BASKETBALL: Panthers roll past Redbirds
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Pinckneyville jumped ahead early and never looked back in their 68-32 victory over West Frankfort on Saturday, holding the Redbirds scoreless in the fourth quarter until there was just 1:45 remaining in the game.
"(Our players) did everything we asked," said PCHS head basketball coach Bob Waggoner.
"Overall I thought our effort was good and I thought we had a lot of people that maybe didn't start, that came in and gave us a big lift tonight. I thought our bench play was great and that's very important to us."
Both teams came out a bit sloppy, turning it over twice before the Redbirds got on the board with a three-point play from Taylor Cash with 6:41 to go in the first.
Bryant Shute countered with a three-pointer for Pinckneyville, then Steve Brueggeman grabbed a steal and went the distance for an easy layup. The Panthers would connect on a total of nine three-pointers on the evening.
"We have good shooters," said Waggoner, "if they get their feet set, they're going to knock down shots. One of the things we need to do as teams start to take away that shot is drive the ball, be more aggressive at that and get to the rim, and hopefully that will open some things up for us."
A pair of threes from Hunter Queen and another fast break layup by Brueggeman following a Redbirds' turnover put Pinckneyville on top 17-6, but Frankfort closed the quarter out on a 6-0 run.
Brueggeman and Queen went 5-for-5 at the charity stripe at the beginning of the second quarter, then Hardin drove the baseline for a layup with 5:40 left in the half to give the Panthers a 24-12 edge which grew to 36-22 by halftime.
The Redbirds struggled mightily against the in-your-face Pinckneyville defense, scoring only 10 points after the break.
Shute and Queen led a balanced offensive attack for the Panthers with 14 points each. Lamb, Brueggeman added 9 points, Hardin and Nippe each finished with 7, Bumann 4, Shopinski and C.J. Opp 3.
"That's a big key for us is having balance," said Waggoner. "I think if our perimeter continues to improve and do what they're doing and our inside gets stronger, we'll be hard to guard."
The Panthers shot 58% (24-of-41) from the floor, but committed 17 turnovers on the night.
"We just need to play games," Waggoner said. "I know 17 turnovers isn't where we want to be, but a lot of these guys haven't played together, it takes a while to build chemistry. It takes a while for teams to gel and get comfortable. I really think that overall we played a pretty good ball game."
The Panthers (1-0) hit the road again this Friday when they travel to Waterloo to take on the Gibault Hawks (7:45 p.m.).
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