BASKETBALL: Sparta knocks out Du Quoin
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[The DuQuoin High School Girls Basketball Team came up short on Monday evening while playing in the first round of the Sparta Regional. DuQuoin owned the first half, but Sparta mounted a big rally in the second half to defeat DuQuoin 52-34.
DuQuoin led 9-5 at the end of the first quarter, and held on to lead at the half 20-17. Sparta pulled ahead of DuQuoin at the end of the third quarter 30-23 and continued to pull away further as the game ended with Sparta winning 52-34.
DuQuoin was led in scoring by Steffanie Gates with 9 points. Gates was 7-8 at the free throw line. Jessica Hirsch had 8 points as did Rebekah Maddox. Ashley Ward scored 4, Cassidy Rice 3, and Curry Emling 2. Shelby Presley and Bailie Caldwell also saw action for the Indians. Sparta's Robinson had 29 points in the game. DuQuoin ends the season with a 12-17 record overall.
Sparta advances to play Nashville on Tuesday evening. Nashville is the number one seed in the tournament. DuQuoin's Jessica Hirsch, Ashley Ward, and Cassidy Rice competed in the three point shoot out and all three advanced to Tuesday's round.
Coach Shawn File thought, "we played well the first half. We focused on slowing down Robinson from Sparta, which we did. We played a box and one on her. Hirsch and Rice did a super job guarding her. She had 29 points for the night, but she had to work hard for those points. (Note: Robinson scored 43 points when she last played DuQuoin)
Coach File continued: "In the third and fourth quarters, we did not take care of the ball. We also did not shoot very well. Once we got down, we started to panic. We had way too many turnovers."
File's final comments were: "It has been a good season. Maybe it did not end the way we wanted it to, but I believe we improved as the season went on. We will miss the three Seniors--Steffanie Gates, Curry Emling, and Ashley Ward."