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BASKETBALL: Lady Panthers fight back to top Benton in OT

Posted December 03, 2011 10:00 pm

Doug Daniels

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Down 27-13 at halftime, the Lady Panthers fought all the way back to force overtime and eventually knock off Benton 44-41 in Thursday night's home game at Thomas Gymnasium. Pinckneyville's Katelyn Mayer struggled from the field at times during the game, but rallied with a three-pointer to tie the score late in regulation before sealing the win with a steal and layup in the extra frame.

"(Mayer) ended up with 17 points because of the hustle plays," said Pinckneyville head coach Alan Engelhardt, "and the kids did a great job of finding her and giving her that chance too. We share the ball pretty well, and that's the fun thing about coaching this group."

Things looked bleak for the entire first half, but early in the third quarter the Lady Panthers had a ten-second spurt where they scored eight unanswered points, six coming on threes from Heather McDaniel, who also had a steal during the run.

"That was huge because (the lead) went from 17 to 9 in just a few seconds, and now it's single digits and you start saying we've got a chance," Engelhardt said. "We talked about getting it under six going into the fourth, and we got it to four, so then you really feel like you've got a chance."

Mayer tied the game with a breakaway layup off of a Rangerettes turnover with 6:20 to go in the game, then knocked down a three with 1:09 remaining off an inbounds play to tie it up again at 35-35.

"By the end of the game we looked a little fresher, had a little more bounce in our step," Engelhardt said.

McDaniel stole it away and gave Pinckneyville a two-point lead with her layup as the clock approached 30 seconds to play, but Benton's Morgan Corn was fouled on a rebound with 9.2 on the clock and hit both free throws to force overtime.

There, Pinckneyville allowed a single Benton bucket and made just enough free throws to get in front and stay there. Haley Simpson knocked down a pair to give the Lady Panthers the lead, then Haley Szczepanski made one of two after being fouled on a stick-back, putting PCHS in front 42-39.

Mayer's steal and layup with just over a minute to go stretched Pinckneyville's advantage to five with just over a minute to go, and the defense held on to the lead.

"The last three or four games we've come out in the first half and offensively we are not flowing or playing strong and aggressive," Engelhardt said.

"The first half, (Benton) was the aggressor, they were the stronger team. We made it pretty simple for the kids at halftime, this is a gut-check game, you're going to show what you're made of, and they buckled down and fought and ground out a win."

Mayer's 17 points led the way for Pinckneyville, McDaniel added 10, Simpson 7, Szczepanski and Dani Schoenbacher 3, and Alyssa Hirsch and Lindsey Winter 2.

Winter led assists with 6 and shared the team-high in rebounding with Mayer (5). Simpson had 4 steals, Mayer, Schoenbacher and McDaniel each had 3. Corn's 15 points led the Rangerettes.

The Lady Panthers (5-1) host Anna-Jonesboro on Tuesday night.

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