Girls Prep Basketball: Lady Panthers ride hot streak into brief holiday break

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Pinckneyville Community High School's Girls Basketball team enters the brief holiday break with a 9-2 record-and riding a three-game victory streak-following Saturday afternoon's 51-42 home floor win over Okawville.

The Lady Panthers play again Dec. 26 against Johnston City in the Herrin Holiday Round-Robin.

A 17-6 final quarter rallied PCHS, which trailed 36-34 as the fourth period began.

"We did our best job of playing hard for four quarters tonight," Lady Panthers coach Alan Engelhardt said. "I think we are heading into the right direction as we get into the Christmas holiday. We need to have a good week of practice to get ready for Herrin's tourney."

Against Okawville, the Lady Panthers struggled from the floor, but all-state candidate Emily Miller pumped in a career-high 33 points to keep the offense going.

Miller was one of just four Lady Panthers to score. Maddy Keith added seven points, Dani Jenkel six and Katrina Henson's five rounded out the Pinckenyville chart.

"Even when our shots weren't falling we continued to guard and play very hard," Engelhardt added. "We were much more patient running our offense and Emily Miller came up big. When the offense bogged down, she was finding ways to score."

After playing Johnston City Dec. 26, the Lady Panther schedule at Herrin includes Carterville, Vienna, Cbbden and the host Lady Tigers.

Pinckneyville 51, Okawville 42

Okawville 06 14 16 06 - 42

Pinckneyville 08 16 10 17-51

Okawville: Lake 2, Lintker 7, Frederking 4, As. Brammeier, Wienstroer 11, Al. Brammeier 10

Pinckneyville: Keith 7, Jenkel 6, Henson 5, Miller 33

THURSDAY- PCHS 68, Chester 38

For the second time in as many games, Pinckneyville Community High School's girls basketball team raced to a big early lead.

The Lady Panthers-improving to 8-2 overall-climbed back over the .500 mark in River-to-River Conference play (3-2), with a 68-38 romp at Chester.

Saturday afternoon, PCHS hosts Okawville.

Just as in Tuesday's romp over Du Quoin, the Lady Panthers set an early tone with intense defensive pressure.

"I was really pleased with our effort on defense again," PCHS coach Alan Engelhardt said. "We did such a nice job of getting out into the passing lanes and disrupting the offense Chester wanted to run."

PCHS darted in front 19-5 as the first period ended and stretched the margin to 37-17 by halftime.

A 23-10 third quarter blitz by Pinckneyville more than sealed the deal.

Emily Miller topped the Lady Panthers with 23 points, hitting 9-of-12 shots from the floor.

Taylor Cicardi proved a nice compliment to Miller, adding 18 more points.

"It was nice to see Taylor break out of her funk by shooting really well." Engelhardt said. "Emily Miller also had another big game for us. We did a better job of showing patience and running the offense until we found easy shots."

Pinckneyville 68, Chester 38

Chester 05 12 10 11 -38

Pinckneyville 19 18 23 08 -68

Chester:

Lyons 6, Clendenin 9, Miller 1, Best 8, Bert 7, Young 2,

Helmers 3, Marcinkowska 2

Pinckneyville (8-2, 3-2):

Keith 6, Winter 4, Jenkel 4, Conner 6, Henson 7,

Cicardi 18, Miller 23