BOYS PREP BASKETBALL: Sparta Stuns Pinckneyville
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[ After trailing by as many as nineteen, Pinckneyville clawed back to within a single point, but couldn't stop Sparta from pulling off the 55-53 upset Friday night for their eighth win of the season.
"I thought Sparta did a fantastic job of out-hustling us, out-rebounding us, and putting us on our heels," said Pinckneyville head coach Bob Waggoner.
With the Bulldogs (8-19) up 9-6 in the early-going, London Oliver drove the baseline for two to start a 12-1 Sparta run, and also cut through traffic for an easy two in the lane during the spurt that ended with a Malcom Oliver three-pointer that rattled home at the first quarter's final buzzer.
Nathan Morton ended the Panthers' five-minute field goal drought against Sparta's zone defense with a two to bring Pinckneyville (19-7) to within eleven, but Jake Hargis sank a bucket and Dartanus White hit a pullup jumper with 3:19 to go in the half to give the Bulldogs a 26-9 lead.
Drew Dudek and Taylor Pyatt would hit three-pointers for Pinckneyville before the half, but Sparta still carried a 15-point advantage into the break.
"I thought they beat us in every facet of the game in the first half," said Waggoner. "If you give up ten points in the first half on layups, you get beat of the dribble, you don't rebound, you don't attack, you're going to be in for a long night - it doesn't matter who you play."
Clay Peck and White hit easy baskets to give the Bulldogs their biggest lead at 37-18 with 5:59 to go in the third quarter, and it was at that point the Panthers seemed to showed up to play basketball.
"It took us a half to realize how we were going to have to play to get ourselves back in the game," Waggoner said.
Pyatt hit his second three and Waggoner called for timeout with 4:21 to go, and Morton followed by drawing heavy contact while somehow making a tough basket down low. A flagrant foul was called on the Sparta defender, Morton made one of two free throws, and Dudek buried a three-pointer before the Bulldogs called for time with 2:14 left in the third, up 37-27.
A 7-0 Panthers run started the fourth quarter, as Dustin Winter's three with 6:37 to play cut the lead to three. A layup by Sims and free throws by Morton with just over five minutes remaining got the Panthers as close as they would get, down 41-40.
White's conventional three-point play with three and a half minutes to go put the Bulldogs up 47-42, and Dudek's three with 1:36 to play brought the Panthers to within four.
Sims' put-back with 1:07 left made it a one-possession game at 52-49, and Winter had a chance to tie, but his three-pointer was off and the Bulldogs came away with the rebound, as the Panthers began to run low on time. Peck went 3-for-4 at the line in the final 23 seconds, just enough to make Sims' bucket at the buzzer meaningless.
"We're not athletically talented enough to take teams for granted," said Waggoner. "Tonight we got a quick lesson."
Dudek led three Panthers in double figures with 14 points, Morton and Sims each finished with 11. Winter and Pyatt chipped in 6 points apiece, and Shay Kellerman had 5.
Pinckneyville is on the road again Saturday against Chester.
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