BASKETBALL: Collapse against Trico spoils good week for DHS
SPARTA, IL - Du Quoin played inspiring basketball for the first three games and two quarters of their four-game stint at the Sparta Mid-Winter Classic last week, but a late collapse against Trico on Saturday night spoiled an otherwise good trip for the on-the-rise Indians.
DHS led 33-18 with two minutes to go in the third quarter of the third place game with the Pioneers, but struggled from there on out, allowing Trico to come away with a 45-43 victory after a 16-2 run late in the ball game.
"We didn't keep our composure very well late in the game," said Indians head coach Gabe Sveda. "We played a really good two and a half quarters I thought. We lost our edge a little bit, lost our urgency. We talked about that at halftime, how we can't get comfortable, we had a 10-point lead and they started knocking down some shots, and that's what happened."
After an 11-11 draw in the first quarter, Du Quoin's defense held Trico to a lone field goal by Klayton Bunselmeyer in the second. At the other end of the floor, Brenden Fred - making his first start since returning from a bone bruise - buried two of his three first-half three-pointers in the period and Spencer Cook stuck back a rebound to give the Indians their 23-13 halftime lead.
Fred and Daulton Beltz each had four points during the third period where Du Quoin upped their lead to fifteen before the Pioneers started to rally back with increased aggressiveness on defense. Trico was a perfect 10-for-10 at the free throw line in the fourth quarter and took advantage of several Indian turnovers to complete their dramatic comeback.
Trico outscored Du Quoin 27-10 over the final ten minutes of the game.
"Give them a lot of credit," Sveda said. "Trico, at the end of the game, put more pressure on us at both ends of the court and knocked down their shots."
"They really picked up their intensity on defense and really came after us trying to pressure our guards. We quit looking inside a little bit, we got a little stagnant, and sometimes the shots didn't fall for us. We got some good looks but they didn't fall like they did in the first half. On the other end, their shots did go in and that was a big part of them making their run at the end of the game."
Despite the sour ending, Sveda says his team showed a lot of good signs during their 2-2, fourth place finish at Sparta's annual mid-winter tournament.
"We're a lot better than we were a week ago," Sveda said. "(Trico) came in and beat us on our home court a week ago and we had a chance to win this game tonight. I thought both teams looked a little tired, but that can't be an excuse."
"If we keep our heads up after this game and stay positive, we're going in the right direction right now. We had a good week of basketball, we got a little bit better each day I think. We've just got to stay positive."
Fred's 18 points for Du Quoin led all scorers, Beltz had 13, Austin Mapps 6, Cook 4 and A.J. Smith 2.
"Austin Mapps did a good job of stepping up, he's knocked down a lot of shots for us lately," Sveda said. "Daulton Beltz has done a nice job of stepping up for us for several weeks. Deeja Cole's done a good job of filling the point guard role. A.J. Smith, a sophomore, is filling some big shoes. Spencer Cook is doing a good job on defense and moving the basketball. So we've got kids that are stepping up and filling roles right now."
George Kuhlman had 9 points during Trico's big fourth quarter and led the Pioneers with 17 points.
Waterloo knocked off Steeleville 58-51 to win first place at the tournament.
Du Quoin (8-11) heads to Anna-Jonesboro this Friday night before meeting Lebanon at Saturday's Panther Showcase in Pinckneyville.