BASKETBALL: DMS girls even record with win over Chester

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Wednesday evening was a great night for the DuQuoin Middle School Girls Basketball Team. Both the 7th and 8th grade teams won over Chester at home. The 8th grade record advances to 9-9 overall and 5-5 in the conference. The 7th graders are 5-9 overall and 4-6 in the conference.

The 8th grade team, coached by Debbie Ritter, got off to a rather slow start. They led at the end of the first quarter by only 6-5. The Warriors finally came to life in the second quarter outscoring Chester 14-6. The half-time score was 20-11 DuQuoin. The second half had DuQuoin still up 30-15 at the end of the third quarter. The final score was 38-23. Coach Ritter was able to play every player in this game.

Jacqueline Harsy was the leading scorer for DuQuoin with 12. Amanda Atteberry had 8 points, Jessica Harsy 6, Amber Williams 4, Carissa Graham 2, Marisa Ferguson 2, Alaina Caldwell 2, and Brittany Clark 2. Andrea Morgan, Sydney Lewis, Timbra Mansfield, Shelby Simmons, Tiamera Hamilton, and Carlie Daffron also saw action for the Warriors.

Coach Ritter said that "we started out pretty rough; it took us a while to get into the game. This is the first time back since a long break, and it definitely showed. In the second quarter, the girls starting hustling and played good defense. I was able to get everyone into the game. Everyone did well. I am proud of them. I hope we can play like this tomorrow night." DMS plays at home on Thursday evening against Pinckneyville, which is another conference game.

The seventh graders won their game by a score of 24-15. DuQuoin led throughout the game. The leading scorer was Alaina Caldwell with 9 points. Brittany Clark had 8, Andrea Morgan 5, and Timbra Mansfield 2. Other players seeing action were Sydney Lewis, Emily Born, Rylea Mansker, Carlie Daffron, Kate Smith, Jaylyn Williams, Sadie Day, Sydney Baxter, Taryn Mays, and Lindsey Feltmeyer. The seventh grade is coached by Chuck Montgomery.

DMS plays at home on Thursday evening, January 6, against Pinckneyville. The 7th grade game will start at 6:00 followed by the 8th at approximately 7:30. The two teams wrap up their regular season next Monday with a final home game against Sparta. The Regional will be held at Trico with DuQuoin as the number two seed. Pairings will be announced shortly.