Hornets Close Out Regular Season

Bryce Bultman puts up a shot over DuQuoin’s Hank Stewart during the Hornets 52-42 win over the Indians.
By Brent Huelsmann
The final game at Assembly Hall this season saw the Nashville Hornets match up against the DuQuoin Indians in a Southern Illinois River to River Conference Mississippi Division contest. The Hornets controlled the action for most of the game, and came away with a ten point win to finish conference play with an 8-2 record. Overall the Hornets finished the regular season with a record of 21-7.
The Hornets jumped out to a big lead early, as Nashville scored the first 11 points of the ball game. Nashville eventually went up 14-2 midway through the frame, but DuQuoin got two big shots from behind the arc late to cut the Hornets lead to 17-8 at the end of the first.
The Hornets maintained control of the contest throughout the early part of the second quarter, but the Indians would make a run as time wound down in the first half. Trailing 24-12, the Indians would scored seven of the final nine points of the quarter to cut the deficit to 26-19 as the teams went into the locker room at halftime.
In the third, the Hornets were able to keep the Indians at arms length as the Indians never got closer than seven in the third quarter. As the buzzer sounded at the end of the third, Nashville held a 39-29 lead.
The Indians would make one last run in the fourth, as they cut the Hornets lead to just five midway through the quarter, but Nashville was able to knock down free throws late to put DuQuoin away and take a 52-42 win.
The win gave the Hornets an 8-2 record in conference play and a 21-7 record overall. Wayne Harre talked about his team’s season, which began with an overtime loss to Waterloo. “I thought we’ve gotten better from the beginning to the end, and that was our goal. You’re trying to get better every game. You’re going to have little dips as you go, but I thought we were getting better every game and that’s what it’s all about. We’re trying to climb a mountain here, hopefully we keep climbing.”
Lamontay Daughtery led DuQuoin in the loss with 21 points. “He’s one of the top players in the state at the sophomore level. I thought we did a good job on him. I thought he had tough shots to make. Sometimes you just can’t defend it. I thought we made him earn most of them, and that’s all that you can do,” said Coach Harre after the game.
Harre went on to talk about Carson Parker who led Nashville with 21 points. “He’s playing with a lot of confidence and that is what we like to see. That is what we are looking for from him. I thought he pretty solid game tonight.”
Bryce Bultman added 13 points, followed by Tanner Bergmann with eight points. Jake Haley scored five points, while Cameron Parker scored three points.