BASKETBALL: Lady Panthers hold off Du Quoin at Herrin
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[The Herrin Holiday Hoops Tournament continued on Tuesday evening with DuQuoin and Pinckneyville meeting in the eight o'clock game. Pinckneyville again beat DuQuoin, but this time the score was closer. The first time these two teams squared off Pinckneyville won 54-35 at Pinckneyville. That was on December 14. Tuesday's game was closer at 47-37.
DuQuoin played the Panthers fairly close in the first quarter. The first quarter ended at 14-8 with Pinckneyville leading. Pinckneyville turned up the offense and held DuQuoin to only four points in the second quarter. The half-time score was 29-12 Pinckneyville. In the third quarter, DuQuoin started out strong with two- three pointers by Cassidy Rice and Ashley Ward. DuQuoin cut the lead to eight at 29-21. Pinckneyville came back to end the third quarter at 41-27. In the final quarter, DuQuoin outscored Pinckneyville 10-8 to make the final score 47-37.
DuQuoin's record is now 8-4 overall and 1-1 in the Tournament. Pinckneyville moves to 9-4 and 2-0 in the Tournament.
Taylor Cicardi led all scorers with 16 points for Pinckneyville. Maddy Keith and Mo Ramsey had eight points each. Heather McDaniel had 7, Lindsey Winter 4, Dani Jenkel 2, and Katrina Henson 2. Taylor Kuhnert and Tyler Flowers also saw action for the Panthers.
Pinckneyville Coach Alan Engelhardt felt that "defensively our first half effort was great. We did not run a good offense, but the defense kept us in the game. In the third quarter, DuQuoin came out strong, and they cut the lead to eight. It was a tough fight after that. Unfortunately, we missed some layups that hurt us. But we found a way to win, and that is nice. I give DuQuoin credit--they did not quit."
DuQuoin's scoring was led by Ashley Ward with 11 points. Cassidy Rice had six on two-three pointers. Jessica Hirsch scored 5, Keawna Anders 5, Taylor King 4, Steffanie Gates 2, Rebekah Maddox 2, and Abby Myers 2. Curry Emling and Hailey Stewart also saw action during the game for the Indians.
Coach Shawn File commented that "Pinckneyville had a good game plan going into the game. They shut down Jessica Hirsch, and they made some nice adjustments. We had a good first quarter, but we let down in the second quarter. We spent the rest of the game trying to dig out of a hole. We cut the lead to eight at one point. We did not give up. In the fourth quarter, we were able to put two freshmen in the game (Stewart and Myers). We have to work on the simple things, and that does not mean easy. We continue to talk about rebounding and boxing out."
The Herrin Tournament continues on Wednesday, December 29. DuQuoin plays Herrin at 7:15 p.m. in Gym A. Pinckneyville will meet Cobden at 6:30 p.m. The final game of the evening will have
Murphysboro and Vienna competing at 8:00 p.m. The two Perry County rivals (DuQuoin and Pinckneyville) will play each other again in a Conference matchup in DuQuoin on January 27.