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SportsFebruary 5, 2024

DONIPHAN — The Twin Rivers Royals outlasted the Doniphan Dons 62 to 60 in a tense, hard-fought opening round game at the OFC Tournament on Saturday at Wright Gymnasium in Doniphan. Twin Rivers (12-10) was led in scoring by junior Luke Hester with 16 points and senior Carter Williams with 17 points, eight of which came in the fourth quarter and proved to be the difference in the game...

MARK J. SANDERS~Contributing Writer
Doniphan junior Emmitt Smith makes a backdoor layup around Twin Rivers defender Zach Joiner at their OFC Tournament game at Wright Gymnasium in Doniphan.
Doniphan junior Emmitt Smith makes a backdoor layup around Twin Rivers defender Zach Joiner at their OFC Tournament game at Wright Gymnasium in Doniphan. photos provided by Mark Sanders

DONIPHAN — The Twin Rivers Royals outlasted the Doniphan Dons 62 to 60 in a tense, hard-fought opening round game at the OFC Tournament on Saturday at Wright Gymnasium in Doniphan.

Twin Rivers (12-10) was led in scoring by junior Luke Hester with 16 points and senior Carter Williams with 17 points, eight of which came in the fourth quarter and proved to be the difference in the game.

Doniphan junior Emmitt Jones led all scorers with 25 points, and senior Isaac Rawlings contributed 17 points, including five three-pointers, most of them at dramatic times in the game.

“I couldn’t have asked for anything more out of my boys tonight,” said Doniphan head coach Hunter Dilbeck. “They left everything out on that court.”

The first quarter was fast-paced and evenly matched, with both teams hitting threes, layups, and foul shots. Each squad demonstrated the kind of intensity expected in a tournament game.

Doniphan, the sixth seed, led 20 to 19 at the end of the first, and they pushed their lead to 30 to 23 with five minutes left in the half. Third-seeded Twin Rivers responded with a nine-point run before Doniphan’s Corey Hagood tied the game at 32.

Jones was a big force for the Dons in the first half with 18 points, and his last points of the half sent the teams to the locker rooms knotted up at 38 points.

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The second half opened with missed shots and turnovers from both squads. Hester put the Royals on top with two free throws two minutes in. After that, both teams traded shots and leads for the rest of the period. The Royals outscored the Dons 12 to 11 for a 50 to 49 lead going into the final period.

The teams traded threes to open the fourth, and then Doniphan’s Rawlings sunk two free throws to put the Dons up by two. After trading baskets, an unforced Doniphan turnover led to a 55 to 54 Royals lead with four minutes left.

The final minutes of the game saw the lead change hands with almost every possession. Doniphan’s last lead was 60 to 59 with 1:33 remaining, but the Royals scored their last three points on William’s free throws.

Jones put up Doniphan’s last chance to tie before the buzzer, but it bounced off the rim and fell away as time expired.

“We were a few little things going our way away from a different outcome,” Dilbeck said, “but I’m so proud of all of them for the 32 minutes of great effort they gave.”

Doniphan’s record fell to 4-13 on the season, and their next game is at home against Clarkton on Saturday, February 10.

Twin Rivers will move on to face second-seeded Neelyville in the OFC Tournament semifinals on Tuesday, February 6 in Doniphan.

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