BASKETBALL: Panthers bury Bulldogs in conference opener
After wearing down in their loss at West Frankfort a little over week ago, the Pinckneyville Panthers were looking to start their conference schedule off on the right foot when they traveled to Sparta this past Friday night. PCHS did just that, taking care of business against the Bulldogs with a 69-45 victory despite the fact that Sparta sank eight three-pointers in the game.
Pinckneyville never trailed, racing to an 11-2 lead in the opening quarter as their offense was firing on all cylinders. Brian Taylor, Nolan Luke and Tristan Fisher all connected from downtown in the first period, and the Panthers led 22-15 heading to the second.
"I thought we got off to a good start," said PCHS head coach Bob Waggoner. "The last two games we kind of struggled early. A big point of emphasis was coming out early and imposing our defensive pressure onto them and the offensive tempo with moving the ball. I thought our ball movement was excellent in the first quarter, we got a lot of good looks in rhythm and made shots. From that point on we were really in control of the game."
The Panthers were on an 8-0 run heading into the half before Sparta's Dwayne Dodson hit a desperation three-pointer from well beyond the arc to beat the second quarter buzzer. Still, PCHS was in command up 34-23.
Sparta would hit three more triples in the third quarter, but Pinckneyville still won the period 17-12. PCHS drowned any hopes of a Bulldogs comeback with an 8-0 run to start the fourth.
"We're finishing quarters a little bit better," Waggoner said, "that comes with experience, it comes with guys understanding their roles. The biggest thing was when we substituted in our sixth, seventh, eighth guy, we really didn't take a dip in our offense or our defense, and we continued to apply pressure."
"I thought Tyler Rulevish really had a fantastic game tonight off the bench, it may go somewhat unnoticed, he did a great job defending and had some nice hustle plays. Adam Banach, starting for the first time this year, his angles are getting better, gave us much more mobility, and was really aggressive on the glass."
Taylor and Luke each had 15 points to lead PCHS, and Fisher joined them in double figures with 13. Clayton Houghland and Tyler Rulevish each added 7 points, Adam Banach had 6, Cale Jausel 2, and Alex Howard 1.
Sparta's Dodson led all scorers with 18 points.
Pinckneyville (5-2, 1-0) hosts Du Quoin (4-2, 0-1) this Friday night, and Herrin (3-2) on Saturday at Thomas Gymnasium in their first two home games of the 2014-15 season.