47-38 as the quarter ended.

Matt Gossett, who had been bogged down with early foul problems, scored three times in the paint after Red Bud pulled within five to help the Indians regain a comfortable lead.

Gossett played just 13 seconds of the second quarter before going to the bench.

"Those early fouls on Gossett changed things around quite a bit for us," Crews admitted. "But I felt like our kids didn't panic and did a pretty good job of defending. Jamor (Reed) was outstanding against (Adam) Kunkel and that was a big key."

Kunkel, the Musketeers top scorer with an average of nearly 18 points oer game, managed just four against Reed while taking just seven shots.

Liefer led Red Bud with a game-high 22 points. Jake Hoffman scored 11.

Davis had 17, all but two coming on three-pointers, to lead Du Quoin. He also had four assists and four steals.

Gossett added 12 points and eight rebounds. Schneider and Logan Carson (seven rebounds, three blocks) ended with 10 points apiece.

Marcus Clarry (nine) just missed double digits. Reed had just four points, but pulled off five steals while dishing out six assists.

"I've been around way too long to even worry about point margins and those types of things," Crews said. "The bottom line is that we are 2-0 and need to win one more game to reach the championship.'

Du Quoin 64, Red Bud 49

Red Bud 7 15 16 11- 49

Du Quoin 18 8 21 17- 64

Red Bud (4-7,0-2)

Gregson 2 0-0 5, Hoffman 4 1-1 11, Ringering 0 0-0 0, Ko. Leifer 9 1-2 22, Kunkel 2 0-0 4, Magruder 1 1-2 3,

Salger 1 0-0 2, Keuker 1 0-0 2. TOTALS 26-50 7-18 5-9 49.

Du Quoin (9-1, 2-0)

Davis 7 0-0 17, Carson 5 0-0 10, D. Rose 0 1-2 1, Clarry 4 0-2 9, C.Rose 1 1-1 3, Williams 0 0-0 0, S. Gossett 0 0-0 0,

Baxter 0 0-0 0, Schneider 4 2-2 10, M. Gossett 5 1-2 12. TOTALS 26-50 7-12 5-9 64.

THREE-POINTERS- Red Bud 46-10 (Ko. Liefer 3, Hoffman 2, Gregson), Du QUoin 7-18 (Davis 5, M. Gossett, Clarry). REBOUNDS-Red Bud 21 (Hoffman 6), Du Quoin 29 (M. Gossett 8).

DUQUOIN ROMPS TO LOPSIDED WIN OVER LAWRENCEVILLE

The "brunchtime special" of the 3rd annual Duster Thomas Hoops Classic was over almost as quickly as it began late

Monday morning.

Top-seeded Du Quoin wasted little time in disposing of Larwenceville, 71-31, as play began in Pool B of the eight-team affair. With an 8-1 record, the Tribe exorcised away some unpleasant memories from last year's DTHC loss to the Indians from Larwence County.

"Overall I was pretty pleased with our effort and the outcome is obviously one we will certainly take," Du Quoin coach

Mike Crews said. "In an early game like this we just wanted to get stretched out and get the blood flowing. Getting off to such a fast start was very important."

Du Quoin dominated play from the start, bolting ahead with the game's first 15 points. Larwenceville (2-7) didn't score its first hoop until 2:17 remained in the opening quarter as Michael Leighty marked on a leaner in the lane.

Senior forward Logan Schneider (15 points, six rebounds) had the hot hand early for Du Quoin, scoring nine of his points

in the opening quarter. Du Quoin led 17-2 after Schneider matched Leighty's hoop with a leaner of his own.

Larwenceville scored the final five points of the quarter and were down just 17-11 after baskets from Dane Kelly and Nick Potts early in the second period.

A three-ball from J.C. Davis stretched Du Quoin's margin back to double digits a few seconds later and the lead extended to 34-17 by halftime.

Schneider had three more buckets before the break and consecutive steals from Jamor Reed and Davis turned into easy hoops.

Gossett, Reed and Davis combined for 19 of the Indians' 21 points in the third quarter as the margin reached 55-29.

In the final quarter, Larwenceville could manage just one field goal- a turnaround jumper from Potts- and missed its final six shots from the floor.

For the game, Larwenceville attempted just 28 shots and committed 23 turnovers.

"We were able to really disrupt their halfcourt offense," Crews said. "I wasn't happy with the points they scored inside or how we guarded the post at times but we did create a lot of scoring chances with our defense. Our quicks (Davis, Reed, Marcus Clarry and Seth Baxter) all had pretty good games."

Gossett (17 points, five rebounds) paced Du Quoin. Reed added nine points- to go with five steals and five assists- Davis finished with eight points and Logan Carson seven. Du Quoin amassed 11 steals during the game

Potts, a 6-foot-7 and 285 pound post player, topped Larwenceville with 12 points and eight rebounds.

Du Quoin 71, Larwenceville 31

Du Quoin 17 17 21 16- 71

L'ville 7 7 15 2- 31

Du Quoin (8-1, 1-0)

Davis 3 0-0 8, Carson 2 2-4 7, D. Rose 1 1-2 3, Clarry 3 0-0 6, Reed 4 0-0 9,

C. Rose 1 1-1 3, S. Gossett 1 1-2 3, Baxter 0 0-0 0, Schneider 6 3-4 15, M. Gossett 6 5-5 17.

TOTALS 27-53 4-18 13-19 71.

Larwenceville (2-7, 0-1)

Schuff 2 0-0 5, McClure 1 2-2 5, Horner 0 0-0 0, Benson 0 0-0 0, Cummins 0 0-0 0, Leighty 1 0-0 2, Goins 0 0-0 0,

Kelly 2 1-2 5, Potts 6 0-0 12, McCullough 0 0-0 0, Wells 0 0-0 0, Volkman 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 13-28 2-3 3-4 31.

THREE-POINTERS: Du Quoin 4 (Davis 2, Reed, Carson) Larwenceville 2 (McClure, Schuff). TEAM FOULS: Du Quoin 8, Larwenceville 9.REBOUNDS: Du Quoin 23 (Schneider 6), Larwenceville 18 (Potts 8).

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