BOYS BASKETBALL: Indians fall to 1-8 in Mississippi Division
Du Quoin endured a tough weekend on the basketball court, suffering a pair of double-digit defeats to conference foes Sparta and Anna-Jonesboro and running their losing streak to eight games in a row.
The road began in Sparta on Friday night, where the Bulldogs picked up their first SIRR Mississippi Division victory of the season, 61-47.
Sparta put the hammer down with a 19-4 run that stretched from the first minute of the second quarter through almost five minutes of the third. The Bulldogs led 40-17 before the Indians got their first points of the second half with 3:03 to go in the third period.
About the only thing firing for Du Quoin on offense was Caleb Vogel, who led all scorers with a game-high 25 points. A.J. Smith added seven points, Nolan Showalter six, Hank Stewart four and Brock Bullar and Tucker Kuhnert each had two.
Dwayne Dodson led four Bulldogs in double figures with his 18 points.
Sparta won the junior varsity contest by the score of 75-70.
Things didn't get any better for the Indians the following night at Anna.
After another long bus ride for a conference road game, the Indians couldn't snap their skid against the Wildcats, falling 78-63 despite a game-high 23 points from Bullar. Three A-J players finished in double digits - Zach Parr (18 points), Noah Prater (17) and Noah Fuller (14).
Du Quoin led 7-2 after a three-point play by Vogel, but A-J clawed their way in front with a 12-0 run with nine points coming from three Prater three-pointers. The Wildcats led 24-13 at the end of the first quarter.
The Indians made it interesting just before the break, with Stewart cutting it to six with one of his three three-balls near the midway point of the second quarter. Smith kept the lead at six with a deep buzzer-beating two at the end of the half.
But Blake Dewitt started the second half with a triple for the Wildcats, and Prater would add his fifth three of the game during a 9-0 run in the third quarter as A-J cruised to a fifteen-point win.
"Those three-pointers hurt," said Indians head coach Wendell Wheeler. "I told the kids I was proud of their effort, they played so hard, we just didn't play real well. We missed some shots we could make. They gave us chances down the stretch, but we just couldn't quite get over the hump."
Stewart (11 points), Vogel (11), Smith (9), Levi Brening (5) and Kuhnert (4) also scored for Du Quoin.
The Indians (8-19, 1-8) will finish off their regular season schedule with this Friday's Senior Night game against Mississippi Division leader Nashville (25-3, 8-1).
DHS begins the Regional tournament at Chester on Monday, February 23 against Red bud in the quarterfinals. The winner gets top-seeded Pinckneyville in the semifinals.