Call it a reversal of fortunes for the Harrisburg boys' basketball team.
The Bulldogs, who had a second quarter to forget in a 19-point loss to Murphysboro Friday night, flipped the script Saturday and had a 17-2 run before halftime, en route to a 61-44 win over Du Quoin at Davenport Gymnasium.
The Indians jumped out to a 14-6 first quarter lead, but an 8-0 run highlighted by a Michael Godsey bucket tied the game at 14-all. The Bulldogs then made it 20-16, before Du Quoin finally got on the board with a bucket at the 2:26 mark. The second quarter run with culminated with a 3-pointer by Andrew Bittle to make it 23-16 at the 2:03 mark as the Bulldogs led 25-20 at halftime.
A corner 3-ball by Bittle at the 3:45 mark in the third quarter gave Harrisburg a comfortable 10-point 36-26 lead that Harrisburg never relinquished the rest of the way.
Du Quoin head coach Jason James acknowledged the momentum shift that Harrisburg got in the second quarter was the difference Saturday night.
"I thought in that second quarter Harrisburg picked up their defense and they have a bunch of fast kids. Offensively, I thought they did a better job of attacking the seams and once we did collapse, they found their shooters. That's what coach (Randy) Smithpeters teaches them to do. They had a fabulous second quarter and didn't stop once they got the momentum going."
Smithpeters, who is now two wins shy of 500, said his press was a big factor in the second quarter run.
"We didn't start out in the press and the reason why is because of the wear and tear the press puts on us. We threw it on and got a lot of good out of it. I thought our offense clicked a lot better as far as us getting good shots.
"We started off shooting poorly, not necessarily taking bad shots, they just weren't falling and then through the course of 32 minutes this year, which has been our problem this year, we ran our offense, defended for 32 minutes and we made good decisions with the clock and score situation down the stretch."
Harrisburg finished with three players in double figures as Michael Godsey led all scorers with 23 points, highlighted by an 8-for-8 performance from the free-throw line. Jessie Lawler flipped in 14 points and Andrew Bittle netted 11 points.
Ben Brombaugh finished with five points, while Chris Allen had four points. Tevin Godsey and Nate Lawrence each had two points.
Du Quoin's 6-fot-8 big man Maurice Washington led the Indians in scoring with 16 points, while Ethan Morris and Traijon Smith each scored seven points. Jaden Smith scored six points for the Indians, while Wade Roberson finished with five and Jake Prather tacked on three.
Murphysboro 64, Harrisburg 45
Harrisburg fell to 0-3 in the SIRR Ohio with a 64-45 loss to Murphysboro Friday on the road.
The Bulldogs got a team-high 11 points from Michael Godsey. Cameron Ande added six points with two second half 3-pointers.
Nate Lawrence flipped in five points, while a handful of Harrisburg players, including Myles Crank, Chris Allen and Jessie Lawler all finished with four points. Andrew Bittle was held to just three points, while Tevin Godsey, Ben Brombaugh, Vaundre McIntosh and Connor Henshaw all had two points.
Calvon Clemens led the Red Devils with 26 points, while JaQuan Jackson finished in double figures with 15 points.
Harrisburg led 17-13 after one quarter or play, but Murphysboro outscored the Bulldogs 13-7 in the second quarter to take a 26-24 lead into the locker room.
In the third quarter, the Red Devils kept their foot on the gas, outscoring HHS 24-6 en route to a 50-30 third quarter lead.
Spyder Dann covers prep and college sports for the Southern Illinois LOCAL Media Group. Follow him on Twitter: @spydieshooter.