BASKETBALL: Du Quoin beats Murphy to finish fourth
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[In the second game of the day (Thursday, December 30), DuQuoin held on to beat Murphysboro by a score of 47-44. DuQuoin has competed all week in the Herrin Holiday Hoops Tournament. By beating Murphysboro, DuQuoin finished the tournament at 2-3 and in a tie for fourth place with Cobden. Pinckneyville won the tournament with a 5-0 record, Vienna was 4-1 and in second place, and the host, Herrin, finished 3-2 to take third place. DuQuoin's overall record is now 9-6.
The first quarter ended in a 13-13 tie with Murphysboro. Half-time had Murphysboro up by one at 23-22. Murphysboro led 36-32 at the end of the third quarter. DuQuoin was able to comeback in the fourth quarter and tie up the game and eventually win it at 47-44.
Scoring for DuQuoin had Rebekah Maddox with 15 points. Jessica Hirsch scored 11 points, Steffanie Gates 9, Cassidy Rice 4, Curry Emling 3, Keawna Anders 3, and Taylor King 2. Ashley Ward also had playing time for the Indians.
Murphysboro's leading scorer was Shelby Mileur with 14 points. Murphysboro's record in the tournament was 0-5.
DuQuoin's Jessica Hirsch scored 85 points in the tournament to finish second in scoring. Jessica and Rebekah Maddox were selected for the All-Tournament Team.
Comments from Coach Shawn File indicated that he felt that "five games in four days takes a lot out of us. We were tired, and we played a little sloppy. Our jump shots were short. It was a good thing that Maddox showed up to play. We did a good job of getting the ball to her the first half; then we had a let down. We have to do a better job of rebounding. This is the third time we have played Murphysboro. It was nice to beat them again."
DuQuoin is scheduled to play at Anna-Jonesboro on Tuesday, January 4, in a conference game. The Nashville game that was canceled due to bad weather has been rescheduled for Saturday, January 8, at 1:00 in the afternoon. The Varsity will play about 2:30 that afternoon. That is a home game for the Indians.
<u>Vienna 54, Du Quoin 40</u>
On Thursday morning, Du Quoin got off to a slow start and never recovered against Vienna, losing 54-40.
DuQuoin fell behind in the first quarter 14-5. Vienna was ahead 26-13 at the half. The third quarter was no different, but DuQuoin was able at one point to cut the lead to ten points. That was as close as the Indians could get.
Hirsch had a great game scoring 24 points including five-three pointers. Maddox also was in double figures with ten points. Cassidy Rice and King each contributed three points. Emling, Gates, Anders, Hailey Stewart, Ashley Ward, Abby Myers, Bailie Caldwell, Katrina Whitley and Shelby Presley also got playing time for the Indians.
Coach Shawn File commented that "Vienna got out to big lead, and we got ourselves down. We did make a nice run in the fourth quarter. We were just not ready to go in the beginning, but we improved as the game went on. It is the little things such as running our offense, taking care of the ball, and rebounding that we have to do. If we do those things, we are in the game. We missed too many layups also. Vienna is a very good team. Childress and McGinnis were a handful, and both are very good. Vienna was much more physical than we were. They caused a lot of turnovers."