BASKETBALL: St. Joe-Olney ends #204 girls' run
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[The Lady Tigers had a six-point lead and the basketball with eleven minutes to play, but couldn't hang on as St. Joesph-Olney stormed back with a 16-0 run to close out the ball game and eliminate Pinckneyville (#204) from the Girls' Class S State Basketball tournament 36-21 on Saturday.
Pinckneyville started the state quarterfinal matchup, held at Rend Lake College in Ina, Ill., with a 7-0 run in the opening quarter. Taylor Smith and Sophie Keith combined not only for all seven points in that stretch, but all 13 of #204's first-half points. The Lady Tigers held a slim 13-11 lead at the break.
Keith had a rebound and put-back to start the second half, and later Torrie Carter and Lindsay Taylor both sank buckets to give Pinckneyville a 19-13 lead with 5:03 to go in the third quarter.
After Smith's two free throws with 2:14 left in the third, however, the Lady Tigers would go ice cold. #204 combined to go 0-for-7 at the free throw line in the fourth quarter and failed to sink a single field goal while the Wildcats clawed their way back to steal the victory.
Keith led Pinckneyville with 10 points, Smith added 7, Carter and Taylor each had 2. Maggie Sanders, Lexie Hirsch, Kiya Hagene, Graci McDaniel, Hannah Dascotte, Shania Opp and Emmalee Chaney also saw action for #204.
The Lady Tigers finished their season as Conference and Regional Champions with a final record of 25-3.
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