Du Quoin boys basketball Indians beat Carterville on 'Hail Mary' and a trey in OT Will finish up Arrowhead Classic Friday and Saturday

Last Friday it took a "Hail Mary" to Maurice Washington to send the game into overtime and then Gage Green's 3-pointer to beat Carterville, 56-55, and snap the Du Quoin Indians' two-game losing streak.

"The boys played incredibly hard and showed a lot of grit against Carterville," said Du Quoin Coach Jason James. "It came down to the very end and they didn't give up. A great win for us with Gage knocking down the open three in overtime. I'm very proud of their effort."

The Indians trailed 21-18 after the first quarter and 29-28 at the half before taking a 39-36 lead after the third quarter.

But the Lions were leading by two points with almost no time left on the clock, leaving the Indians with the ultimate last-second, make-or-break play in sports - the Hail Mary - as their only chance to win the game.

With the entire length of the court to go, Traijon Smith was the quarterback standing underneath his basket. Washington was the deep receiver standing just to the left of the lane about five feet from the basket on the other side.

Smith's pass went off the hands of a defender. Washington grabbed the ball off the bounce, made a quick turn, and scored the layup just as the buzzer sounded. Overtime!

The OT period for Du Quoin was spent mostly at the free-throw line - the Indians drew four shooting fouls - but they made just three of the eight chances. They hit only one basket, but it was a big one: Green's 3-pointer, his third of the game.

Green scored four of the six points the Indians had in the OT period.

Maurice Washington was tied for the game lead with 15 points. Green finished with 10 points and Jaden Smith nine.

Peyton Bittle led Carterville with 15 points, followed by John Stroud with 13 and Aiden Hinton with 10.

The gutty Indians performance was even more remarkable considering their leading scorer Caden Hutchens and one of the top players off the bench, Ethan Hill, missed the game with illness. Hutchins and Hill also sat out the next two games and are expected to miss their fourth straight game on Friday before returning to the court on Saturday.

The next day the Du Quoin boys and girls were to play a girls/boys doubleheader at Trico, but it was postponed and ended up being rescheduled for next Monday with the girls playing at 5 p.m. followed by the boys JV and varsity.

The Indians had two days off to enjoy the Carterville win before starting the Johnston City Arrowhead Classic. In the tournament's inaugural year, 2020, the Indians went 2-2 beating Johnston City and Eldorado, and losing to Anna-Jonesboro and Christopher.

Eldorado 57, Du Quoin 53

Traijon Smith had about as good of a look as a shooter can ask for.

The Du Quoin senior guard pulled up, uncontested, from the left elbow with about 4 seconds to play for what would have been a game-tying 3-pointer, only to see his shot rim out in a 57-53 loss to Eldorado in the opening night of the Arrowhead Classic.

Eldorado and Du Quoin played through 11 lead changes and one tie Monday night as the Eagles overcame an eight-point deficit in the third quarter to storm back and hold off a late Indians rally.

The Eagles (8-9) grabbed an early 16-14 first quarter lead, where there were seven lead changes in the first eight minutes.

Du Quoin (11-7) grabbed control in the second quarter, leading by as many as eight, 26-18. But Eldorado continued to chip away, getting as close as three before DQ went into the locker room with a 33-25 advantage.

The Indians had another eight-point lead, this time 35-27 early in the third, but a barrage of buckets gave Eldorado a 40-39 lead with one minute to go as the Eagles held a 44-41 lead going into the final eight minutes.

Down the stretch, Eldorado went 7-of-14 from the free-throw line and 13-of-24 in the game, while Du Quoin was 6-of-11 and 8-for-17.

The Eagles got a team-high 21 points from Parker Price, including five in the fourth quarter, while Josh Owens tacked on 13 points and Gage Heath rounded out the double figure scoring with 11 points. Boston Bradley just missed out on double digits, netting nine for the Eagles, while Brock Cantrell tossed in three points.

Du Quoin's Traijon Smith had his best game of the season with 23 points. Washington and Eli Maynor finished with 11 points each.

"We had a hard time scoring and Traijon stepped up big for us in the paint," James said. "He is aggressive toward the basket and isn't afraid of contract."

Jaden Smith and Gage Green each tacked on three points, while Cameron Hugya had two first quarter points.

Loss to Christopher

On Tuesday, Du Quoin lost to Christopher, 75-67. Once again the Indians started well, taking a 20-14 lead after the first period, but the Bearcats rebounded with a 29-point second quarter to tie the score, 43-43, at the half. The Indians went into a scoring drought in the third quarter, scoring just two points to fall behind by 13 heading into the fourth.

"I thought the boys played great against Christopher," James said. "We got back into our quick-paced trapping defense. However, we got a lot tough calls and never really got a chance to make a run. I thought the boys kept their composure well even when being in foul trouble."

The game was highlighted by three season-best performances. Eli Maynor scored 23 points, including seven 3-pointers.

The sophomore's previous best was in the eighth game of the season against Anna-Jonesboro where he scored 20 points, including six from beyond the arc.

"Eli stepped up big as he as several times this year," James said. "With Hutchens being out we need him to score some points and he is doing a great job."

Jaden Smith scored 15 points besting his previous high of 13 in the season opener. Nishon Woody finished with 10 points surpassing his previous high of seven points in the overtime win over Carterville.

The Indians (8-10) return to Arrowhead Classic action at 7:30 p.m. Friday against Johnston City at 7:30 p.m. They will finish up the tournament against Anna-Jonesboro at 6 p.m. Saturday.

• Sports Editor Michael "Spyder" Dann contributed to this report.