BASKETBALL: Rangerettes edge Du Quoin
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[In a very hard fought battle, the Benton Rangerettes picked up a road victory over the DuQuoin Indians girls basketball team on Thursday evening, outplaying the Indians to take the win 49-45.
DuQuoin took charge and an early lead in the first quarter at 11-5. Benton outscored the Indians 15-10 in the second quarter to close the gap at 21-20. Benton continued to put on the pressure in the third quarter, and took the lead 34-33 at the end of the quarter.
The score was tied several times in the fourth quarter as both teams battled back and forth. DuQuoin had to foul in the final minutes, and Benton was able to make their free throws to give them a cushion of four points at the buzzer.
The game became very physical, and at times resembled a football game with several tackles from both sides registered. Both Jessica Hirsch and Alexis Kohrs for the Indians fouled out of the game in the fourth quarter. Hirsch also had to spend several minutes on the bench in the first half in foul trouble.
DuQuoin's record now moves to 16-4 overall and is 5-1 in the Southern Illinois River-to-River Conference Mississippi Division race.
The Indians' leading scorer was Taylor King with 11 points. Jessica Hirsch had 10 points, Cassidy Rice 9, Alexis Kohrs 8, Rebekah Maddox 5, and Abby Myers 2. Bailie Caldwell, Kelsey Robinson, and Shelby Presley also saw action for the Indians.
Evelyn Mendez led the Rangerettes with 14 points, Samantha Minor had 13, Megan Corn 9, Sara Miller 6, Kiley Wagner 4, and Cali Carney 3.
Coach Shawn File was visibly concerned by the loss. "It was a frustrating night for us. We did not take care of the ball. We had too many turnovers. We have to get ready for Trico on Saturday."
The Junior Varsity Indians, coached by Jason James, also lost a very close game to Benton 28-25.
Benton led in all four quarters of the game, but give DuQuoin credit for a big effort in the third quarter out scoring Benton 12-7. The JV Indians kept it close in the fourth quarter coming within two points during the quarter.
The J-V record is 2-8 overall and 2-4 in the conference.
Bailie Caldwell and Cassidy Rice both scored 8 points in the game. Kelsey Robinson had 6 points, and Carissa Graham 3.
Katie Sandusky led Benton with 9 points, Kristin Odom 6, Anna Hughes 5, Kaitlyn Biddle 4, Cassandra Johnson 3, and Ashtyn Ward 1.
DuQuoin travels to Trico on Saturday for a 3:30 game prior to the Jr. Varsity and Varsity Boys Basketball games. Next week DuQuoin will participate in the Mid-Winter Tournament at Carbondale.
<element id="paragraph-1" type="body"></element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[</group><group id="2B65C85F-77C2-4716-88C6-4D3A0AF398EC" type="seoLabels">