Bulldogs off to best start since 2017
The ice and snowstorm wiped out last weekend’s games at Murphysboro and at home against Anna-Jonesboro, giving the Harrisburg boys basketball team an unexpected extended break at the midpoint of the season before hopefully returning to action Tuesday hosting Du Quoin before the Herrin tigers come to town Friday for a big SIRR Ohio Division showdown between the two co-leaders.
The Bulldogs (10-4, 2-0 Ohio) are off to their best start since the 2017-18 season when Hall of Fame coach Randy Smithpeters was still behind the bench leading Harrisburg to an 11-3 start, a 24-7 record and the regional championship game.
“We’ve beaten some good teams and got beat by some really good teams, but at 10-4 and 2-0 in the conference, I think we’re in pretty good shape,” said Harrisburg coach Andy Fehrenbacher. “Both of those were home conference games, which you have to win if you want to have a shot at winning the conference and we have some tough ones coming up no doubt about it. I like where we are at right now and everyone seems to be healthy.”
The next best start was last year in Coach Fehrenbacher’s second season at the helm when the Bulldogs opened the season with a 9-4 record, but lost its next two games and finished the season with a disappointing 14-19 record.
Du Quoin comes in with a 4-7 record. The showdown with Herrin (2-0 Ohio) will pit two teams that are off to a similar start with the Tigers coming off a brutal home loss to Mount Vernon from the South Seven Conference, 71-40, that snapped an 11-game winning streak to drop their record to 13-2. Herrin has beaten Harrisburg seven straight times with the last win being on Feb. 23, 2021.
“Du Quoin struggled before Christmas, but I think they got third at the Sesser-Valier Holiday Tournament and a week ago Saturday beat Carterville after we beat Carterville Friday night,” Fehrenbacher said. “It would be nice to beat Herrin because we haven’t in a number of years. I know we haven’t beaten them since I’ve been here unfortunately. If we win that game it would do a lot of good conference wise.”
The Bulldogs will be coming off the break having won its last two games and four of its last five. Harrisburg is averaging 54.4 points a game while Herrin is only four points better at 58.5 Defensively, the Bulldogs are better by five points giving up 42.9 points compared to 47.9 for the Tigers.
Senior Cayden Young is having a stellar season leading the Bulldogs with a 15.6 scoring average after averaging just 4.8 points a game last year and also leads the team with 32 three-point baskets.
“Cayden has been really smooth for us,” Fehrenbacher said. “He’s had a great start to the season, which I knew he would and has been all-tournament in both tournaments we’ve been in. He’s leading us in scoring right now and he’s definitely getting a lot of the attention from other teams defensively guarding him. He’s starting to get double-teamed and things like that.”
Young’s best games were 27 points at home against Hardin County and 21 points in a 59-41 loss at Herrin.
Jalon Ellis in his first season with Harrisburg after transferring from Carrier Mills, where he was a career 1,000 points scorer, and most likely would have finished as the all-time leading scorer if he had stayed.
Ellis is second on the team with a 14.2 scoring average with all but five of his baskets coming from inside the arc or at the free throw line. Ellis’ best game was a team-high 28 points against Hardin County at the season-opening Goreville Invitational, where he was named to the All-Tournament Team.
“Jalon is leading us in rebounds and assists, so he’s been a big deal for us this year,” Fehrenbacher said. “He rebounds well for a guard. He’s making plays and doing some big things for us. He’s taken a big leadership role and has fitted right in with our guys.”
Senior Adrian Mann is the third leading scorer averaging eight points a game after averaging 8.3 last season. Mann is second on the team with 17 three-point baskets. Mann’s best game was 15 points against Edwards County at the Eldorado Holiday Tournament, where he was named to the All-Tournament Team.
“Adrian has stepped up,” Fehrenbacher said. “He’s hit double digits a number of times and have come up big in key moments. There were a couple of games at Eldorado he hit some big shots and the other night when Carterville was making a run to get back into it he made some big shots to right the ship.”
Senior Owen Rann is averaging 7.7 points a game after finishing last season with a five-point average. Rann’s best game was 20 points at Gallatin County.
“Owen has some big scoring games for us and he’s had games he’s been a big rebounding factor for us,” Fehrenbacher said. “He does a good job defending inside. I look for him as teams double Cayden more he might find himself open more and he’s more than capable of knocking down shots inside or stepping out and hitting a three.”
Senior Reed Rider is averaging three points a game after averaging 2.9 points last season. Rider’s best game was 10 points in the third game of the Goreville Invitational against Benton.
“Reed is our defensive stopper,” Fehrenbacher said. “He’s our workhorse. He’ll make a lot of plays on the defense end or in transition — get the loose ball — or on the offensive end get the offensive rebound keeping it alive. He sets great screens. He’s just a great overall teammate. He’s super important to our team.”
Braxton Murphy is the first man off the bench. The sophomore played in 11 games last season after he was brought up from the JV team at the end of season and averaged 3.1 points a game, including making 10-of-19 shots from beyond the arc.
This season Murphy has played in every game and is third on the team with 14 three-points goals made while averaging 4.5 points a game. His best three games were 13 points in the last game of the Goreville Invitational against Anna-Jonesboro, 12 points in the next game at home against Hardin County and 11 points against Massac County at the Eldorado Holiday Tournament.
“This year Murphy’s hit double digits a couple times,” Fehrenbacher said. “We’ve had six different guys hit double digits at one point this year. As the season progresses Murphy will get more confident.”
Chandler Questelle has played in all but three games and is averaging 1.1 points a game. The senior started three games when Mann was sidelined with dehydration and scored a season-high six points in his second start against Gallatin County and followed with five points against West Frankfort.
“The bench right now has been mostly Murphy and Questelle,” Fehrenbacher said. “Questelle hadn’t played the last two years, but came out this year. He doesn’t score a lot, but he’s more of a facilitator. He’ll make good assists and set guys up. He’ll defend and get some steals. He’s a good role player off the bench that can give our guards a couple of minutes to catch their breaths.”