Du Quoin takes down Pinckneyville

DU QUOIN - While the Super Bowl didn't live up to the expectations of most, the boys basketball rivalry battle between Du Quoin and Pinckneyville held a night earlier at Anders Gymnasium went above and beyond.

Du Quoin trailed the state-ranked Panthers by 14 points midway through the third quarter, but fought back and held Pinckneyville without a field goal for the final 4-1/2 minutes and pulled off a stunning 50-45 victory in an SIRR Mississippi Division thriller Saturday night.

The Indians (11-11, 4-3) hadn't defeated the Panthers (22-4, 6-1) since 2011.

"Man, that was fun," said Du Quoin coach Jason James. "So much fun. And we'll probably see them again in regionals."

It wasn't fun when the Panthers went on a 10-0 run to lead 37-23 in the third period. That flurry featured baskets from Dre Scott, Hunter Riggins and Dawson Yates.

"At that point," James said, "you look at the clock and think, 'Here we go.'"

But instead of the Panthers running away with it, the Indians went on a 15-1 run of their own.

Anthony Cole hit a 3-pointer, then after Pinckneyville's Grant Tanner split two free throws, Du Quoin's Josh Heape buried two free throws and a jumper to cut the Panthers' lead to 38-30 going into the final frame.

Baskets from Cole and Shamar Adams whittled the deficit some more, then Heape scored. Finally a nifty reverse layup from Westly Milam tied it at 38 with just under six minutes to play.

Cole had a chance to put Du Quoin in front but missed two free throws, but Cole scored after Yates briefly gave the Panthers the lead back. Then when Yates converted a three-point play with 4:34 remaining, that layup would turn out to be Pinckneyville's final field goal of the night.

Milam scored the last of his nine points and Yates missed a 1-and-1 free throw on the other end. Moments later, Dasani Edward dropped in a layup to put Du Quoin up 44-43 and send the red-clad portion of the gym into a frenzy.

Pinckneyville missed on its next possession and Yates tried to steal the ball from Milam at mid-court and suffered a bloody cut near his left eye. After getting glued up, Yates returned with a new jersey and battled on.

Pinckneyville had the lead again at 45-44 following two free throws by Dylan Houghland - after a block-charge call that resulted in Adams being given his fifth foul - with 1:02 left on the clock.

On the Du Quoin end, Heape posted up and backed around to a floating shot that gave the Indians a 46-45 lead, then Braeden Pursell blocked Grant Tanner and was eventually fouled for a 1-and-1 opportunity.

Pursell hadn't made a shot all night but calmly swished the first, then the second, to put Du Quoin ahead by three with 28.9 ticks left.

After trading frantic turnovers and a timeout, Pinckneyville missed a 3-point try and Pursell ended up at the line again for another 1-and-1 chance. And once again, he calmly swished both shots, this time with 9.7 on the scoreboard.

"I just zoned everybody out and paid attention to the rim," Pursell said. "I didn't pay attention to the atmosphere at all."

The Panthers misfired a pair of desperation shots and Edward collected the final rebound as the clock expired and the celebration began.

"I'm just so proud of the kids," James said. "We had a lot of kids step up in different roles."

Heape finished with 17 points, seven of which came in the first quarter. Cole had 11 points and Milam had nine. Edward tallied five and both Adams and Pursell had four points. Not scoring but certainly making an impact were Carson Davis and Kadin Mays.

"We moved the ball better than we have in the past and we tried to get it inside and let Heape work in the post," James said. "That kind of worked for us until they clamped down and then we kicked it out and kids hit big shots."

Yates led Pinckneyville with 17 points. Tanner had nine, Scott had eight and Houghland had six. At the foul line, the Panthers were 12 of 15 and the Indians were 6 of 8.

Du Quoin has a makeup game Tuesday night against Trico. On Friday, Pinckneyville is at home against Anna-Jonesboro and the Indians travel to Sparta. Conference play continues Saturday night with Du Quoin traveling to A-J and Pinckneyville visiting Nashville.