12-07-10
BY JACK BULLOCK
HERRIN – Games don't always turn out pretty but the Murphysboro win at Herrin on Tuesday night in the SIRR Ohio Division opener for both teams is a keeper.

Behind the scoring of Jerrod Gaston (16-points) and a defensive effort that kept the host Tigers at bay – head coach Daryl Murphy's troops improved to 5-0 on the season with a sluggish - but well in hand – 57-37 road win.

Pierre House and Orlando Jarrett added 12 and 10 points respectively as the Red Devils took the lead from the opening tap and never let Herrin back into the game.

Although they seemingly tried to.

Murphysboro committed an unlikely 15-turnovers in the contest with 10 coming in the first half.

But a good shooting performance and a solid defensive effort overcame the sloppiness of the ball control as Murphy stayed unbeaten.

“I don't know what it is yet but we are not in full-force right now,” said Coach Murphy. “Defensively I thought it was a pretty good effort except they scored quite a few points at the line in the first half because we got in foul trouble. The first thing I address the kids with after the game is that 'we aren't very good right now' - we are playing good defense right now – not great – but good. We had 15 turnovers tonight and we averaged about four turnovers last year. That is 11 possessions. That's huge. We got to get better.”

The Tigers never got going on offense until it was way too late.

JoJo Hart and Bobby Mannie shared scoring honors with 13-points each but neither could help the woeful shooting performance.

Herrin shot just 11-of-46 for the contest overall – hitting just 4-of-15 from behind the 3-point arc.

“They are solid. All five of their players are solid and you can't slough off of any of them because they all can hurt you from the outside,” said Herrin head coach Irv Lukens. “They have quickness and jumping ability. They are a hard team to defend.”

Murphysboro jumped out to an 11-2 early lead – thanks to a pair of 3-pointers from Dylan Craig and Jarrett.

Jarrett opened the festivities with a bomb from the top of the arc just :17 into the match.

Craig nailed his shot from the right wing to give Murphysboro a nine-point advantage.

Herrin got as close as six points early in the second quarter when Hart drove the lane to cut the deficit to just 15-9.

But a 6-0 run highlighted by a Gaston steal and fast break dunk forced Herrin head coach Irv Lukens to call a timeout at 24-13 with 5:09 before halftime.

Gaston would score two more times before the break – both times driving the lane and pulling up for jump shots over Herrin's 6-foot-7 junior Brown.

His second one as he won the challenge over Brown closed the half at 33-16 Red Devils.

“The thing that Jerrod does really well that is missing in high school basketball anymore is that he can pull-up and hit that 15-footer off the dribble,” Coach Murphy added. “You don't see that very often anymore. He is a very highly skilled basketball player.”

The only real Herrin breath of life in this contest came in the third quarter.

The Tigers got seven points in that frame from Hart – a 5-foot-9 senior guard – who hit a 3-pointer from the left corner and then stole the ball and finished a fast break all within nine seconds of each other.

That five point swing cut the Murphysboro lead to 42-27.

However that turned out to be just a tease as the Red Devils kept the lead at double-figures for the remainder of the contest.

A 6-0 sprint by Murphy to begin the final stanza settled the issue.

Six-foot-three senior forward Eben Brooks hit four-consecutive free throws and Gaston added another basket on a rebound to make it 52-31.

The mop-up crews finished the job in the final minutes.

The Red Devils were very good at shooting the ball on this night connecting on 22-of-38 shots from the field overall (5-of-9 from behind the 3-point arc) and held a slight 25-23 rebounding edge.

Although they committed those 15 mistakes – Murphysboro held command of the contest to stay undefeated in 2010-11.

Herrin – playing without three key players due to illness and disciplinary action – saw its mark dip to 0-6.

Without DeMarlo Harris, Jamie Jones and Jakob Caldwell – Herrin was missing arguably their best player (Harris) and were no match to Murphysboro on this night.

“I thought that we had some good looks that we missed and we even had some inside rebounds and I thought that we rebounded pretty well with them,” said Coach Lukens. “But they are a tough team and we have struggled scoring a little bit and I had about 30-points sitting on the bench. It is hard to overcome those situations.”

The Red Devils head back to River-to-River Ohio play on Friday when they host Benton while Herrin will host West Frankfort that night.

“The great thing is we're learning lessons winning. I hate it the other way. I hate to get taught a lesson and lose,” added Coach Murphy. “It is a work in progress and we will get the offense going better. We got up 15 to 17 points and we pulled the troops back. My job was to come over here and win. Not win by forty.”

Murphysboro (57) – Rose 0 0 0-0 0, Greer 0 0 0-0 0, House 4 1 1-1 12, Maloney 0 0 0-0 0, Craig 0 2 0-0 6, Gaston 7 0 2-2 16, Stanton 4 0 1-3 9, Heller 0 0 0-0 0, Jarrett 2 2 0-0 10, Brooks 0 0 4-4 4, Novara 0 0 0-0 0, Miller 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-17, 3FG-5, FT-8-10, PF-15.
Herrin (37) –J. Hart 3 2 1-1 13, Mannie 3 1 4-7 13, Brown 1 0 0-0 5, N. Lukens 0 0 0-0 0, Wayer 0 0 0-0 0, J. Lukens 1 0 1-3 3, Hoague 0 0 1-2 1, D. Hart 0 0 0-0 0, Harkins 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-9, 3FG-4, FT-7-15, PF-7.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.