The Du Quoin girls basketball team took on fourth-ranked Carterville on the road Dec. 7 and battled the Lady Lions to the very end before falling short, 59-51, in their SIRR Mississippi Division season opener.
"It was a single digit ballgame all night long," said Du Quoin coach Shawn File. "We overall did a really good job and actually out-rebounded them, but at the end of the day the two Doyle sisters combined for 42 of their 59 points. We limited run outs and made them score in the half court, which was part of our focus, and we did a really good job of defending and contesting, but they shot 50 percent from the floor and were 13-of-16 from the free-throw line.
"When you're closing out games and sending kids that are shooting those kinds of numbers from the line, that definitely makes things harder," File said. "We had an opportunity late where we didn't get a couple shots to fall, but the effort was fantastic all night long. We gave up more points than we have all year, but our defense was pretty sound all night with Lauren Heape holding Alecia Doyle in check in the second half."
The Lady Indians returned home Thursday to host Pinckneyville and got back on the winning track beating the Lady Panthers, 54-44.
"One of the hardest things was playing Pinckneyville two days after playing Carterville," File said. "To be honest with you, we were really exhausted, really spent after Tuesday night's battle on the road and then to come home for a big rivalry game.
"It was a typical Perry County dogfight. Both sides had good crowds there in attendance. We knew we had to keep on eye on Lily Tanner and Madison Morgenthaler, their leading scorers, and we gave up some threes to both of them. Grace Alongi had a fantastic first half for us. We were running good offense and she got a couple good looks and she banged them down for two three-pointers. We have a lot of confidence in her and asked her to shoot the ball more. She took us up on that and we're sure glad she did. She was absolutely huge for us."
Du Quoin improved to 5-2 and 1-1 in the Mississippi Division and will hit the road this week for a nonconference game against Johnston City Tuesday, Dec. 14, a conference match up against Anna-Jonesboro Thursday, Dec. 16, and another nonconference game against Cobden Saturday, Dec. 18.
The game against Carterville got off to a great start with Loveleen Dunklin coming off the bench to score three baskets, Emma Fischer sinking a three-pointer and Heape scoring four points to lead the Lady Indians to a 14-14 score heading into the second quarter.
"We came out and did a good job and it didn't hurt matters that Alecia Doyle -- their Division I recruit -- had got a couple of quick fouls put on her in the first quarter and we were able to take advantage of that," File said.
In the second quarter Fischer sank another three-pointer and added another basket for five points. Heape made two more baskets and Abby Mocaby sank her 11th three-pointer of the season.
Doyle was held scoreless in the first quarter, but recovered to score 11 points in the second quarter. Her younger sister Amayah, who had nine points in the first quarter, added six in the second quarter to lead the Lady Lions to a 33-30 halftime lead.
Carterville expanded their lead to 46-37 after the third quarter with Amayah Doyle scoring six points, including going 4-for-4 at the free-throw line. The Lady Indians outscored Carterville 14-13 in the fourth quarter to cut the final margin to eight points.
Heape finished with 13 points, including 5-of-6 from the line, and Fischer sank three from beyond the arc to finish with 12 points. Dunklin also finished with 12 points -- all from the field. Mocaby added six points, Alongi four and Sophie Hill four.
"Fischer had a strong game for us with her season high," File said. "We've not played super well at Carterville the last several years, but we were right there all night long giving them a good shot. We came out and executed the game plan and put the ball in the basket. Scoring over 50 points is a nice number to put up against a ranked team."
Amayah Doyle led the game with 25 points with Alecia Doyle finishing with 17 and Kasha Ward eight.
Thursday night the game was pretty even with Du Quoin taking an 11-9 lead after the first quarter with Alongi sinking her two three-pointers.
The Lady Indians put the game away in the second quarter with Alongi scoring five more points on a basket and 3-of-4 at the line. Kallie Oestreicher and Fischer scored one three-pointer each to take a 27-18 lead at the half.
Du Quoin added a point to its lead in the third quarter and both teams scored 15 points in the fourth quarter. Tanner and Morgenthaler were the leading scorers with 20 and 17 points, respectively. Morgenthaler had four three-pointers and Tanner two.
Alongi led the Lady Indians with 14 points, including 4-of-6 from the line, and Heape finished with 11. Oestreicher scored eight points with six points each from Dunklin, Hill and Mocaby, including her 12th three-pointer, and three points from Fischer.
"Loveleen and Kallie can score off the bench and really give us a super spark," File said. "The girls are really working well together. We really don't worry about who's starting and who's coming off the bench. We're looking at one of the best lineup combinations we've had. Those seven girls are going to get a lot of minutes."
