BASKETBALL: Heartbreaker in Harrisburg
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Du Quoin had a chance to wrap up Wednesday night's IHSA Class 2A boys basketball Sectional semifinal with Harrisburg by hitting a free throw near the end of the first overtime, but a miss led to the Bulldogs storming out in front in overtime number two for a 69-62 victory in their home gym.
"Our kids fought their hearts out, both teams did, give both teams a lot of credit," said Indians' coach Gabe Sveda. "The difference in the ball game was probably in the first half, they took our inside game away and that was tough. Sam Gossett really hurt them last time and that was probably their focus coming in."
Harrisburg coach Randy Smithpeters summed up Wednesday night's dramatic victory by proclaiming the game's place in history.
"I doubt that there's been a greater game in Davenport gym than that right there," R. Smithpeters said. "It's two good teams playing hard, and I think playing well. Each team made mistakes, but when you have some pressure, and the defensive tactics, and the intelligence, and the athleticism on the floor tonight at both ends, on both sides, you're going to have some mistakes. That's part of playing this game."
It was the Indians' mistakes that seemed to come at the most costly of times.
With 0.8 seconds left on the clock in the first overtime, Gossett was fouled on a rebound and sent to the line for a one-and-one with the score tied at 59-59. The senior drew iron on the first free throw and the Bulldogs grabbed the rebound to send the game into another extra frame.
With the game still tied, Connor Wheeler fouled out with 2:55 to go and Harrisburg went ten-for-ten at the free throw line in the second OT while the Indians struggled to get the looks they wanted on offense.
"A lot of times at this stage of the game, it takes more than skill to win a lot of these games and I think that's certainly part of that tonight," said R. Smithpeters. "They missed a free throw with 0.8 (seconds left), we were fortunate there. We always say we'll play hard, play smart and let the chips fall where they may, and that's where they fell tonight."
Threes were falling for Harrisburg in the early-going, as the Bulldogs jumped ahead 12-2 thanks in part to a pair of triples by Ryne Roper and another by Tyler Smithpeters.
Wheeler and J.C. Davis started to heat up towards the end of the period though, both hitting from beyond the arc as Du Quoin clawed back to within three after the opening quarter.
"J.C. Davis hit some incredible shots tonight, some tough shots to keep us in the game. He always steps up in big ball games," Sveda said. "He did the same thing last year in the Sectional against Murphysboro, hit some tough shots. He's incredible, he's got the quickest release I've ever seen from out there as far as high school basketball in the area."
Davis connected from downtown again to tie the game early in the second, then Gossett gave the Indians their first lead with 6:41 remaining in the half, but the Bulldogs managed to lead by a pair at the break, doing most of their damage at the charity stripe.
Harrisburg led the entire third quarter, but a pair of threes by Wheeler and Davis's fifth trifecta of the night kept it a one-point game when Wheeler picked up his fourth foul with 1:13 left in the period.
With five and a half minutes left in regulation, Du Quoin jumped ahead again when Wheeler lobbed one inside to Gossett for two. Davis's sixth three-pointer gave the Indians a 53-51 edge with 2:52 to go, but it would be the last time DHS was out in front.
"They did a good job with their ball pressure and helping in the post and that kind of took us out of our offense a little bit in the first half," Sveda said. "We settled down a little bit in the second half, did a better job, but we just came up one or two plays short in the end."
T. Smithpeters tied it up then Rasch was fouled rebounding a Du Quoin miss at the other end. The senior knocked down both free throws for a two-point lead, then the Indians turned it over and had no choice but to foul again.
T. Smithpeters missed both free ones with 1:07 on the clock, but the Indians followed with another turnover on offense. Then, with 40 seconds remaining, Aaron Smith stole it away from Harrisburg and got it to Wheeler for the game-tying bucket to force overtime.
After both teams added a field goal and a pair of free throws, the score was again tied at 59-59 when the Bulldogs rebounded a missed free throw by Davis and set up for a potential game-winning possession. Two timeouts later, Harrisburg inbounded with 17.7 to go, but after a couple of looks, Rasch's stick-back was off and Gossett came away with the rebound for Du Quoin.
Gossett was fouled fighting to hold onto the ball with 0.8 remaining, but couldn't convert on the one-and-one and four minutes went back on the game clock.
After playing for 6:21 in the fourth quarter and all of the first overtime with four fouls, Wheeler was finally whistled for number five with 2:55 to play in the second OT.
"I knew (Wheeler) could do that, I was surprised he fouled out at all," said Sveda. "He's been known to play with three, four fouls other times during the season. He's a smart player all the way around, offense, defense, he knows what to do. He got some silly fouls though late reaching in, he knows he can't do that, you've got to get your body over there to get the stop."
T. Smithpeters put in both free throws for a 61-59 Harrisburg lead, and coach R. Smithpeters knew where the ball would go for Du Quoin with Wheeler out of the game.
"I know that put them at a great setback to lose a scorer like Connor (Wheeler), and we did think that they were probably going to go right at Davis," R. Smithpeters said. "I thought we did a great job of defending, and not just Keelin (Rasch), who was on him at that time, but Eli (Taborn-Scott) stepped out one time and made him shoot over."
"It was a team effort all night to defend those two guys. Tremendous shooters, and a lot of times I thought we defended pretty well, but they still hit the shots. That's part of playing a good team."
Davis did get the ball and missed a look at three, then Harrisburg's Capel Henshaw was fouled chasing after the rebound.
After Henshaw hit both at the line, John Galik knocked in a three from the corner to restore hope for Du Quoin, but after forcing a turnover by the Bulldogs with 1:04 to play, Seth Baxter glided in and missed a layup that would have given the Indians the lead.
Henshaw came away with it and was fouled, then gave Harrisburg a 65-62 advantage at the line.
"We missed a free throw, missed a wide open layup, but our kids also made plays to keep us in the ball game," Sveda said.
The Bulldogs swarmed Davis on defense the rest of the way. While Harrisburg was busy going a perfect 10-for-10 at the stripe in the second OT, Davis had to force up some contested shots from beyond the arc to try and keep the Indians close, but none would find the bucket.
Harrisburg scored 30 of their 69 points at the free throw line, going 30-for-37 at the stripe while Du Quoin made good on just 8-of-15 attempts.
"There's no question about that, Keelin (Rasch) stepped up and hit big free throws and then I think down the last stretch we kept the ball in the hands of the people we really wanted to, made some great defensive plays," R. Smithpeters said.
"One thing that's very difficult to do is keep the Indians off of the boards, and I think especially in the second half and down the stretch we did a good job of that. Tremendous shooters, again I think a tremendous game, we're very fortunate to win, and we look forward to playing on Friday night."
Three Indians finished in double figures on the night, as did four Bulldogs. Davis led all scorers with his 22 points, Wheeler had 18, Gossett 12, Galik 5, Smith 3 and Baxter 2. James Williams and Brandon Williams also played for Du Quoin but did not score, and J. Williams fouled out of the game with 4:30 to go in regulation.
T. Smithpeters had 19 to lead Harrisburg (29-6), Henshaw added 16, Roper and Jalen Stewart each had 11.
The Bulldogs' victory earns them a shot at unbeaten and top-ranked Murphysboro in Friday night's IHSA Class 2A Harrisburg Sectional Final (7:30 p.m.).
Du Quoin finishes Sveda's first season as head coach with a record of 23-7.
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