News

BASKETBALL: #204 boys win Regional title, advance to State

Posted January 31, 2011 10:00 pm

Doug Daniels

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Pinckneyville District #204 advanced into Saturday's 2011 Class S Boys Basketball State Tournament with a commanding 56-28 win over Steeleville on Monday night to claim the Region 7 Regional championship.

The Tigers got a team-high 18 points from Brian Taylor to go along with his 6 assists.

Most of Taylor's damage came early as he led #204 to a 9-0 start and 39-9 halftime lead with 14 first-half points. Caleb Dahn, who finished with 13 points and a team-high 8 rebounds and 6 steals in the game, scored nine in the second quarter.

Most of the starting lineup got a break in the fourth quarter and Hayden Swain scored all of the Tigers' four points in the period.

Jacob Jackson and Austin Kreger each finished with 6 points in the game, Sam Simpson and Swain had 4.

Pinckneyville District #204 (23-2) will take on St. Joe (Olney) at 3:45 p.m. this Saturday, February 5 at Rend Lake College in Ina, Illinois. Should they win, they will play again at 6:00 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 7.

<u>Junior Panthers eliminated</u>

Pinckneyville Junior High School ended their boys' basketball season in disappointment on Monday night, falling in overtime to Sesser-Valier 53-51 in the finals of the Class M, Region 4 Regional Tournament at PJHS.

It was a game of runs, with PJHS jumping ahead 15-8 after the first quarter, but allowing S-V to grab a 27-25 at the half. The Junior Panthers again jumped ahead after three, 40-36.

Trent Hicks had 16 points to lead PJHS, which finishes with a 12-10 record for the season. Austin Ferguson added 15 points, Dalton Gant 9, Zach Hagene 8 and Clayton Houghland 3.

Sesser-Valier moves on to this weekend's State Tournament at Rend Lake College in Ina, Illinois.

<u>DMS boys beaten at Frankfort</u>

Central Junior High School at West Frankfort managed to beat the DuQuoin Middle School Boys Basketball Team on Monday evening in a very closely contested ball game.

Central has only four losses this season. DuQuoin had a good effort, and only lost the game 45-40.

DuQuoin stayed very close to Central and was behind only 12-8 at the end of the first quarter. Half time had the score at 22-16 with DuQuoin down. The third quarter was 34-27 in Central's favor, and the final was 45-40.

The leading scorer for DMS was Jarred Thomas with 13 points. Jacob Wright had 11, A.J. Smith 6, Jacob Hunziker 4, Noah Campbell 4, and Jacob Valier 2.

The eighth grade record is 10-10 and 6-6 in the Conference. This was their final scheduled game before the Regional starts.

Coach Ryan Heape was impressed with his team's effort. "We have continued to improve the last three games. I was disappointed because we could have won the game if we had converted on the easy baskets. We are beginning to execute better, and play better as a squad. The players are understanding their roles. We are playing our best basketball right now. Our new season begins on Wednesday with the Regional. This is what we have worked for the past four months. Our best has to come on Wednesday. Tonight we played all four quarters of the basketball game."

The Seventh Grade Team won 43-38 ending their record at 6-13. This was their final game of the season. Coach Jacob Emling commented that "we were able to get everyone in the game. I am proud of the kids. Their record doesn't show how hard they worked this season."

Top-seeded DMS plays on Wednesday, February 2 at 7:30 in the Class L Region 3 Regional held here in DuQuoin. Other teams involved in this Regional are Murphysboro, Trico, and Chester.

Article Categories
News