The Road to Rend Lake

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[ Du Quoin (Middle School) ran into a red-hot buzzsaw Tuesday night in the semifinal round of the Southern Illinois Junior High School Athletic Association (SIJHSAA) Class L State Tournament.

Undefeated Carlyle, stretching its record to 26-0, never trailed in its 48-27 dispatching of the Warriors.

DMS, 19-4, plays Casey Junior High of Mt. Vernon for third place at 6 p.m. Wednesday.

Carlyle and Harrisburg battle in the championship game.

Harrisburg blew out Mt. Vernon, 55-34, to start Tuesday's play.

"Give Carlyle credit," Du Quoin coach Ryan Heape said.

"They are 26-0 for a reason. Our kids did a great job of executing sets and taking care of the ball, we just couldn't get our shots to fall."

Du Quoin hit just 9-of-40 shots (22%) in the contest, struggling with a 3-for-20 effort (15%) from beyond the three-point arc.

Carlyle led 13-6 after one period and held DMS scoreless until late in the first half.

Back-to-back three's from Daulton Beltz and Shayne Baxter pulled the Warriors to within 19-12, but the Junior Indians answered with an 8-3 spurt to end the half.

Deeja Cole's conventional three-point play trimmed Carlyle's edge down to eight, but the Indians marked on the final two possessions before intermission as the lead pushed back to 27-15.

"Our heart and hustle were relentless even when our backs were to the wall," said Heape.

Carlyle sealed its victory with an early 7-0 third quarter run. DMS got as close as 15 points twice in the final half before Carlyle would extend its margin.

The biggest lead was 44-22 and lasted until Nate Boss' slicing drive to the basket with 3:44 left.

Cole paced DMS with nine first half points. He blocked three shots and had five rebounds.

Boss added eight points, four assists and two steals.

Du Quoin had its lowest turnover output of the season, giving away the ball just five times.

Carlyle-which enjoyed height advantages over DMS at every position-committed 11 turnovers against the constant Warrior pressure.

"I know these kids," Heape said. "They will bounce back and respond to the challenge ahead in Mt. Vernon. The kids and I want to thank the community for the fan support. It's been great."

DMS took a large crowd to Ina despite the fact the school's fifth and sixth grade teams-and the girls volleyball squad-were in action at the same time.

Carlyle 49, Du Quoin 27

DMS (19-4): Mansker 0 (1) 1-2 4, Fred 0 0-0 0, Boss 2 4-6 8, Cole 4 1-3 9, Chapman 0 0-0 0, Baxter 0 (1) 0-0 3, Donoghue 0 0-0 0, Beltz 0 (1) 0-0 3. Spencer 0 0-0 0, Sweetin 0 0-0 0, Erwin 0 0-0 0, Dorsey 0 0-0 0, Cochran 0 0-0 0, Hamlin 0 0-0 0, O'Rourke 0 0-0 0. Total 6 (3) 6-11 27.

CARLYLE (26-0): Huels 14, Boehne 9, Jackson 7, Hilmes 16, Miller 2.

DMS 6 9 5 7-27

Carlyle 13 14 9 12-48

Three-pointers: Du Quoin 3 (Mansker, Baxter, Beltz). Carlyle 4 (Boehne 3, Huels).