12/27/2023
BY JACK BULLOCK
ELDORADO - The Herrin Tigers appeared to be headed for a relatively easy win over Fairfield in the quarterfinals of the 59th annual Eldorado Holiday Tournament on Wednesday night.

But looks can be deceiving.

Coach Sayler Shurtz saw his club “take their foot off of the gas” in the fourth quarter, allowing the Mules to rally to force a pair of overtime sessions.

But as good teams will do, the Tigers refocused and outscored Fairfield 11-4 in the second overtime to advance to Thursday afternoon's semifinals with a 50-41 victory in front of a large crowd at Duff/Kingston Gymnasium.

Using their defense to turn into offense, Herrin turned four Mules' turnovers into points in the second extra period to improve to 7-4 overall and set up a showdown with Carmi-White County in the semi's.

The Bulldogs edged Anna-Jonesboro 47-38 in the final championship bracket quarterfinal on Wednesday night.

Coach Scott McElravy's club looked defeated after being held to just 12 first half points and they trailed 30-16 midway through the third quarter.

But the Mules rallied by outscoring Herrin 21-7, holding the Tigers to just two-points in the fourth quarter.

“They (Herrin) are so athletic and they stepped up the pressure (in the second overtime) and turned us over a couple of times,” said Coach McElravy. “I was hoping we would win it in our last possession in the first overtime. But they are athlete enough to disrupt what we tried to do.”

Herrin's stagnant offense in the final minutes of the regulation allowed the Mules to rally.

Exavier Williams topped the Tigers' offense with 15-points and his 3-of-4 free throws in the final 1:08 of the second overtime finally put away the Mules.

“We have done this all year where we have a five or six minute stretch were we can't score the basketball because we stop attacking,” said Coach Shurtz. “We were up 10 or 12 and they (Fairfield) started chipping away and gained some momentum. We didn't make our free throws and if you don't make them you let teams back in.”

Six-foot-five senior Jonathan Harrison added 13-points for Herrin while juniors Kyrese Lukens and Chris Nelson added 10-points each.

Fairfield was led by 6-foot-3 senior forward Layne Tucker with 15-points with 6-foot-1 senior Landon Harrelson added eight-points for the Mules.

One of the key differences in the outcome was Fairfield not getting to the foul line.

Coach McElravy's club only shot two free throws, both missed Harrelson in the fourth quarter while Herrin made 11-of-19 from the line.

One can point to turnovers for the Tigers as they allowed Fairfield back into the contest.

Coach Shurtz's team committed eight of their nine miscues in the third and fourth quarters.

Lukens scored seven of his ten points in the first quarter as the Tigers went on a 9-0 run.

Williams and Lukens both canned 3-pointers in the opening frame as they broke three first quarter ties to lead 14-7.

The second quarter wasn't much better for the Mules as they scored just five points on a 3-pointer from Harrelson and a drive down the baseline by sophomore guard Jake Easton.

The Mules were even called for a technical foul in the final minute of the period as they came out of a timeout with six players on the floor.

Williams hit both technical foul shots for a 22-12 Tigers' halftime advantage.

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Herrin reached its largest lead with 3:57 remaining in the third quarter.

Lukens and Nelson each dialed up long distance with successful 3-pointers and Harrison added a drive in the lane for a 14-point margin.

Tucker scored six of his points in the third frame but Williams closed the quarter with a buzzer beating 3-pointer from the top of the arc for a 35-24 lead heading to the fourth.

Not only did the Tigers hit just 1-of-5 field goal attempts in the final eight minutes of regulation, they added four more turnovers as Fairfield rallied to force extended play.

Tucker scored seven of his points in the fourth quarter as he added another 3-pointer for the Mules and a pair of important shots in the lane.

Both senior guard Jay Snyder and junior guard Justice Dagg canned long range shots for 3-points and a Tucker tip-in tied the score at 37-37 with :29 left.

Herrin had a chance for the win but a Lukens' shot from the left corner missed as the teams headed to overtime.

A Williams drive for a basket and a shot by 6-3 Fairfield freshman Jaylen Maners were the only points for the teams in the first overtime.

However in the second extra session, Herrin took control.

A nice drive by Williams turned into an assist to Harrison for a two-handed dunk for a 41-39 advantage.

Harrison followed that up with a driving score on the next possession.

Two-straight Fairfield turnovers ended up in points for Nelson, as he hit a pair of free throws after being fouled on a drive and converted in transition.

Dagg scored the Mules final points on a drive to the basket.

Herrin finally put the game on ice with 4-of-6 free throws in the final 1:21.

The Tigers shot the ball a bit better than Fairfield on the night, connecting on 17-of-39 overall, 5-of-12 from the 3-point line.

“Defensively I thought we did things correctly tonight we just took our foot off of the gas,” said Coach Shurtz. “They (Fairfield) are very well coached team, they play hard and they have some shooters at three or four different spots.”

The Mules finished 18-of-43 overall, 5-of-15 from the arc.

Fairfield will now play Anna-Jonesboro on Thursday morning in the fifth place bracket semifinals.

“It's all of these kids first opportunity to play in games like this (atmosphere) and we didn't have games like this last year,” said Coach McElravy. “It is great to have these experiences here at Christmas and hopefully this will help us in conference games and regionals down the road.”

Herrin will face a Bulldogs team that they edged 60-55 at the Du Quoin Tip-Off Classic back on December 1.

“It's nice when you can turn it on at the end when we need to and I thought in the second overtime we got our confidence back and we closed it out,” said Coach Shurtz. “It's part of the game and you have to be good at all facets. We played good enough to win tonight but we will need to be better tomorrow.”

Herrin (50) – McCree 1 0 0-0 2, Webber 0 0 0-0 0, Williams 2 2 5-6 15, Lukens 2 2 0-5 10, Harrison 5 0 3-4 13, Nelson 2 1 3-4 10. 2FG-12, 3FG-5, FT-11-19, PF-10.
Fairfield (41) – Easton 2 0 0-0 4, Snyder 0 1 0-0 3, DAgg 2 1 0-0 7, Harrelson 1 2 0-2 8, Tucker 6 1 0-0 15, Bliss 0 0 0-0 0, White 0 0 0-0 0, Maners 1 0 0-0 2, Gruen 1 0 0-0 2. 2FG-13, 3FG-5, FT-0-2, PF-13.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.