Panthers Win on Senior Night
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[ Playing after a loss for the first time since late December, Pinckneyville pounded Chester 76-44 on Saturday night at Thomas Gymnasium after an impressive 33-3 first half run.
"Coming off a tough loss (Friday) night, I really thought we could have came out flat," said second-year Pinckneyville head coach Bob Waggoner, referring to the heartbreaking home loss to conference foe Du Quoin the previous evening.
"This group has played really hard all year and came out most games ready to go, and tonight was no exception."
Steve Wallace had a driving layup for the Yellowjackets that tied the game at 7-7 with 2:07 left in the opening quarter, but Chester would score only five points in the remaining ten-plus minutes of the half.
Cody Sims' baseline jumper with 1:47 on the clock started 18 unanswered for the Panthers, a run that included a pair of wide-open three-pointers by Dustin Winter, and a three from Shay Kellerman to go along with his conventional three-point play near the end of the first quarter.
Wallace stopped the bleeding with a bucket near the midway point of the second quarter, but Winter buried another three that sparked a 15-1 Pinckneyville run before the half.
The Panthers (19-5) took a 40-12 lead to the break on senior night at PCHS, and the Yellowjackets would get no closer than 24 points down in the second half.
"I thought Chester played extremely hard," commented Waggoner, adding "they got a lot of rebounds, they played with some intensity, they just didn't make shots."
Winter led three Panthers in double figures with 17 points, Sims added 14, S. Kellerman 12.
Adam Lutz led Chester with 15 points.
Pinckneyville is on the road for their remaining three regular season games beginning with a trip to Sparta this Friday. They'll play Chester the following night.
Prior to Saturday's games, four Panther seniors-Sims, Winter, D. Kellerman and Bryant Lively -were honored.
REGIONAL PAIRINGS
The IHSA Class 2A Pinckneyville Regional pairings were confirmed late last week.
Play begins Monday, Feb. 23 when top-seeded Du Quoin faces Sparta. Pinckneyville and Red Bud-the #2 and three seeds respectively-take the floor Tuesday, Feb. 24 with the finals set for Friday, Feb. 26.
All three games start at 7:30.