BASKETBALL: Harrisburg surges past Du Quoin
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Life on the road can be tough and with very little games away from Davenport Gymnasium prior to next week's Eldorado Holiday Tournament where the Harrisburg Bulldogs go in as the No. 1 seed, head coach Randy Smithpeters was more than pleased to get a 57-46 victory Saturday at Du Quoin.
The win was the second over the weekend for the (8-2) Bulldogs who on Friday knocked off Massac County 46-37 at home in a Ohio Division battle in the River-to-River Conference.
In Saturday's road win at Anders Gymnasium, Harrisburg put three players in double figure and held off a brief second half rally by the Indians to post the victory.
Capel Henshaw led the charge for the Bulldogs with 19 points, while Tyler Smithpeters scored 11 and Eli Taborn-Scott tacked on 10 to also finish in double figures.
Jon Boss and Brandon Williams both had 12 points for a Du Quoin club that falls to 3-4 on the year.
Harrisburg took a 31-22 lead into the locker room after a fairly dominant first half, but the Indians had upset on their mind on home turf and were able to make it a one-point ballgame, 40-39 after Brenden Fred hit a side-pocket 3-pointer.
However, that would be as close as the Indians would get as Harrisburg regained the momentum and scored the next seven points over a two-minute stretch to take a 47-41 lead into the game's final eight minutes.
Du Quoin shot 2-of-8 from the field in the fourth quarter and went 0-of-5 from the free throw line as Harrisburg was able to pull away with the win.
Justin Younger had six points for Harrisburg and Ryne Roper threw in five, while Dakota Upchurch finished with four. Kashmere Barners had two points.
<u>Indians 2-0 in Mississippi</u>
On Friday, the Indians moved to 2-0 in Southern Illinois River-to-River Conference Mississippi Division play by doubling up Sparta 46-23 at Anders Gymnasium.
Du Quoin's defense never allowed the game to be in question, holding the Bulldogs to just two first quarter points and building a 9-2 advantage.
Brenden Fred scored six points during a 13-6 second quarter for Du Quoin, and went on to lead the Indians with 11 points on the night. Sparta's Aaron Rushing sat much of the first half in foul trouble and finished with 8 points.
DHS head coach Gabe Sveda called the game "a really good defensive effort."
"They bought into the game plan," Sveda added. "Rushing can be a load, he's a good player, he knocked down some tough shots in the second half, but we're controlling the rebounds now and we have to do that to give ourselves a chance to win."
Williams joined Fred in double figures with 10 points, John Galik and J. Boss each added 6, Nate Boss and Cayle Diggins 5, and Dillon Beltz 3.
Du Quoin's J-V squad also won handily against Sparta.
The Indians host Carterville on Friday in another SIRR conference matchup.
-Doug Daniels of the Du Quoin Evening Call contributed to this story.
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