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Indians split: Win over Carterville; loss to Murphysboro

DU QUOIN - The Indians (3-3) pulled out their third consecutive victory Friday night with a Southern Illinois River-to-River Conference win over the Carterville Lions (54-47). Unfortunately, the streak was snapped on Saturday night with a 44-28 loss to the Murphysboro Red Devils.

Against the Lions, the defense of the Indians shined. Again, they were able to force a backcourt 10-second violation which caused the Lions to lose possession of the ball frequently.

"We came out and set the tone early," said Indians' coach Justin Barrington, himself a Carterville High School graduate. "In the fourth quarter, they came out and started making shots. But our guys dug deep late and we made shots when we needed to. The key to the game was the six points we stole at the end of the first, second and third quarters. That's a big difference in road games."

Meanwhile, the Indians also played with solid offense. They were led by sophomore Lamontay Daughtery who got his team into the game with a second quarter slam dunk.

Teammate Hank Stewart helped out his team with three 3-point baskets in the opening quarter.

The Indians dominated the court until the fourth quarter when the Lions showed signs of life. They put the full-court press on the Indians who started getting into foul trouble. This sent several Lions' players to the free-throw line and scampered back to within two points (49-47) with just 1:20 left to play.

A pair of treys (from Shamar Adams and Braeden Pursell kept the Indians fired up and they were able to cling to their lead until the clock ran out.

"We're really excited about where we're at right now, but the schedule does not get any easier," Barrington said. "It's been a long time since we've been 1-0 in the conference, so we're happy for that. If you play hard each night, good things will happen."

Daughterly led the Tribe in scoring with 15 points. Also scoring were: Pursell (13 points), Stewart (10 points), Josh Heape (six points), Adams and Ashton Smith (four points each), and Will Woodside (two points).

Devilishly difficult

The Indians brought the action back to Anders Gymnasium Saturday night.

They could not keep their streak alive, however, and suffered a loss to Murphysboro who rank No. 9 in the state in 3A competition.

The Red Devils were led by junior Corbin Guthman who tallied four 3-point buckets and senior Jeremy House who drained 12 points throughout the night.

"They're very sound defensively and we did not get clean looks in the paint," Barrington said of Murphysboro. "Hats off to them, they did what good teams do. They took care of the ball and made sure we had to work on every possession."

The Indians took an early lead in the first quarter, but the Red Devils snatched it back quick. A last-minute 3-pointer from Pursell knotted the score at 11 points apiece after one quarter.

The home team got into foul trouble in the second quarter and the Red Devils claimed the lead, moving ahead by eight points (23-15) going into the half.

Returning to their court, the Indians tallied 11 points in the third quarter, but the Red Devils also scored 11 to stay in command of the game.

The Indians were nearly shut out of the final quarter (one field goal was scored by Stewart) while the Red Devils drained back-to-back treys from Guthman and Jacob Morgan to walk away with a decisive victory.

"We knew tonight would be our toughest test of the season so far," Barrington said. "We held them to 44 points when their average is 60 points.

"Our offense tonight let us down, we just need to do a better job shooting from the field as well as the free-throw line."

The Indians next host their Perry County rivals, the Pinckneyville Panthers, on Friday.