Boys Prep Basketball: Indians string of comebacks ends at Trico

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[After rallying for victories in each of its last two games, Du Quoin High School's boys basketball

team saw its brief string of magical endings crash to a halt Satuday night.

The Indians, after skirting past Anna-Jonesboro the evening prior (48-46), fell 64-57 to host Trico in Roy Mathis Gymnasium.

Du Quoin, 12-5, takes the floor Tuesday in the 46th annual Sparta Mid-Winter Classic, where they'll battle Steeleville at 7 o'clock.

Trico's record improved to 11-4.

"Again we continue to struggle in several important facets of the game," Indians coach Mike Crews said. "Trico just hurt so badly on the dribble drives and in rebounding. And shooting is really starting to be a concern. We've had lots of opportunities to score but continue to miss wide open shots."

Du Quoin never led against Trico, falling behind by 13 points at three different junctures of the first half.

Logan Carson's conventional three-point play- which started after a good pass from David Rose- tied the score at 29-29 with 5.5 seconds remaining.

The basket capped a furious Indians' rally, which came despite foul problems for Jamor Reed and Logan Schneider.

Trico, however, roared out of the intermission break and scored the first six points of the second half to send Du Quoin back into the chase mode.

Jesse Smith scored all but six of his game-high 24 points in the last half and constantly beat Tribe defenders to the hoop for easy scores.

Smith and Logan Thies also cashed in five times from the foul line down the stretch to keep Du Quoin at bay.

The Indians slipped within 60-56 after a three-pointer by Reed with 90 seconds left, but free tosses from Smith and Dylan Witthoft sealed Trico's third win over Du Quoin in the past five years.

Smith (24), Thies (15 points, 10 rebounds) and Chase Heins (11 points, 13 rebounds) paced Trico.

Heins, a 6-foot-6 245-pound sophomore, scored 11 of his points in the first quarter before being saddled with foul difficulties.

"The big kid went down with fouls and I felt like we started to guard the post a lot better and had that rectified," Crews said. "And then Smith and Thies kind of took over the game."

Matt Gossett led Du Quoin with 13 points.

Logan Schneider and Reed each had 10.

At Anna's Union Hall Gym Friday, A-J opened a nine-point halftime edge before the Indians finally caught fire against the Wildcats 1-2-2 zone defense.

A 14-3 spurt to begin the third quarter put the Indians on top.

The first lead of the game came with 1:56 left in the third quarter (31-29) after a long three-pointer by J.C. Davis

That lead stood until A-J forged back in front (46-44) when J.R. Woodward marked from the perimeter.

Reed sank two free throws at the 66-second mark to tie the game and Du Quoin took over possession at the 21.8 mark after Marcus Clarry rebounded a miss by Jordan Adams.

The Indians milked the clock- weathering a pair to timeouts- down to just under two seconds when Reed penetrated the lane and floated in a 10-footer over two A-J defenders.

Gossett then picked off a long pass by A-J to end things and improve Du Quoin's River-to-River Conference record to 4-1 within the Mississippi Division.

"We had a little trouble getting the ball inbounded and it was kind of a broken play," Crews said of

Reed's winning shot. "And Jamor Reed doesn't have any fear. He just sort of took things from there and created a pretty good look."

Gossett had 17 points and eight rebounds for the Indians. Reed added eight boards, 11 points and six assists.

A solid night by Davis included eight points and six steals.

Adams had 14 for A-J.

JAYVEES SWEEP WEEKEND

Du Quoin's junior varsity squad stretched its winning streak to five with a pair of victories.

Friday night at A-J, the young Indians rode red-hot first quater shooting en route to a 63-50.

John Galik had 18 points- 14 coming in the opening frame- to pace Du Quoin.

James Williams scored 11, Sam Gossett 10 and Jesse McDicken 10. Seth Baxter just missed being the

fourth Indian in double figures, sinking nine points.

Saturday against Trico, Du Quoin limited the hosts to just six total points- and only two field goals-

during the middle quarters in a 53-44 win.

S.Gossett (15) and Williams (11) were scoring aces with Galik and Baxter both netting seven.

Trailing 14-11 after one period, the Indians were ahead 37-20 to start the final period and

held back a fervent Pioneers rally.

Overall, Du Quoin is now 7-2.

Friday's varsity game

Du Quoin 48, Anna-Jonesboro 46

Du QUOIN (12-4 4-1)

Davis 3 0-0 8, Carson 0 0-0 0, D. Rose 0 0-0 0, Clarry 3 0-2 6, Reed 2 6-6 11,

C. Rose 0 0-0 0, S. Gossett 2 0-1 4, Schneider 2 0-0 4, M. Gossett 7 1-1 15.

TOTALS 19-44 (3-10) 7-12 48.

A-J (8-9, 1-4)

Adams 5 2-2 14, Pecord 4 1-2 9, Brimm 0 1-2 1, Woodward 4 0-0 9, Wright 2 0-0 4,

Duckworth 1 0-0 2, Livesay 2 1-2 7, Smith 0 0-0 0. TOTAL 18-40 (5-14) 5-8 46.

Du Quoin 8 9 18 13-48

A-J 14 12 6 14- 46

THREE POINTERS- DU Quoin 3 (Davis 2 Reed), A-J 5 (Adams 2, Livesay 2, Woodward).

TEAM FOULS- Du Quoin 11, A-J 10. REBOUNDS- Du Quoin 33 (M.Gossett 8, Reed 8), A-J 30.

TURNOVERS- Du Quoin 14, A-J 16. ASSISTS- Du Quoin 13 (Reed 6). STEALS- Du Quoin 12 (Davis 5)

OFFICIALS-Austin, Downey, Runge.

Saturday's varsity game

Trico 64, Du Quoin 57

Du QUOIN (12-5)

Davis 3 0-0 8, Carson 2 1-1 5, D.Rose 2 0-0 4, Clarry 2 1-2 5, Reed 2 5-7 10, C. Rose

1 0-0 2, S. Gossett 0 0-0 0, Baxter 0 0-0 0, Schneider 5 0-1 10, M. Gossett 5 3-7 13.

TOTALS 19-46 (3-14) 10-18 57.

TRICO (11-4)

Froemling 0 0-0 0, Witthoft 2 3-4 8, Thies 4 7-10 15, Smith 9 6-7 24, Coleman 0 1-2 1,

Young 1 1-2 3, Heins 6 1-1 13. TOTALS 21-48 (1-6) 19-28 64.