BASKETBALL: Indians crush MEL to claim third place at DTHC
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Four Indians finished in double figures as Du Quoin cruised to a 70-28 win over Metro East Lutheran last Tuesday night to claim third place in the 4th Annual Duster Thomas Hoops Classic in Pinckneyville.
"Our kids did an excellent job," said Du Quoin head coach Gabe Sveda. "Four games like this in two days isn't easy. Coming out with the energy like this for a third place game, I'm extremely proud. Our kids responded very well, we're starting to get some depth."
The Indians didn't waste much time, jumping out to an 8-2 lead as Connor Wheeler dished behind his back to J.C. Davis for an easy layup with 5:10 to go in the opening quarter.
Davis drove the baseline for another layup with 3:22 to go in the period that sparked a 15-0 Du Quoin run that ended with a Sam Gossett three-pointer. The Indians led 26-6 just under three minutes into the second quarter and held Metro East Lutheran to single digit points in all 4 periods.
"(Gaining experience) is key for us, to just go out and get better each day and be challenged like this," said Sveda. "You're going to lose some here and there, we had a tough pool, which is good for us. We need tough games like that to get us ready for the postseason."
Du Quoin (10-1) won for the third consecutive game following yesterday morning's loss to tournament runner-up Olney, their only defeat of the season thus far.
Gossett led the way with 16 points, Seth Baxter added 14, Wheeler 11, Davis 10, John Galik and Brandon Williams each had 5, Cayle Diggins 4, Aaron Smith and James Williams 2 apiece and Jesse McDicken 1. Jacob Fanshier led the Knights with 10 points.
Du Quoin's defense held MEL to only 20% shooting (7-for-29) and forced 20 turnovers while committing just 15.
Wheeler and Gossett were named to the DTHC All-Tournament Team for Du Quoin. Rounding out the team were Pinckneyville's Kyle Lamb (MVP) and Hunter Queen, Olney's Michael Fehrenbacher and Brook Pampe, Steeleville's Andrew Pokrzywinski, Benton's Caleb Suver and Red Bud's Jacob Kueker.
Wheeler led the tournament in steals with 11 and finished second in scoring with 62 points (15.5 ppg).
<u>Du Quoin 57, Steeleville 52</u>
The Indians advanced into the third place contest following a hard-fought 57-52 victory over Steeleville in the 10:00 a.m. game.
The Warriors trailed by only two points after Colin Smith's layup with 14 seconds left, but Wheeler made both free throws after being fouled with 8 seconds to go, and Aaron Smith added another free throw after a Steeleville turnover.
"It's never easy coming in after the late shift the night before, our third game in 24 hours or so, that's never easy," Sveda said. "Our kids did a good job, it was sloppy at times, but our kids got some things done, I think we improved in many areas this morning, especially offensively."
Gossett got the ball rolling for Du Quoin, scoring back-to-back buckets before J.C. Davis added a three-pointer as the Indians completed a 7-0 run to go up 13-8 late in the opening period and led 14-12 after eight minutes. Steeleville's Coire Reel was saddled with his third foul just before the end of the quarter.
Davis hit a three to open the second period and Gossett took the feed from A. Smith for a layup a possession later to put Du Quoin on top 19-12, but the Warriors fought back throughout the period and trailed by only one until Gossett beat the halftime buzzer with a three-pointer.
"After the first quarter we settled down a little bit and started getting some reversals, some ball movement, finally getting our spacing right and finding the open man," said Sveda. "I'm very proud of our kids, they're starting to gel a little bit, it's a slow process but we're starting to come together."
Each team held a lead at some point during the third period, and the Indians were clinging to a 49-46 advantage in the fourth period when Gossett kicked a pass out to Wheeler for a wide open look at three. The senior guard knocked it down for a six point Du Quoin lead.
Andrew Pokrzywinski cut the lead to two with 2:28 to go and the Indians missed their next four free throw attempts, but Steeleville failed to capitalize.
After Wheeler missed the front end of a 1-and-1, A. Smith grabbed the rebound and fed it right back to Wheeler who was fouled again, this time sinking both shots with 25 seconds remaining.
Gossett's 19 points were a game-high, Wheeler added 17, Davis 13, A. Smith 6, and Brandon Williams 2. C. Smith led Steeleville with 17, Pokrzywinski had 15, and Reel 14 despite fouling out.
Du Quoin out-rebounded the Warriors 30-24 in the game.
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