BASKETBALL: Lady Panthers lose catfight with Carterville

Savana Jones scored 12 points and nine different Lady Lions got in the scorebook as Carterville cruised to a 50-32 conference victory at Pinckneyville for their third win of the season.

"(Carterville) flat shot it well," said Pinckneyville head coach Alan Engelhardt. "They brought back virtually the same from their roster as we did from last year, and we played two very tight games, but the difference is you can tell their kids really put a lot of time into shooting the ball in the offseason."

"We didn't put as much time into shooting the ball in the offseason and we didn't shoot it very well, and that leads to blowouts. Then you're chasing shooters, and then they get driving lanes because you're spread out chasing shooters. You just can't have that happen."

The Lady Lions (3-4, 1-0) wasted no time jumping in front with a 13-3 run to end the opening quarter. Carterville led by 11 at the break and fought off a couple brief attempts at runs by the Lady Panthers in the second half to start SIRR Mississippi Division play on a positive note.

"We hit a couple shots and you feel a little bit better about yourself, so you play harder on defense," Engelhardt said. "The bottom line with basketball is can you put the thing in the basket, because you do everything else better when you put it in the basket. We're struggling right now."

Katelyn Mayer and Haley Simpson both finished with 10 points to lead Pinckneyville (2-3, 0-1). Alyssa Hirsch added 4 points, Sophie Keith and Heather McDaniel each had 3 and Taylor Smith finished with 2.

"I thought Haley Simpson did some good things, getting some points in the middle of the lane," Engelhardt said. "Some of the younger kids came in and they moved the ball and looked like they knew what they were doing, which they didn't do at all in the J-V game, so you never know."

Mayer led rebounding for the Lady Panthers with 7, Simpson had 6, Keith 5. Hirsch added a team-best 9 assists.

PCHS heads to Benton on Thursday evening.