BASKETBALL: Panthers' streak survives scare against Benton
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Pinckneyville kept their six-year-plus winning streak at the Benton Invitational tournament alive last night with a 51-42 victory over the host Rangers after trailing by as many as six during the fourth quarter.
"Give Benton some credit, they were energized and ready," said Panthers' head coach Bob Waggoner. "We just gutted one out again, found a way."
"I thought tonight, they got to the rim a little bit on us, we talked about that early, we couldn't let that happen, but when it really counted and they were trying, we were there. I thought our guys really came through and gutted it out."
The Panthers threatened to pull away on a number of occasions in the first half, with Hunter Queen's three-pointer with 2:12 on the first quarter clock putting Pinckneyville up 12-5.
Mason Childers had a putback before the end of the period, though, and Caleb Suver scored the first points of the second quarter to cut the lead to three.
The deep ball was Pinckneyville's weapon of choice again later in the half as Bryant Shute banked one in with 5:44 to go, and Brueggeman was left wide open for a trifecta with 3:36 remaining.
Christian Shopinski pulled up at the top of the key for a two point jumper with 2:42 left in the half and the Panthers had their biggest lead of the night at 25-13.
Much like it had at Teutopolis on Saturday, the third quarter didn't treat Pinckneyville too kindly on Monday night.
Benton outscored the Panthers 20-2 from the 2:00 mark of the second quarter until the start of the fourth quarter, and suddenly the Rangers had a 33-27 advantage after Trey Garrett beat the third quarter buzzer. Pinckneyville scored only two points in the third period, a bank shot by Shopinski near the five-minute mark.
"It seems like in the third quarter we just can't come out and play," Waggoner said. "We just seem tired, or not as focused, and not ready to go. But again, give our kids a lot of credit for coming back late, finding a way and making it a ten point game."
Also much like Saturday's upset win, the Panthers had the answers in the fourth quarter as Payton Nippe hit a three and Kyle Lamb scored inside to cut the lead to one before Lamb's free throws with five minutes to play restored a Pinckneyville lead.
After Shute drove to the goal for two and added a free throw a possession later, Brueggeman got behind the defense for an easy lay-in with 1:23 left in the game to give the Panthers a 41-38 lead.
From there, Pinckneyville did it at the free throw line, making their last eleven attempts from the charity stripe to end any hopes of a late Benton surge.
"Our kids believe they're going to win," Waggoner said. "I don't know how else to say it other than when you look at them, when teams are making runs like that, and you try to talk them through it and you're going through things, they're still going to play and try and do what we ask."
"I think that's why late they have the confidence that they're going to make shots and that they're going to come back and win the game."
Shute made seven straight at the line during the final three minutes, Brueggeman was a perfect four-for-four in the last thirty seconds. The Panthers turned the ball over only four times in the game.
Shute's 15 points led the way for Pinckneyville, Brueggeman joined him in double figures with 14 points, Nippe added 7, Lamb 6, Queen 5 and Shopinski 4.
"I think that they have bought into what it's going to take for us to win and to be successful," said Waggoner. "We're not going to out-talent anybody, but we can out-work and we can out-tough and we can defend and we can make it tough on you."
The Panthers (11-5, 1-0 at B.I.T.) have now won 39 straight games at Rich Herrin Gymnasium, and haven't lost there since the 2004 B.I.T. against Cairo, who won that year's tournament with a 5-0 mark. That winning streak will again be put on the line this Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. when Pinckneyville takes on Sesser-Valier.
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