 01/05/2024
BY JACK BULLOCK
HARRISBURG - Senior guard Karmello Abernathy only scored three-points
on Friday night, a key three-point play in the fourth quarter
of Murphysboro's 54-46 win over Harrisburg.
However
his defensive effort (with help from his teammates) on high-scoring
Bulldog senior guard Cameron Ande, along with a big fourth quarter
scoring run, propelled the Red Devils to a huge conference road
victory.
Coach
Daryl Murphy's club held the Harrisburg ace to just 14-points
and the Red Devils used a 10-3 scoring run, forcing four Bulldog
fourth quarter turnovers, as Murphysboro took home the eight-point
win.
Murphysboro
improved to 8-4 overall, 2-1 in the Ohio Division while the
Bulldogs dropped to 1-2, 10-7.
The
Red Devils are now in the three-way tie atop the division with
Carterville and Massac County.
Offensively
the visitors were topped by 6-foot junior guard Kaden Shields,
who canned four 3-pointers and finished with 18-points.
His
final bomb in the fourth quarter pushed the Murphysboro lead
to 44-38 with 3:19 left.
The
Red Devils closed out the contest with 8-of-10 fourth quarter
free throws, including 4-of-4 in the final :25.3 by junior guard
Cade Brooks.
“Look
at the job defensively he (Abernathy) did on one of the best
players in the South,” said Coach Murphy. “He was
the Player of the Game tonight and he only had three-points.
“Defense, as a whole, was pretty darn good (tonight).
Offensively I don't know what our struggles are on offense.
We haven't had very many games where we have all five guys playing
well on offense.”
Coach
Andy Fehrenbacher and his Bulldogs led 29-22 in the third quarter
but didn't finish the job as Harrisburg went cold from the field
in the final 12 minutes of the match up.
Overall
the Bulldogs finished 16-of-41 from the field and just 2-of-15
from the 3-point arc, 1-of-8 from long range in the final quarter.
Meanwhile
the Red Devils were 19-of-41, 7-of-16 from long range, which
included 2-of-3 in the final frame.
“I
give Murphysboro credit, they hung in there and had a great
second half. They made plays and we did not down the stretch,”
said Coach Fehrenbacher. “They made some big shots and
were able to finish. We have to get better and times when the
shots aren't falling you have to play through it and our guys
don't always do that. It's something we're working on and hoping
to get better at. We need our offense to feed off of our defense
and it's just not there yet.”
Sophomore
Myles Guthman ended up with eight-points as he and Shields each
canned 3-pointers in the fourth.
Brooks
also finished with eight-points (all in the fourth quarter)
while AJ Boese notched 10-points, six in the final stanza, as
the Red Devils outscored the hosts 24-15 after trailing 31-30
at the end of the third.
Harrisburg
opened up the game playing well with two six-point scoring runs
to lead 12-8 at the end of the first quarter.
Ande
scored four of his points in the first run on a rebound put-back
and a drive down the baseline.
Senior
guard Conner Henshaw scored four of his seven points in the
early going, nailing a 3-pointer and 1-of-2 free throws.
Shields
got going early for the Red Devils, hitting two of his treys
before hit was part of a 9-0 run in the second quarter.
Boese
scored to start the scoring spree before Shield scored three-consecutive
times, one on another long range shot from the left corner and
two-straight transition baskets for a 17-14 Murphysboro advantage
with 4:40 left in the half.
Ande
tossed in a transition score, on a nice move down the lane for
a left-handed lay in before adding a couple of free throws as
Harrisburg took a 24-22 lead into the intermission.
Five-straight
points to open the second half by the Bulldogs on a steal and
fast break by junior Owen Rann and 1-of-2 free throws by Henshaw.
Henshaw
then dropped in a shot off of an offensive board as Harrisburg
led by seven-points, its largest of the night.
The
Red Devils closed the gap with an 8-1 finish to the frame.
Guthman
and senior guard Tucker Horstman combined for those points as
Guthman nailed down a 3-pointer and finalized the run with a
drive to the basket.
Horstman,
an important reserve for the Red Devils, took an assist from
Boese for a basket in between the Guthman points as Murphysboro
trailed just 31-30 heading to the final eight minutes.
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