GIRLS BASKETBALL: CORL strikes early to put away Lady Indians at Herrin
A miserable first quarter put the Lady Indians in a hole they couldn't dig themselves out of in Wednesday night's loss to Christ Our Rock Lutheran at the Herrin Holiday Hoops Tournament. Du Quoin fell behind 19-3 after just eight minutes of play, and wound up on the losing end of a 57-44 final.
"The first quarter was just disastrous," said DHS head coach Shawn File. "We played so well the last two nights, but this is a team we aren't very familiar with. We'd seen them moments here and there, they've got a couple big post players that kind of gave us fits."
A 6-for-23 performance at the free throw line also didn't help the Lady Indians' cause. CORL, meanwhile, shot 9-for-13 at the charity stripe.
"Free throws have been an area of hardships for us most of the year," File said. "I don't know what we finished from the line tonight, but it was not pretty. The thing is it's kids that aren't necessarily bad free throw shooters. Tarynn had a bit of a rough night, (Mackenzie Jackson) is coming off from being off 6-8 weeks. Right now it's just a matter of getting everything healthy."
As it pertains to the team's health, help is on the way. Mackenzie Jackson returned from a finger injury on Monday night, and the team's leading scorer (until her injury) Kate Smith appears close to returning from an ankle sprain.
"Maybe within the next week she will start to play some minutes," said File.
Du Quoin made a run to get back in the game during the second quarter against CORL, with two three-pointers from Hannah Baxter helping the Lady Indians outscore the Silver Stallions 18-10 in the period and trail by just eight at the half.
But another rough offensive quarter sealed Du Quoin's fate. They managed just six points in the third period and were staring at a 44-27 deficit heading to the fourth.
Tarynn Mays and Alaina Caldwell both represented the Lady Indians on the all-tournament team. Mays shared the team lead in scoring on Wednesday night with Baxter - each had 9 points. Caldwell finished with 8 points, as did Sadie Day. Katie Smith chipped in with 7 points, Jackson had 2, Jordyn Bullar 1.
The Lady Indians, who finished 1-4 at Herrin, travel to Trico this Saturday with the junior varsity game tipping off at 11:00 a.m.
Herrin 43, Du Quoin 37 (Monday):
Du Quoin played extremely well for three quarters against tournament host Herrin on Monday, but the Lady Tigers escaped with a 43-37 win after outscoring the Lady Indians 14-5 in the fourth quarter.
Caldwell led DHS with 13 points, Mays had 10, Baxter 6, Day 4, Meryn Gross 3, Jackson 1.
Harrisburg 35, Du Quoin 32 (Tuesday):
In another close loss for the Lady Indians, the Lady Bulldogs stayed unbeaten at the tournament on Tuesday night with their 35-32 win over Du Quoin.
Baxter and Mays each had 9 points, Bullar added 7, Smith 4, Caldwell 2 and Day 1.