BASKETBALL: A-J holds off Du Quoin on Senior Night
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[The DuQuoin High School Girls Basketball Team could not pull off a win on Thursday evening, even if it was Senior Night. Anna-Jonesboro High School defeated DuQuoin 49-40 in a hard fought ball game.
DuQuoin led at the end of the first quarter 12-10. A-J came on strong in the second quarter to take the lead 21-19 at the half way point. A-J opened up a sizable cushion in the third quarter at 35-24. DuQuoin cut the lead to five points in the fourth quarter, but just could not get any closer. The final score was Anna-Jonesboro winning 49-40. DuQuoin had three players foul out of the game: Rebekah Maddox, Cassidy Rice, and Steffanie Gates. A-J scored 24 of their points at the free throw line.
Three seniors were honored prior to the start of the Varsity Contest. Curry Emling is the daughter of Abby and Adam Emling, Steffanie Gates, the daughter of Suzanne and David Gates, and Ashley Ward, the daughter of Judy and Mike Ward. All three seniors started in the basketball game.
DuQuoin's leading scorer was Jessica Hirsch with 13 points. Steffanie Gates had 11, Ashley Ward 7, Rebekah Maddox 6, Bailie Caldwell 2, and Taylor King 1.
Cassidy Rice, Curry Emling, and Shelby Presley also had playing time for the Indians. DuQuoin finished their regular schedule with a record is now 12-16.
Anna-Jonesboro was led in scoring by Chandra Parr with 18 points. The Wildcats record is 13-13. A-J is coached by Brian Clark.
The Junior Varsity also was defeated by Anna-Jonesboro. That score was 57-40. This was the JV's final game of the season. Their record ends at 5-10. The JV are coached by Jason James.
The leading scorers for the JV were Bailie Caldwell and Taylor King both with 12 points. Cassidy Rice
had 11, Katrina Whitley 3, and Hailey Stewart 2. Also seeing playing time for the Indians were Abby Myers, Morgan Dennis, Ashanti Warren, and Shelby Presley.
On Wednesday evening DuQuoin traveled to Nashville to play a game that had been postponed due to bad weather. The Indians were defeated by Nashville in the Varsity game 66-24. Jessica Hirsch had 16 points in that game, with four-three pointers. Curry Emling had 6 points and Rebekah Maddox had 2 points. The JV Team also lost their game with Nashville. Nashville leads the Conference with a 9-0 record and is 22-4 overall.
The first thing Coach Shawn File had to say was "I love those seniors. They (Curry, Steffanie, & Ashley) are three very special young ladies. It has been an honor to coach them." He went on to comment about the A-J game. "I am pleased with our effort tonight especially in the last three or four minutes. Ashley Ward had seven points tonight--that is the Ashley we need on a nightly basis. Steffanie Gates had one of her best games tonight. She really started attacking the basket and got to the free throw line. Curry Emling played as well as anyone. Her contribution does not necessarily come from scoring."
"We got into foul trouble during the game. The first half we did not do much defensively. A-J shot a bunch of free throws, which makes a big difference. A-J did a great job of attacking the basket. Bailie (Caldwell),Taylor (King), and Cassidy (Rice) had significant contributions tonight. I wish we could have sent the seniors off with a win."
DuQuoin starts regional play on Monday, February 7 at Sparta. DuQuoin plays at 7:30 against the host team, Sparta. DuQuoin is the #4 seed; Sparta is seeded at #5. The winner of this game plays against Nashville (#1 seed) at 6:00, Tuesday, February 8.
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