The Du Quoin boys basketball Tip-Off Classic tipped off at Anders Gymnasium this week with the Indians winning their first two games by an average score of 79.5 to 55.
"We may not win every game, but we're going to keep coming at you," said Du Quoin Coach Jason James. "The kids are all rooting for each other. I'm so proud of these guys for buying in and giving us all they got. I'm looking forward to Friday and Saturday."
The tournament continues Friday with Cairo playing Red Bud at 5:30 p.m. followed by Du Quoin playing West Frankfort. Championship Saturday's morning session starts at 11 a.m. with Red Bud vs. West Frankfort followed by Cairo vs. Carmi-White County. The evening session begins at 4 p.m. with Carmi-White County vs. Red Bud followed by the Indians playing Cairo.
The tournament opened Monday with West Frankfort beating Cairo, 65-58, in the first game and the host Indians -- behind four players in double digit scoring -- beating Carmi-White County, 80-66.
"I thought we played extremely hard," James said. "We rotated kids pretty much five for five. Every kid got out there and contributed and we were able to put up 80 points. It took four games last year for us to get 80 points.
"We took 87 shots -- we're playing fast. We're not looking for the best shot we're taking the first shot and then crashing the boards to get rebounds and put it back in. We finished with 26 offensive rebounds."
Traijon Smith exploded out of the chute scoring nine of his team-high 15 points in the first quarter to lead the Indians to a 24-16 lead heading into the second quarter. Smith ended up with six rebounds.
"Traijon set the tone and a lot of that was his athletic ability on the press," James said. "He is probably our best all-around athlete. He gets off the ground and rebounds well. He finishes really nice around the rim. He's the kind of guy who will get you 15 points, five rebounds and five steals (a game). We look for his leadership. The way he carries himself on the court he gets the guys motivated to play."
Caden Hutchens got the game off with a bang with the first of his three baskets from beyond the arc. The senior guard finished with 13 points.
"Caden hit a three right off the tip and then we got a steal and a quick bucket to give us a 5-0 lead in the first seven seconds and that set the tone for the rest of the game," James said. "We pressed the entire game and dictated the pace. All-in-all our effort was great."
The Indians extended their eight-point lead at the start of the second quarter to 12 points at the half, 39-27, with six different players scoring, including three 3-pointers by Hutchens and Jaden Smith, with P.J. Winters coming off the bench to make one.
"Jaden is our point guard and pretty much runs the show," James said. "He ended up with six assists and five rebounds.
"We're going to put up a lot of shots by a lot of kids and get a bunch of offensive rebounds. Hutch is going to be one of our main guys from the outside. Between Hutch, the Smiths, Gage Green, Nick Brown and Nishan Woody we can shoot the three and that's our game plan. When that doesn't work we get it into "Big Mo" (Maurice Washington) and let him go to work in the paint."
Washington had a monster game, scoring 14 points and pulling down seven rebounds. Green finished with five rebounds.
"Mo was 7-for-7 from the floor," James said. "The guys did a good job finding him and six of his points came on offensive boards. That's what we expect out of Mo. Believe it or not he's 6-8 and 270 and he's right out in front on our press, so when we get a steal he's right at the basket and we kick it to him and let him put it in."
Du Quoin came out of the intermission outscoring the Bulldogs 23-19 in the third quarter to extend the lead to 16 points, 62-46, heading into the fourth quarter.
The Indians shot 39% from the field (34-of-87), including 28% from beyond the arc (7-of-25).
"We expect to hit anywhere from three to six 3-pointers a game and tonight we made seven," James said.
The only aspect of Du Quoin's game that didn't live up to expectations was at the free-throw line, where the Indians made just five of 19.
Du Quoin got good production from its seven-man bench with 22 points, led by Ethan Hill with six followed by five by Brown, four by Seth Howerton, three by Winters and two each from Woody and Henry Harsey. Hill had six rebounds and Harsey five.
Carmi's Bryce Connor led all scorers with 31 points, including making 12-of-16 from the line.
"Connor is a good ballplayer," James said. "He was on the back side of the press, so when they broke the press he scored quite a few points."
West Frankfort was led by Lucas Whittington with 17 points, Jack Hogg with 15 points and Preston King with 14 points. Sheldon Adkinson led the Pilots with 21 points with Dequavion Mackins adding 16 points.
On Wednesday, Carmi-WhiteCounty beat West Frankfort, 55-44, in the first game. Connor was again the leading scorer with 25 points.
The high-scoring Indians continued their offensive explosion with a 79-44 win over Red Bud. Moreover, their shooting from the free-throw line improved, to 15-of-27. Hutchens again scored three 3-pointers to lead the Indians with 19 points. Traijon Smith followed up with another 15 against the Musketeers. Washington finished with nine points and Jaden Smith six.
The game was settled in the first quarter with the Indians jumping out to a 33-13 lead with Hutchens scoring 10 points, including two 3-pointers, and Brown also scoring once from beyond the arc.
The Indians scored 28 points in the second quarter to take a 61-32 lead at the half. Hutchens added seven points, including his third 3-pointer and 2-for-2 at the line. Smith also scored a 3-pointer and six points in the second quarter.
"We played an awesome first half," James said. "Our intensity level is so high."
Again the bench came through with Brown scoring eight, Harsey seven, Howerton five, Woody and Hayden Sizemore four, and Hill two.
