Pinckneyville pulls away from Du Quoin

PINCKNEYVILLE - Dawson Yates scored 32 points and Pinckneyville High School's boys basketball team used an attacking offense and precise foul shooting to beat rival Du Quoin, 80-54, in the home opener at Duster Thomas Gymnasium on Friday night.

The Panthers improved to 7-1 overall and 2-0 in the SIRR Mississippi Division with the win, while Du Quoin fell to 2-5 and 0-2.

Yates, a 6-foot-2 junior guard, scored 12 of his points in the opening minutes and had another dozen in the third quarter. But arguably most importantly, he went 10-for-13 from the charity stripe on a night when Pinckneyville was 24-for-28 as a team.

None of those free throws were part of that game-opening flurry, however.

"The ball is in his hands a lot but you have to give a lot of credit to the other kids for getting it back to him," said Pinckneyville coach Bob Waggoner. "We do a lot of things to get him in positions where he can have space to score and our kids have to understand how to play off of him."

Grant Tanner had six of his 14 points in the second quarter to help Pinckneyville take a 29-22 lead into the halftime break.

"I didn't think we played a real good first half and we were only down nine," said Du Quoin coach Jason James.

The Indians kept it close in a high-scoring third quarter that saw a combined 49 points - Kadin Mays had eight of Du Quoin's 21 points, but Yates put in 12 - but a big bucket from Hunter Riggins gave the Panthers a 56-43 lead going into the fourth.

Riggins, who finished with 15 points, also converted a rare four-point play in the fourth quarter as the Panthers pulled away.

"Hunter had one of his best games," Waggoner said. "He really used space to drive and kick and was ready to set his feet and shoot whenever they stayed off of him."

The foul line was where Pinckneyville thrived. Adding up the tosses from Ben Restoff, Tanner, Dre Scott, Riggins and Vaden Szczepanski, those four Panthers combined to go 13-for-13 on their freebies.

"They tried to get to the rim and they did a good job of getting to the rim and finishing and getting free throws," James said. "We'd drive the middle and run into contact and just throw it. You're not going to get the call if you just throw the ball up in the air."

Waggoner said the game plan was definitely to attack the rim and try to negate the Indians' athleticism.

"We knew they were going to try to be physical with us," Waggoner said. "If we could stay low and get through the contact as much as possible, we knew they'd be in foul trouble."

Scott added eight points, while Dylan Houghland and Szczepanski both had four for the Panthers.

Braeden Pursell led Du Quoin with 16 points. Mays had 10, while Anthony Cole and Shamar Adams both had seven. Carson Davis and Josh Heape had six apiece.

"I've watched Du Quoin five times and by far this was one of their better ballgames," Waggoner said. "They played extremely physical and with a lot of energy. They really attacked us. But I give our kids a lot of credit: In a physical game they didn't lose their head and stuck with the game plan and wore them out in the second half."

The rematch of the Perry County rivals won't come until Feb. 2 unless they cross paths at the Duster Thomas Hoops Classic after Christmas.

"It was a great atmosphere," James said. "You have to love coming here and playing. We just wish it was more competitive than what it was. Our goal is that when they come to our place we make it more competitive and give them a ballgame and fight to the very end."

Both teams returned to action Saturday night with mixed results.

Du Quoin rolled to a 73-60 win at Harrisburg to become 3-5, while Pinckneyville hosted Herrin and lost 51-40 to fall to 7-2.

Herrin trailed the Panthers at the end of three quarters, 29-22, but erupted for 29 points and beat Pinckneyville by 11.

Du Quoin held a slim 36-35 lead at halftime but took a 10-point lead into the fourth quarter and won by 13. Pursell came off the bench and again led the Indians with 19 points. Heape, who also came off the bench, added 15.

Mays also reached double figures with 10 and both Davis and Nick Cole had nine apiece. Anthony Cole had seven and Dasani Edward chipped in four.