advertisement

Du Quoin surges late to win opener

DU QUOIN - The opening minutes of the first quarter were not so great, but the opening minutes of the fourth quarter were fantastic for the Du Quoin High School boys basketball team in the season opener Monday night.

The Indians went on a 14-0 run in the final frame to beat Gallatin County, 60-52, in the first session of the Du Quoin Tip-Off Classic and make new head coach Jason James a winner in his varsity debut.

The flurry was actually part of an 18-2 run that started in the third quarter with Gallatin County leading, 42-38. Kadin Mays had back-to-back layups to tie it before the Hawks scored to end the frame.

Then the Indians really took off.

Josh Heape started the big run with a basket at the 6:30 mark of the fourth, then Anthony Cole put in a layup and Braeden Pursell flipped in a reverse off the board. Cole had two more baskets, with the second coming off a full-court pass from Dasani Edward with just under five minutes left.

Cole and Pursell scored again to make it 56-44 before the Hawks broke the run at the 3:17 mark on a bucket by Garrett Rushing.

There were a long list of contributors in the explosion, but Mays and Cole were arguably the most visible troublemakers.

"Kadin did a great job of driving and dishing and getting to the rim and finishing," James said. "And A.C., he's a game-changer. He's the type of kid that has a ton of athletic ability and we expect a lot out of him for the rest of the year."

Rushing converted a three-point play and Robbie Prince hit a 3-pointer as the Hawks pulled within four points with a minute left, but Du Quoin's Shamar Adams dropped in a layup and fellow senior Heape iced it with two free throws in the final seconds.

The Hawks pounced on Du Quoin early and jumped out to a 10-3 lead in the first five minutes, but the Indians cut the deficit to 12-11 when Edward heaved in a banking 3-pointer at the buzzer. That shot seemed to help Du Quoin out of an early shooting funk understandably attributed to opening night jitters.

"Everybody kind of took a breath," James said. "That cut it to one and got the kids keyed in and excited."

Mays scooped in a layup with a foul to put the Indians ahead in the second quarter and a four-point lead was enjoyed briefly before the Hawks went on a run to take a 31-25 lead into halftime.

Gallatin County's Dawson Hish scored half of his game-high 20 points in the second quarter. Rushing added 17.

Pursell led the Indians in scoring with 15 points and Mays tallied 13, with eight coming in the third quarter. Cole had all eight of his in the fourth quarter and Heape also had eight. Edward had six and Adams, who collected three fouls in the first quarter, chipped in five. Westly Milam and Nick Cole also scored in the win.

"We're not going to be a one-dimensional team," James said. "I want kids to take shots when they're open and drive to the basket. If you can do that and the defense has to key on everybody, I think we'll be successful."

James, who kept a towel near his person at all times on the sideline, said he started sweating as early as noon Monday thinking about the game, his first as head coach at his alma mater.

"You want to put on a good show and win or lose you want the kids to play well and play hard," James said. "I'm glad they did that in the second half and came away with a victory. Hopefully that will lead to some more."

In the first game, Cairo hit nine 3-pointers in a 61-47 win over Massac County. Four players reached double figures for the Pilots, led by Riko Nelson with 16 points. Isaiah Brown and Terrell Jones both had 13 and Alton Hervey had 12.

Marshon Merriel led Massac County with nine points.

Du Quoin plays Massac County on Wednesday night at 6 p.m., then plays Carmi-White County on Friday and finishes the tourney with Cairo on Saturday night.