BOYS BASKETBALL: Du Quoin rally falls short at Herrin

Caleb Vogel's last-second shot on a drive to the basket was just off the mark and Herrin held on for a 54-52 home win on Saturday, sending the Indians to their sixth straight loss despite a brilliant fourth-quarter performance from sophomore Jarred Thomas.

Du Quoin was down by as many as nine points in the second half, but rallied all the way back and briefly held a lead in the fourth quarter, where Thomas scored all 14 of the Indians' points in the period.

But the Indians couldn't convert on a couple of late opportunities, allowing the Tigers to creep back in front with under a minute to go. The Indians inbounded the ball down two with 12.2 seconds to go, nearly turned it over before recovering from a scramble, and Vogel drove to the hoop where his off-balance shot was off the mark with a couple ticks remaining. A tip-in attempt by Tucker Kuhnert, which may or may not have beaten the final buzzer, was also just inches away from finding the bottom of the net.

"Vogel made a nice play to get a shot off, he got it to the rim," said Indians head coach Wendell Wheeler. "We missed some free throws that made a difference."

"But we told them before the game if you play hard and you play well, we'll take it, and we did that, so we have to take this effort. Herrin can be a good team. They've got as much talent as anybody, so we're very pleased with what they did. We don't accept the losing, but we're proud of our boys. I'm proud of the way they handled themselves."

Herrin was ahead 30-21 after back-to-back buckets to start the second half when the Indians made a run. A.J. Smith's three-pointer with 5:52 on the clock got it started, and Hank Stewart and Vogel also added triples to help tie the game at 35-35 midway through the period. Stewart hit his third three of the game and second of the quarter with 2:31 left to give the Indians a one-point lead at 38-37.

Herrin found their way back in front at 42-38 when Thomas exploded for DHS. The 6'2 sophomore hit three three-pointers in the fourth quarter in addition to an off-balance two with 3:03 to play that put the Indians back on top at 49-47.

But after Thomas' third three gave Du Quoin a two-point lead with 1:58 to go, the Indians couldn't buy another basket. Herrin's Kameron Driemeyer hit a jumper to tie it with 1:27 on the clock, then Thomas couldn't convert inside against a double-team before Diego Dunnigan and Ryan Snider both added a free throw for the Tigers.

"When it was tied and we got Thomas down low, that was one we needed to finish or get to the line on that," Wheeler said. "That was a bigger play than the last shot during the scrum."

Still, Wheeler was impressed by his team's effort in the second half, particularly on their seven made three-point attempts after the break.

"Getting (Thomas) to the arc really helped," said Wheeler. "You've got to run - because they switch, and with their size - to try to open him up."

"We got good looks, spotted up, got some shots off of assists, nothing was rushed. We ran some sets that worked really well."

Thomas finished with 18 points, Vogel had 15, Stewart 9, Smith and Kuhnert 3 apiece, and Brock Bullar and Nolan Showalter each had 2 for DHS.

The Indians (8-17, 1-6) finish off their road schedule this weekend at Sparta on Friday and at Anna-Jonesboro on Saturday before returning home on February 20 for Senior Night against SIRR Mississippi Division leader Nashville.