BASKETBALL: Panthers survive scare at Anna
ANNA, IL - Pinckneyville kept their Southern Illinois River-to-River Conference Mississippi Division title hopes alive on Friday night, fighting back to win on the road at Anna, 64-59.
The Panthers trailed 46-41 heading into the fourth quarter, but outscored the Wildcats 23-13 in the final period to squeak out a win.
Chris Priebe stuck back a rebound with a minute and a half to play to put Pinckneyville up by two, and the Panthers made enough free throws down the stretch to hold on. Dylan Hardin and Tristan Fisher each had three-pointers during the key stretch in the fourth.
The Wildcats had opportunities to cut into the lead in the closing seconds, but rimmed out a pair of three-pointers.
"I told our kids I'm proud of them for finding a way to get it done," said Panthers coach Bob Waggoner. "I didn't doubt we were going to win, I just wondered when we were finally going to get a couple stops and guard them. At the end, we didn't stop them, they just missed shots."
"We switched up our defense a little bit and I think that helped. We went to a little zone, and then a trap, and I think that got them where they were standing a little bit."
Hardin led all scorers with 21 points including three triples. Priebe finished with 14 points, Fisher 11, Miller 8, Sterling Bejma 4, and Nolan Luke and Caleb Dahn 3.
"(Hardin) really carried us when we needed some baskets," said Waggoner.
Noah Fuller led Anna-Jonesboro (4-19, 0-7) with 14 points while Tyler Vaughn (12) and Zach Parr(11) joined him in double figures.
"They have good athletes, people say they haven't won very many games, but athletically they're pretty good," Waggoner said. "They're long and they have some guys who can shoot the ball. Tonight, they came to play."
Pinckneyville (17-9, 5-2) still needs to win out to secure at least a tie for the conference championship and has plenty of work to do with road games at Nashville and Sparta still on the schedule. They must also survive a rivalry game with an improved Du Quoin squad that knocked off Herrin this past Saturday.
The Panthers head to meet the Hornets this Friday at 7:30 at Assembly Hall and host the Indians the following night at Thomas Gym for their Senior Night.