2009 DTHC Day #1: Panthers split, can finish no better than 3rd
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[ Pinckneyville will exit the 2009 Duster Thomas Hoops Classic much like they did the first two years of the young tournament - without a championship trophy.
Olney East Richland held on for dear life in Thomas Gymnasium on Monday night, defeating the host Panthers 57-56 in the DTHC day one finale.
Olney (now 2-0 in tournament play) will win Pool A and advance to the championship on Tuesday night if they can come away with a 10:00 a.m. victory over Steeleville, a team Pinckneyville dismantled earlier on Monday morning.
"We never got control of the game," said Pinckneyville head coach Bob Waggoner. "Olney did a fantastic job of running their offense, making us guard. We wasted a lot of possessions, with turnovers and bad shots. When you face a good team (like Olney), you have to value your possessions."
The Panthers seemed to be in control early with an 11-5 lead after a baseline jumper from Shay Kellerman and a three-point play from Nathan Morton, but the Tigers roared back as Pinckneyville went cold from the floor, and it was a one-possession game after eight minutes.
A 6-0 Olney run started the second, forcing the Panthers to play catch-up the remainder of the half. Morton made good on another three-point play with 3:55 left in the half, and Kellerman connected for three from the corner with 2:34 to go to cut the Tigers' lead to 28-25.
Mike Fehrenbacher hit a three midway through the third period, and after a Pinckneyville turnover he was sent to the line where he hit both free throws with 2:45 remaining in the third to put the Tigers up 39-29, their biggest lead.
"(Olney) made a nice run, but I don't think it was their run as much as our poor execution," said Waggoner.
Landon Chandler buried a three just before the quarter ended, but it wasn't until a 6-0 spurt over a minute and a half during the fourth that the Panthers were able to tie it up for the first time since the first quarter. Kellerman again was a factor, scoring back-to-back buckets in the clutch.
Brandon Berry showed up when he needed to, however, answering Kellerman's game-tying jumper with a tough two, then converting a three-point play just 45 seconds later, and all of a sudden Olney was back up by five.
Pinckneyville struggled to find a shot on offense, and a free throw from Christian Kabbes kept it a two-possession game as the clock eventually ran out on the Panthers.
"Win or lose, this game makes us better," Waggoner said. "Olney's a well-coached team, they've got five seniors, we can really learn from a game like this.
Both teams shot over 50% from the field, and Pinckneyville turned the ball over 10 times to Olney's 14.
Kellerman's 15 points led the Panthers, Morton added 14 and Drew Dudek had 10.
Berry finished with 15 for the Tigers, Derek Van Gundey chipped in with 13 points off the bench.
Including the 2007 DTHC and 2008 IHSA state third place game, Olney has now defeated Pinckneyville in all three meetings in the last three seasons.
PANTHERS PULL AWAY FROM WARRIORS
Earlier in the day, Pinckneyville trailed 14-9 after one quarter, but responded with a 17-2 second quarter en route to a 76-42 thrashing of Steeleville in the tournament's opening contest.
After the Panthers turned the ball over seven times in the opening frame, they then forced seven turnovers in the second period and took control, not allowing the Warriors to get any closer than nine after halftime.
"We didn't start out too well," said Waggoner, "but we finally wore them down, we got after them and didn't let them get into their offense very well (after the first quarter)."
Kyle Lamb came off the bench and led all scorers with 18 points, as he and Jake Bathon were replaced in the starting lineup by Taylor Pyatt and Christian Shopinski.
The changes were the first Waggoner has made to the starting lineup since opening night of the season. Lamb would start the game versus Olney, but Pyatt remained in the lineup instead of Bathon.
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