BOYS BASKETBALL: DMS boys eliminated
The Warriors' offense could only manage a dozen first half points in Wednesday night's SIJHSAA Class L Boys Basketball Regional at Du Quoin Middle School, and despite scoring 31 points after the break, Murphysboro was able to hang on for a 50-43 victory to knock DMS out of the postseason.
The game was back-and-forth most of the night, and both offenses were finding points to be at a premium with two minutes to go in the first half and Murphysboro up 11-10. The Devils started to heat up at the end of the second quarter, though, and went into the locker rooms up 17-12 with fourteen minutes to go.
"(Murphysboro head coach Brian Winters) jumped us early, he was in a triangle-and-two in the first half and we didn't figure it out," said DMS head coach Ryan Heape. "We didn't do a very good job of attacking the rim, and we settled for a lot of long shots. You have to give him credit. The triangle-and-two was something our kids hadn't seen, and honestly, we weren't prepared for it and I take the blame for that. That hurt us bad."
The Warriors made the Devils work for it after halftime. Braeden Pursell, who led Du Quoin with 16 points, had a pair of three-pointers in the third period, and Josh Heape hit a triple just before the end of the quarter to tie the game at 32-32 heading to the fourth.
But Murphysboro refused to let the Warriors get in front, hitting two threes and all four of their free throws in the final period to cap off a hot shooting night.
"They did a good job of finishing at the rim tonight," R. Heape said. "They made their layups, they got a couple stick-backs, and they used their big guy effectively. He finished and got to the rim tonight."
Devin Eovaldi led Murphysboro with 14 points, half of them in the fourth quarter.
"That's the best game (Eovaldi) has played against us of the three," said R. Heape. "I thought the x-factor would have been the younger kids coming off the bench, and I think it did give them a little bit of rest, but make no mistake about it, (#22) was a difference maker here tonight."
Anthony Cole added nine points for DMS, Nick Cole had eight, J. Heape and Kadin Mays three, Luke Imhoff and Shamar Adams two, and Carson Davis one.
The Warriors' season ends with a record of 12-11 overall.