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BASKETBALL: Herrin pulls away late at Du Quoin

Posted February 06, 2012 10:00 pm

Doug Daniels

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Du Quoin trailed by only two points with just under two minutes left in the opening half, but Herrin made a run to close out the second quarter before putting the Indians away after the break with their blend of size and athleticism for a 61-43 victory on Saturday night at Anders Gymnasium.

"(Herrin's) got a nice ball club, give them credit," said DHS boys head coach Gabe Sveda. "They've got it all, and they've got a lot of experience too. They've played together a long time and that's going to be a tough matchup for anybody."

Herrin led 18-7 after one, but John Galik and Brenden Fred got the Indians back in it with eight and seven points respectively in the second quarter. Du Quoin cut Herrin's lead to 24-22 with 1:52 remaining in the half, but Bobby Mannie buried a three with a minute to go, then stole the ball away from the Indians for a breakaway jam moments later.

"Our kids did a good job of coming back in the second quarter I thought, then (Herrin) went on a little run there to end the half," Sveda said. "I thought we did a nice job of executing our offense tonight, sometimes we just didn't finish around the basket and didn't fake enough to draw a foul."

Free throws by DeMarlo Harris made it 33-22 Tigers early in the third quarter and capped off a 9-0 run for visiting Herrin. The Indians couldn't find a field goal in the fourth quarter until the 4:33 mark, and trailed by as many as 22 in the period.

"I thought in the second half we really started pushing the ball and putting some pressure on them in the half-court defense," said Tigers' head coach Irv Lukens. "We pushed the ball a lot better, got out and ran, got some quick buckets and extended the lead and started to get a little more confident."

Galik's 13 were a team-high for Du Quoin, Brandon Williams (11 points) and Fred (10) joined him in double figures. Austin Mansker added 3 points, Jon Boss, Nate Boss and John Erwin each had 2.

For Herrin (19-7), Harris led a balanced attack with a game-high 19 points, Mannie added 13, Justin Lukens 9, Nathan Lukens 8, Dashaun Hart 6, Antuan Davis 5 and Luke Hampleman 1.

"We play better when (we have balanced scoring)," I. Lukens said. "We're not a one-man show by no means. We have some weapons that need to be all playing on the same cylinders and I thought tonight we did that."

Regional pairings were released over the weekend, and Du Quoin will be the No. 2 seed at Benton when the postseason kicks off on February 20. The Indians receive a quarterfinal bye and will take on either Hamilton County or West Frankfort on Wednesday, February 22 at 7:30 p.m. at Rich Herrin Gymnasium.

Up first for Du Quoin (11-14) this weekend is a trip to Carterville on Saturday followed by Senior Night on Saturday against Pinckneyville (20-4).

"We made some progress this weekend, and that's what it's all about right now," said Sveda. "We've got to get back to some fundamentals, get back to being more consistent defensively next week."

<u>Indians rout Sparta</u>

Du Quoin knocked off Sparta for the third time this season on Friday night, using an 11-1 third quarter run to pull away from the Bulldogs 66-46 while three players finished with double-digit scoring totals for the Indians.

DHS led 26-15 in the second quarter before the Bulldogs rallied back to within six, only for the Indians to put them away early in the second half.

Sparta played without Aaron Rushing while Du Quoin was missing Daulton Beltz as both were out with illnesses.

Galik led the Indians with 17 points, Fred and Williams each had 10, Mansker 8, N. Boss 7, Cayle Diggins 4, J. Boss and Austin Mapps 3, and Dillon Beltz and Daulton Donoghue 2. Austin Peck led Sparta with 18 points.

The Bulldogs took the J-V contest 49-41.

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