BASKETBALL: Indian comeback is too little, too late
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Neither team remotely resembled the two squads that produced one of the best games of the entire 2010-11 season at last year's Mid-Winter Classic where unbeaten Murphysboro edged Du Quoin by two en route to the tournament title, but after Wednesday night's performance by Pierre House and the Red Devils, Murphy has a head start on repeating at Sparta in 2012.
Du Quoin crumbled in the final nine-and-a-half minutes of the first half after leading 12-10 and was outscored 18-5 during that stretch, eventually falling 54-45 after a valiant comeback attempt late in the third quarter.
"We've got kids being comfortable right now and I hope they really learn a lesson tonight from that second half," said head coach Gabe Sveda. "We came back and competed, we had guys come off the bench and do a heck of a job for us, didn't ever give up. We didn't give up in the second half, I'm proud of that, but we've got to learn this lesson and move on from it."
The first quarter was all John Galik for Du Quoin - literally. The senior guard scored 12 of his team-high 13 points and had the Indians ahead by two with 1:42 to go in the opening frame.
From there, things fell apart in a hurry for the Tribe. House tied things with a jumper and followed that up with a three-pointer with 42 second left in the period, then after a Murphysboro steal Kevin Gude put back a miss at the buzzer for a 17-12 Red Devils lead.
House got an easy layup for the first points of the second quarter to complete a 9-0 run for Murphysboro. House then scored five straight points later in the period and the Red Devils were in command at halftime 28-17.
House and Kyle Miller each hit threes early in the third as Murphy extended their lead to its biggest margin at 36-19 before Du Quoin started to rally back.
"At halftime we didn't talk a lot of x's and o's tonight, we talked about toughness," Sveda said. "We questioned some toughness at halftime, we made some adjustments at halftime and it had to be on the defensive end. We were getting beat to every loose ball I thought in the first half, and that can not be acceptable."
Brenden Fred and Jon Boss sank threes and Daulton Beltz had a stick-back at the horn, bringing the Indians to within eight at the third quarter break.
Brandon Williams had seven points in the fourth quarter for Du Quoin, but the Indians could get no closer than six in the closing minutes.
"What we learn from games like tonight will kind of tell what happens at the end of the season here," Sveda said. "I told them we can be a very dangerous team. We've got a lot of work to do before that happens, we've got to learn to compete for 32 minutes."
"We're kind of struggling right now to find our identity again offensively. Loose balls, things like that, that's got to be something that you always have, that's just effort. We've got to have a better job of that for 32 minutes."
Galik's 13 points led Du Quoin, WIlliams and Da. Beltz each had 8, Fred 7, J. Boss 5, and Austin Mansker and Dillon Beltz 2. House led Murphysboro, and all scorers, with 27 points.
Losers of five of their last six, Du Quoin (7-10, 0-1 at Sparta) looks to break out of their slump on Thursday evening at 5:30 p.m. against Cairo. The Pilots defeated the Indians 51-50 in the first game of the season for both teams back at the Tip-Off Classic.
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