BOYS BASKETBALL: Panthers charge past Indians, 61-40
What looked early on like it could be a defensive battle down to the wire quickly turned into a one-sided rout, as Pinckneyville ran away from Du Quoin 61-40 in Friday night's basketball 'Battle of the Beaucoup,' round one, at Thomas Gymnasium.
The Panthers got to the free throw line 35 times while the Indians made just five trips to the charity stripe, and the result was a big lead for Pinckneyville and foul trouble galore for visiting DHS.
"We did a nice job of continually taking it possession by possession, wearing them down, and eventually I think they got a little frustrated with our defense," said PCHS head coach Bob Waggoner. "I thought we maintained our composure and played a pretty solid game. We stuck with the game plan, played well as a team, and continued to impose our will on them at the defensive end which led to some easy baskets for us on the offensive end."
The Indians were whistled for a total of 29 personal fouls with Levi Brening and Jarred Thomas both fouling out of the game. Thomas lasted only six and a half minutes into the second half before his fifth foul, after picking up his fourth late in the second quarter.
"You can't send somebody to the line 35 times without getting there yourself," said Du Quoin head coach Wendell Wheeler. "I did like the way we attacked in the first half, but we've got to play stronger. We didn't make good cuts. We're driving baseline and getting bumped out of bounds, but we need to be stronger when we drive. We've got to be able to attack and finish. They put it to us pretty good."
The start of the game was closely contested and points were initially at a premium. The score remained 2-2 with 2:25 to play in the period when Tyler Rulevish hit a three-pointer to spark a 9-1 run for the Panthers to close out the quarter.
It was never much of a ball game after that. An 11-0 Pinckneyville run in the second quarter, which included a triple from Clayton Houghland, made it 22-5 Panthers with 3:10 to go in the half, and Du Quoin never got any closer than that during the second half.
Thomas, Du Quoin's leading scorer for the season entering the weekend, finished the game with just two points while being primarily guarded by two of the quickest lock-down defenders in the area, Tristan Fisher and Brian Taylor.
"I thought our kids really rose to the challenge with their guarding," Waggoner said. "Our kids take it as a personal challenge, they want to show how good of defenders they are."
Houghland and Caleb Dahn had their way on the inside most of the night and finished tied for the game-high point total with 13 apiece. Rulevish was also in double figures for Pinckneyville with 11, Fisher had 9, Adam Banach 8, Nolan Luke 4, Hayden Carter 3.
For the Indians, Caleb Vogel had 11, Brock Bullar 9, Tucker Kuhnert 6, Nolan Showalter 4, and Thomas, Brening, Jordan Carson, A.J. Smith and Cole Hopkins each finished with 2.
"We've got to get better physically and mentally," Wheeler said. "We've got to mature and keep our heads up."
The Panthers also took the junior varsity game, winning 68-34. J.C. Moll (13), Justin Bauersachs (12) and Cale Jausel (11) were all in double figures for PCHS. Braden Heape lead DHS with 10 points.