BASKETBALL: Loss at Harrisburg ends rough weekend for Indians
HARRISBURG, IL - Tyler Smithpeters was well aware of how productive the Harrisburg offense was over the weekend, especially Saturday night.
Which is saying something for a Harrisburg ball club that, despite the success they have had to date, has parlayed many a points off turnovers and their lock down defense.
Knowing the offense would come around, Randy Smithpeters waited patiently, buying his time.
The Bulldogs opened up Saturday night's game with a 13-0 lead, knocking down six 3-pointers in the first quarter in taking a 29-4 lead as they would go on to beat Du Quoin 90-43 at Davenport Gymnasium.
Which prompted Tyler Smithpeters to point out: "Tonight, it seemed like we couldn't miss anything. We'll have a night where it will seem like we can't hit anything. Tonight was just our night."
Head coach Gabe Sveda and the Indians were no match for the state's No. 2 team in Class 2A and have lost two in a row.
"Any time you come out and shoot like that, it's tough," said Du Quoin coach Gabe Sveda. "We dug ourselves a hole and they did a nice job knocking down good looks. They were knocking them down from 23, 24 feet at times, and that's tough to guard."
From an offensive standpoint, Harrisburg had similar success Friday night in a 72-46 win on the road at Massac County.
"We realize the talent we have on the team and we try to come out and play with class," Harrisburg head coach Randy Smithpeters said. "We put our best offensive and defensive game on the floor and just play with class every night. I think that's our job to use the talent and the skills we have, every night to be as good as we can be."
In Saturday's win over Du Quoin, Capel Henshaw led the Bulldogs in scoring with 21 points including 13 in the first quarter alone as he drained three 3-pointers.
Tyler Smithpeters scored 16, while Eli Taborn Scott tacked on 11 and Gabe Oglesby came off the bench for 10 points.
It was a night when Harrisburg cleared its bench as Smithpeters brought out his starters with 4:00 to play in the third quarter.
"We shot well and that opens up a lot of things," Smithpeters said. "It puts points on the board, but it also spreads the floor and opens up a lot of things for a lot of people.
"The thing I am the most proud of is on the defensive end. It's what we really focus on and I'm happy that things went so well on the offensive end, but on the defensive end we've really been shutting people down.
I thought we defended better Saturday night than we did Friday night with the technique we used to do that."
Brenden Fred led Du Quoin with 9 points, Daulton Beltz had 8, Deeja Cole 5, John Erwin and Austin Mapps 4, Nolan Showalter 3, and Daulton Donoghue, Spencer Cook, A.J. Smith, Jon Harsy and Cody Cavins all finished with 2. The Indians combined to shoot 17-for-52 (33%) from the floor.
<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Two-point second quarter costs Du Quoin at Sparta</span>
SPARTA, IL - The Indians led 11-10 at the end of the opening quarter of Friday night's SIRR Mississippi road game at Sparta, but the Bulldogs outscored Du Quoin 16-2 in the second before pulling away for a 58-39 victory.
Fred had seven first-quarter points, including a three-pointer, and Austin Mansker's fast-break lay-up near the end of the period game DHS a one-point edge heading to the second.
The Bulldogs scored the next 14 points in succession, scoring seven of those at the free throw line. Cole's jumper with 1:38 left in the half was Du Quoin's only second quarter bucket. Sparta led 26-13 at the break and used a 17-10 third quarter to create further separation.
Fred led Du Quoin with 12 points, Cole finished with 9, Beltz 7, Mansker 4, Erwin 3, and Mapps and Cook 2.
The Indians (3-3, 1-1) play this Friday at Carterville, then the following week will take part in the 6th Annual Duster Thomas Hoops Classic in Pinckneyville.