Tuesday's Prep Basketball: Opportunistic Murphysboro Works Overtime
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[After leading by as many as ten, Pinckneyville was unable to hold on as Murphysboro snuck away with a 51-50 overtime win Tuesday night at Thomas Gym.
The Red Devils were the beneficiary of two crucial calls late in the game; the first a charging foul against Drew Dudek, who led all scorers with 20 points, that helped send the game to overtime. The second, a timeout granted to the Murphysboro bench in overtime while they may not have had control of the basketball.
"We had opportunities," said Panthers' head coach Bob Waggoner. "You have to rebound, you have to take care of the ball, and you have to make free throws, and we didn't do any of those three. The only reason we were in the ball game is because we played so hard."
The first quarter ended 7-7, but the Panthers looked to take control in the second. Dudek hit a three-pointer from the corner and Landon Chandler found Jake Bathon for a fast-break layup to give Pinckneyville a five-point lead with 5:07 remaining in the half, as Murphysboro struggled to convert on their fast-break opportunities.
The Devils were down 19-16 after a drive and score by Jerrod Gaston, but the Panthers would close out the half strong with Shay Kellerman hitting a wide-open three to run the score to 24-16 at the break.
After the Panthers took their biggest lead of ten, the Devils began to come back, outscoring Pinckneyville 11-3 over the next four-and-a-half minutes. The Panther offense had began to struggle to find an open look.
Murphysboro was able to wear the Panthers down a bit in the second half, as Waggoner went with his starters most of the way, after his substitutions in the first half resulted in a few quick turnovers.
Pinckneyville still held a slim lead all the way until 2:31 remaining in the fourth quarter, when Gaston again drove to the hoop, drew contact from his defender, and tied the game with an acrobatic hoop. His free throw gave the Devils their first lead at 44-43.
Jake Bathon hit one-of-two free throws at the other end to tie it up, and Dudek came away with the ball in a pile-up and was granted timeout with 1:58 to play. Pinckneyville was five-for-ten from the free throw line in the fourth quarter.
The Panthers ran the clock all the way down to about thirteen seconds when Dudek took off for the basket. With 8.8 remaining on the clock, Dudek collided with a defender in the lane, the whistle blew, and the referee signaled for the charge as Dudek's potential game-winner went through the net, soon to be waved off.
"I thought we won it at the end of regulation," stated Waggoner.
Dudek's fifth three-pointer of the game put the Panthers up 47-46 with 2:26 go in overtime before back-to-back three-point plays at both ends (Payne and Kellerman) set up a crucial moment in the game with 1:16 to go.
Payne dribbled around the top of the key, slipped as he tried to drive, fell to the ground and appeared to lose control of the ball to Chandler, who had numbers the other way.
However, Devils' coach Daryl Murphy was granted a timeout just as Chandler started the fast break, and Murphysboro retained possession, infuriating the home crowd.
"He didn't have control of the ball, we already had the ball when they called the timeout," Waggoner said. "(But) that's just part of basketball. We shouldn't have been in that situation, if we hit our free throws and check off, we win easily."
Orlando Jarret cut to the basket and found an easy two with 55 seconds to play, and Waggoner called for timeout with 18.6 to go and his team down a single point.
The Panthers would turn it over, though, as the Devils improved to 5-0 on the season behind Gaston's 18 points and Payne's 16.
Murphysboro forced 19 Pinckneyville turnovers in the game while the Panther defense caused 15.
The Panthers travel to Anna this Friday for their first conference game of the 2009-10 season before taking on St. Louis (Vashon) this Saturday in Marion.