BASKETBALL: #204 girls still perfect after slipping past DMS
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[The game between DuQuoin Middle School Girls basketball and Pinckneyville District #204 went right up to the wire. It was a defensive battle until the very end. Pinckneyville #204 came out victorious 27-24.
DuQuoin was up 24-23 with 33 seconds left in the game. Pinckneyville's Taylor Smith went to the free throw line and shot two of two to go up 25-24. At 28 seconds left in the game, #204 called a time out. Shortly, after that Smith made a lay up to go up by three points. DuQuoin's Carissa Graham took the final shot--a three pointer that hit the rim and bounced away. Pinckneyville #204's record is now 13-0. DuQuoin falls to 5-4 overall.
Scoring for DuQuoin went as follows: Jacqueline Harsy 13, Carissa Graham 4, Amanda Atteberry 5, and Marisa Ferguson 2. Pinckneyville #204 had Taylor Smith with 15, Megan Bagley 7, and Sophie Keith 5.
DuQuoin Coach Debbie Ritter commented that "the girls played a better game than they have the past two games. They all did a wonderful job. Pinckneyville #204 outshot us at the free throw line. The girls did a great job on defense; they never gave up. They wanted to win this one badly."
Pinckneyville #204 Coach Collin Hirsch also had complimentary comments. "I thought the girls did a good job. One of the things we did well was to keep our composure late in the game. We took care of the basketball. We made some changes tonight because of #20 (Carissa Graham). She is a good ball handler, and makes the offense work for them. (DuQuoin) took Bagley out of the game, and slowed down the pace. DuQuoin controlled the tempo of the game, and that gave us some problems."
In the seventh grade game, DuQuoin came out ahead with a score of 27-15. Their record is now 3-2
Scoring for DuQuoin: Alaina Caldwell 4, Brittany Clark 4, Andrea Morgan 9, Kat Robison 4, Carlie Daffron 2, and Kate Smith 2. Two points were also scored by a #204 player--in the DuQuoin basket.
Pinckneyville #204 scoring was: Keith 1, Smith 8, Carter 4, and Cheek 2.
Seventh grade Coach Chuck Montgomery thought "Brittany Clark did an excellent job of getting down low. Andrea Morgan did a nice job of handling the ball and shooting. Kat Robinson (a sixth grader) stepped up, and played some quality minutes for us."
DMS plays at home on Wednesday against Nashville. Game time is 6:00.