BASKETBALL: Du Quoin wins battle of unbeatens
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[In a battle of area unbeatens, Du Quoin came out of Harrisburg with a 78-68 victory on Saturday night with junior Sam Gossett pouring in a game-high 26 points.
"It was a real team effort, our kids stepped up, came together, our seniors and our bench did an excellent job," said Du Quoin head coach Gabe Sveda. "Harrisburg is a good ball club, they'll make some noise later on."
Harrisburg started the game 3-of-14 from the field and never caught up after the Indians jumped on top early despite being out-rebounding by the Bulldogs 35-17.
"It's always tough to come into Harrisburg and play, they're tough, they're physical, they're well-coached," said Sveda. "J.C. Davis, Connor Wheeler did an excellent job handling the ball, handling the pressure there at the end of the game."
Gossett tipped in the game's first two points, then hit an off-balance jumper after James Williams had connected on a 12-footer for a quick 6-0 Du Quoin lead.
Williams added a three-pointers and Connor Wheeler a three-point play as the Indians led 18-9 after one.
"We got off to a very poor start with just some poor shooting," said Bulldogs coach Randy Smithpeters. "Something that we talked about and now I think we understand is the flow of the game and we can't make five trips down and not score. If that's the case, then we have to change some things up or be more selective to get a shot that will go down. We didn't do that tonight."
Still up by nine, the Indians bench again showed up for Coach Sveda and company in the second quarter with John Galik and Aaron Smith's buckets starting an 8-0 run for Du Quoin.
Gossett had 8 of his 26 points in the period, and the Indians went to halftime ahead comfortably at 37-19.
Harrisburg heated up in the third, sinking three three-pointers and then a fourth early in the fourth quarter to cut the lead to ten, but the Indians had the answer at the free throw line.
"Our kids did a good job against the full-court pressure, our guards did an excellent job," Sveda said.
Du Quoin went to the foul line for an astounding 28 free throws in the final period, making good on 22 of those attempts and finishing 27-of-36 there in the game.
"I think mentally those first few trips we weren't ready to defend the way we needed to," Smithpeters said. "Du Quoin played really well, and if they shoot like that all the time, they probably won't lose a game."
In total, four Indians finished in double figures when the night was done: Gossett, Wheeler (14 points), Williams (12) and Davis (11). Galik added 8 points and Smith finished with 7.
Capel Henshaw led Harrisburg (7-1) with 22 points, Tyler Smithpeters added 15.
Du Quoin (5-0) hits the road to face Carterville on Friday.
INDIANS FIGHT FOUL TROUBLE AGAINST SPARTA
SPARTA, IL (GNS) - Enduring foul trouble for many of their starters, Du Quoin fought through adversity and held off Sparta 50-39 on Friday night behind 12 points a piece from J.C. Davis and Sam Gossett, and key minutes from the bench.
"It was more than a little sloppy at times," said Sveda, "but our kids pulled together and got the job done. Our defense really stepped up."
Leading by only 3 heading into the final quarter, the Indians were perfect at the line during the fourth in outscoring the Bulldogs 20-12 overall to escape with an S.I.R.R. conference win.
"We came out and ran our offense pretty well, got some good looks, didn't put the ball in the hole necessarily every time," said Sveda. "We didn't hit tonight."
Wheeler and J. Williams each finished with 10 points to give the Indians four players in double figures. Baxter added 4 points, Cayle Diggins 2. Wesley Kiner led the Bulldogs (2-6, 0-1) with 9.
The messy affair featured a combined 37 team fouls and 36 turnovers between the two teams.