Prep Boys Basketball: Bulldogs drop two over weekend
A precursor to what could be a second round matchup at the Eldorado Holiday Tournament matchup between Massac County and Harrisburg went the way of the Patriots Friday night as Isaac Hosman scored a game-high 30 points in a 65-54 SIRR Ohio victory.
Massac. County, (6-3, 1-1) who is the No. 2 seed in next week's EHT, outscored Harrisburg 34-29 in the second half and kept the Bulldogs at bay after taking a 31-25 halftime lead.
Harrisburg (3-5, 0-1) got a game-high 26 points from Michael Godsey as the senior guard put up 17 points in the first half.
Massac County held a nine-point lead in the first half after a Hosman three to start the second quarter, but back-to-back triples by Michael Godsey and Myles Crank got the Bulldogs to within three at at 23-20. From there, the Patriots closed out the first half on a 9-5 run to lead 31-25 at the break and never look back.
Nate Lawrence finished with 15 points for Harrisburg, while Cameron Ande flipped in five points. Chris Allen threw in four points and Crank had three.
Five years ago to the day, Massac County head coach Joe Hosman grabbed his 700th career win, and now has 788 over 42 years after the Patriots' win over Anna-Jonesboro Saturday.
The Herrin native, who has had coaching stints in Eldorado and Massac County is currently ninth on the state's all-time coaching list and four away from tying Collinsville's Vergil Fletcher, who coached from 1946-78 and won two states titles and three other trophies. One other notable southern Illinois coach on the state's all-time coaching list is Centralia's Arthur Trout who went 811-330 from 1915-1951 and is seventh on the list.
Hosman is 675-340 at Massac County High School and is in the top 15 for coaching wins at one school all-time.
<b>Du Quoin 77, Harrisburg 61</b>
Nate Lawrence and Cameron Ande each had a pair of double-double performances in a 77-61 loss at Du Quoin Saturday afternoon in non-conference action.
Lawrence had a team-high 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, while Ande added 19 points and 10 boards in the 'Dogs' third straight loss.
Michael Godsey netted nine points for Harrisburg, while Vaundre McIntosh added eight points. Chris Allen finished with four points, four blocks and 10 rebounds, while Tevin Godsey also had four points.
Harrisburg will travel to Benton Tuesday night for a SIRR Ohio showdown with the Rangers before taking on Carrier Mills-Stonefort in the first round of the Eldorado Holiday Tournament on Monday, December 27th at 8:30 p.m.
Spyder Dann covers prep and college sports for the Southern Illinois LOCAL Media Group. Follow him on Twitter: @spydieshooter.