Overtime loss ends Du Quoin's season at regional

ANNA -- With the incentive of playing one more game on their home floor, the Anna-Jonesboro Wildcats rallied from a 14-point deficit to force overtime and then beat Du Quoin, 75-72, Wednesday night in the semifinals of the Anna-Jonesboro 2A Regional.
Du Quoin finished with a 12-15 record in the first season with head coach Jason James, while Anna-Jonesboro now takes a 9-20 mark into Friday's championship game against Pinckneyville (25-5) at Union Hall Gymnasium.
"We didn't finish down the stretch," James said. "We built a 14-point lead and took a few ill-advised shots that let them get back into the game. Then it came down to free throws at the end and they made a lot of those."
Carson Reynolds hit a 3-pointer in the final seconds of the second quarter to give A-J a 23-22 lead at halftime. Braeden Pursell put Du Quoin in front with a quick basket to start the third quarter and the Indians were off and running.
Pursell scored 12 of his game-high 27 points in the third, when the Indians took a 40-26 lead after consecutive buckets from Carson Davis, Pursell, Anthony Cole and finally a three-point play by Josh Heape at the 4:16 mark.
The Wildcats chipped that down to eight going into the fourth, but the Indians still held a 55-43 advantage after a basket from Shamar Adams with 6:23 remaining which followed a 3-pointer from Dasani Edward and a layup by Pursell assisted by a Heape steal.
A-J kept inching closer and a steal and layup by Blake Pena brought Du Quoin's lead down to 59-58 with 2:20 to play. The Wildcats took their first lead of the second half when Pena split two free throws and Noah McFarland rebounded and put back the miss to make it 63-62 with just 33 seconds left.
Moments earlier, the Wildcats had to go deep into their bench and commit intentional fouls to go from two team fouls to seven and put Du Quoin in the bonus. That strategy paid off when Kadin Mays missed a 1-and-1 chance with 23.6 on the clock and Heape fouled McFarland on the rebound.
McFarland split his tosses and Heape scored on a nifty up-and-under move to tie the game at 64 with 3.8 seconds left. Pena got off a decent 3-point attempt at the end of regulation but missed to send the game to overtime.
Pena got another chance to start the extra four-minute period and drilled a trey from in front of his own bench and the Wildcats led the rest of the way. A wide-open layup by Cameron Tweedy pushed the lead to 71-66 and forced Du Quoin to start fouling.
Pursell hit two shots around two free throws from Tyler Smith, then McFarland split two and Heape scored to make it 74-72 with 15 seconds left.
Then the Indians caught a break when Tweedy missed two free throws with 8.1 on the clock, but on the other end Heape was called for traveling on a layup that would have tied the game.
"He took that slip pass and I saw the little shuffle and I was waiting for them to call it," James said. "It is what it is."
McFarland was fouled with 0.6 and made his first shot and intentionally missed the second to end the game.
"We competed very hard. They just made a lot of shots," James said. "Kudos to them. I thought they had a good game plan in the fourth quarter and they executed."
McFarland finished with 20 points, while Smith and Tweedy both had 17 and Pena added 10 for the Wildcats, who were 16 of 27 from the foul line. Reynolds added nine.
In addition to Pursell's 27-point night, Edward reached double figures with 13 points and Heape netted 11. Adams had six, both Davis and Mays had four and both Cole and Westly Milam had two each.
The loss brought the end for Du Quoin seniors Davis, Heape, Adams, Milam, Anthony Cole and Nick Cole.
"I told them I wouldn't want to start with another senior group," James said. "Those six kids showed up every day and worked their butts off. They did everything we asked them to do and that's all you can really ask for. I never got any lip from them. It's hard being a senior and coming in with a new coach. I thought they adjusted very well throughout the season and got better."