It was supposed to be a much closer game.
Harrisburg invaded Memorial Gymnasium last Friday night with a record of 12-4. The Bulldogs left with five losses after the Murphysboro Red Devils dismantled them, 66-43.
The victory gave Murphysboro a two-game lead in the race for the SIRR Ohio Division crown. It also gave Murphysboro coach Daryl Murphy his 300th career win.
"I told our kids that we needed a two-game cushion because we haven't gone to Massac yet,'' Murphy said. "We haven't gone to Harrisburg, and we haven't gone to Herrin.
"We've got three tough road games left in the conference and we needed a two-game lead. And we got it."
And the Red Devils got it in convincing fashion.
Harrisburg scored the first two points of the contest, but that would be its only lead of the game as Murphysboro reeled off the next 14 points and never looked back.
Jerrod Gaston got the Red Devils (18-1, 5-0) going with a pair of free throws at the 7:43 mark of the first quarter. Eben Brooks followed with a bucket 48 seconds later to give Murphysboro the lead for good.
Dylan Craig made it 7-2 when he drained a 3-pointer, and Brooks nailed a baseline jumper at the 3:30 mark of the first to give Murphysboro a 9-2 lead.
Just 10 seconds after Brooks' bucket, Harrisburg coach Randy Smithpeters was handed a technical foul for arguing an over-and-back call. Dre Shean Payne stepped to the line to shoot the technical free throws, and hit both to give Murphysboro an 11-2 lead. Gaston would follow with a drive and a layup to push the advantage to 13-2, and Payne hit another free throw at the 2:49 mark of the opening frame to give the Red Devils a 14-2 advantage.
Cain Sheldon's free throw stopped the run, but Payne followed with a 3-pointer to push Murphysboro's lead to 14 points at 17-3. The Red Devils would close the period with a 21-6 advantage.
Murphysboro kept up the pressure at the beginning of the second quarter.
Craig got the period started with a 3-pointer, and Payne followed with a steal and layup to make it 26-6. Pierre House then hit two free throws at the 6:51 mark to give Murphysboro a commanding lead at 28-6.
The Red Devils would extend their advantage to 23 points when Craig hit a free throw to make it 31-8. They would head into the locker room at halftime with a 34-16 lead.
Murphysboro got several easy buckets in the first half as a result of 13 Harrisburg turnovers. But the Red Devils also executed when they had to.
"We turned mistakes into points," Murphy said. "But when we had to run our offense we ran our sets perfectly. It was clicking on all cylinders."
Murphysboro continued to click in the second half, and led by as many as 28 points in the third period. The Red Devils were up, 47-25, late in the period before Orland Jarrett, House and Gaston all scored to push the advantage to 53-25 heading into the fourth quarter.
The Red Devils wound up shooting a little over 50 percent (24-for-47) from the field, and the defense forced the Bulldogs to commit 23 turnovers in the game.
"Earlier this year I said this team wasn't playing as good as I thought it could,'' Murphy said. "(Tonight) we got a pretty good glimpse of how good I think they can get. I feel like we took a step forward and became a better basketball team."
A team that gave its coach his 300th win.
"It means there's been a lot of tough nights,'' Murphy said with a smile when asked about the 300th win. "It means a lot.
"But right now I'm more happy to have a two-game lead in the conference, and that's the truth. The 300th I'll think about on Saturday afternoon, or something like that."
Payne led Murphysboro with 15 points. Craig and Gaston finished with 11 points apiece.
Sheldon had 13 points for Harrisburg, and Reid Roper scored 11 points.
Murphysboro, Ill. —
