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BASKETBALL: Lady Panthers win round two with Du Quoin

Posted January 02, 2012 10:00 pm

Patricia Ferrari

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[It is never boring when DuQuoin and Pinckneyville play against each other. For the second time this season, the two Perry County rivals met on the court in a girls basketball game. This time it was in the Herrin Holiday Tournament. Pinckneyville took the victory over DuQuoin in the Thursday evening game at Herrin. The final score was 45-32.

DuQuoin's record is now 15-2 overall and 3-2 in the tournament. Pinckneyville's record is 10-6 overall and also 3-2 in the tournament. The score was tied at six each after the first quarter. Pinckneyville then started to pull away and was up at half-time 18-14. It was still fairly close at the end of three quarters with Pinckneyville leading 29-26. Pinckneyville was able to seal the victory in the fourth quarter outscoring DuQuoin 16-6.

Leading the Panther scoring was Katelyn Mayer with 17 points. Heather McDaniel had 8 points, Haley Simpson 6, Alexis Anderson 5, Lindsey Winter 3, Dani Schoenbacher 2, Alyssa Hirsch 2, and Haley Szczepanski 2.

Pinckneyville Coach Alan Engelhardt was happy with the win. "Obviously, that was a hard fought ball game both ways. DuQuoin does a good job of scrapping, and is difficult to score on. I thought it was a defensive battle. We made their shots difficult. That was a fun high school basketball game from a defensive standpoint. We had a balanced attack tonight. Mayer did a great job of finding ways to score. When we have balanced scoring, it makes us better."

DuQuoin was led in scoring by Rebekah Maddox with 14 points. Jessica Hirsch chipped in with 11 points, Cassidy Rice 3, Taylor King 2, and Kelsey Robison 2. Abby Myers, Bailie Caldwell, and Shelby Presley also had playing time for the Indians.

Indian Coach Shawn File thought, "We came out flat tonight. Our intensity was not as good as it was this morning against Vienna, and we turned the ball over way too many times. Pinckneyville put pressure on us, and we did not handle it very well. Pinckneyville made their free throws at the end to seal it. Pinckneyville played well, and they deserved to win the game."

Herrin took first place in the tournament with a 41-34 win over Vienna. Herrin ended with a 4-1 record in the tournament. Vienna, DuQuoin, and Pinckneyville all finished with identical 3-2 records. Pinckneyville was awarded the second place trophy and Vienna the third place trophy based on free throw percentage. Murphysboro and Pope County also participated in the tournament.

The All Tournament Team was announced after the Herrin vs. Vienna game. DuQuoin's Rebekah Maddox and Jessica Hirsch made the team. Katelyn Mayer and Lindsey Winter made the team from Pinckneyville.

The MVP was Abby Horn of Herrin. Herrin also had Whitney Woodis and Tori Johnson on the team. Vienna had three players on the team with Brooke Childress, Miranda Chance, and Carley Childress. Murphysboro's Tori Conover and Tori Vaughn of Pope County were also on the team.

DuQuoin's next game is Tuesday, January 3, at Nashville. The Hornettes and Indians are both currently tied for first place in the conference race. This will be a very important game for the Indians.

Pinckneyville's next game is also Tuesday when the Panthers host Carlyle.

<u> Du Quoin spoils Vienna's title hopes</u>

The DuQuoin Indians Girls Basketball Team pulled off a huge win over Vienna in the Herrin Holiday Tournament on Thursday afternoon. The Indians got back on the winning track after losing for the first time on Wednesday to Herrin. Their record is now 15-1 overall and 3-1 in the tournament. DuQuoin now has a shot at winning the tournament with a victory over Pinckneyville in the evening game. Vienna and Herrin are both 3-1 in the tournament, but play each other this evening. So there could be a tie for the championship.

DuQuoin played an outstanding game to get the victory. DuQuoin was up ten points at the end of the first quarter at 15-5. The Indians were still leading at the half 27-18. Vienna started to close the gap in the third quarter, and DuQuoin was able to fight them off. At the end of the third quarter, Vienna was behind 36-31, and closed to within 3 points in the fourth. DuQuoin was able to hit their free throws in the final few minutes to seal the win at 56-46.

Abby Myers kept DuQuoin in the lead with her ten free throws and total 12 points. Myers had her best game of the season against Vienna. Rebekah Maddox had an outstanding game scoring 26 points. Maddox was virtually unstoppable in the paint, and Vienna could not contain her. Jessica Hirsch had 14 points, Kelsey Robinson 2, and Shelby Presley 2. Taylor King also saw action for the Indians.

The leading scorer for the Vienna Eagles was Carley Childress with 15 points. Maranda Chance had 11, Brooke Childress 6, Kasyn Moore 5, Kelly Fitzgerald 4, Jami Shipley 3, and Jessica McMahon 2. Vienna came into the contest with a win in the Marion Tournament earlier in the season, and only one loss.

DuQuoin Coach Shawn File was ecstatic over the win. "The Vienna team is very good. In the first half we did a good job of running our offense against their zone. We got good looks at the basket. In the second half, free throws were huge. Myers was 10-10 at the line. Abby came in this morning to practice free throws. It goes to show you that hard work pays off. This is another great win for us. I am really proud of our defense and rebounding today."

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