BASKETBALL: Sluggish starts spell defeat for Du Quoin
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[For 26 minutes, the Indians were one point better than the eventual champions of the 14th Annual Du Quoin Tip-Off Classic, Vandalia.
For the first six minutes of Friday night's game, however, Du Quoin failed to score and the Vandals raced to an 11-0 start on their way to winning 53-43.
"We had some good looks, we just didn't put the ball in the hole," Sveda said of the early deficit. "That's the way it goes sometimes."
"I tip my hat to Vandalia, they have a very nice ball club, they take care of the ball and when it's time to put the ball in the basket, they do. They knocked down some big shots tonight, and then at the end of the game they made their free throws."
Du Quoin didn't go down without a fight, however. After trailing by as many as thirteen in the first half, the Indians closed to within seven just before the break and trailed by nine at halftime.
Vandalia responded by scoring the first six points of the third quarter, but again, Du Quoin refused to go away.
Nate Boss, who was later named to the Tip-Off All-Tournament team along with Cayle Diggins, scored eight straight points including a three-pointer from behind the arc, and a three-point play the old-fashioned way. N. Boss's run closed the gap to just six, but the Vandals scored six in a row to end the period and again take control.
Diggins sank a three and was fouled, starting a 9-0 run for the Indians that cut Vandalia's lead to 47-43 with just 3:11 to play, but it was there that the Indians ran out of steam.
"I told our kids I'm proud of them fighting back," said Sveda, "but we've got to give 32 minutes of effort every night if we're going to compete at this level."
The Vandals sank six consecutive free throws to put the game out of reach and move to 3-0 in the 2011 Tip-Off. Vandalia out-rebounded the Indians 29-15 in the game.
N. Boss led DHS with a dozen points, Brandon Williams added 9, Diggins 7, Dillon Beltz and Brenden Fred 4, John Galik 3, Daulton Beltz and Austin Mapps 2.
Vandalia was led in scoring by Quenten Austin's 11 points. Bryan Hosick, Dathan Berning, Tim Ritchey, and Trevor Montgomery each had 9.
The Vandals topped Benton 34-31 on Saturday afternoon to claim the tournament championship with a perfect 4-0 mark.
<u> Early hole buries Indians against Benton</u>
Just as Vandalia had done on Friday night, Benton shot out of the gates and took advantage of a struggling Du Quoin offense as they knocked off the Tip-Off host 56-41 after a 12-0 start to the game.
Du Quoin had already committed six turnovers when Jared Johnston's second of back-to-back three-pointers went through the bottom of the net for a 20-3 Rangers' lead with 2:30 to go in the first quarter.
"Turnovers have been a concern for us, we've just got to catch the ball and make a good turn and move and be patient sometimes," said Sveda. "Sometimes we get flustered and get in a hurry, and that's just going to come with getting a little experience."
"We improved in some areas, boxing out, and our offense is starting to get a little better. We're starting to find some things out, things we can do, things we can't do as much. It's an adjustment time."
Unlike their valiant effort against Vandalia the previous night, the Indians could not cut into Benton's big lead and pose a serious threat. With Du Quoin down 28-16, the Rangers scored eight unanswered points and led 36-18 at the break.
"It's going to take time," Sveda said. "We're finding a lot of things out about our team, we're kind of mixing different guys together. It's just going to take time, and when you play veteran ball clubs like Benton and Vandalia (inexperience) really shows."
Johnston led all scorers with 20 points, 17 of which came in the first half.
N. Boss led the Indians with 9 points, Dillon Beltz added 7, Galik 6, Daulton Beltz 5, Fred 4, Mapps and Daulton Donoghue 3, and Williams and John Boss 2.
Du Quoin heads to Anna-Jonesboro on Friday night to begin Mississippi Division play in the Southern Illinois River-to-River Conference.