BOYS BASKETBALL: Stellar first half carries Panthers past A-J

Pinckneyville played as well as they have all season during the first half of Tuesday night's game at Anna-Jonesboro, well enough that when their offense went a bit cold in the second half, they had plenty of cushion to hang on for a 68-54 victory over the Wildcats. It was the fourth straight win for the Panthers as they head into the holiday tournament portion of their schedule.

"I thought our kids came up big at the end, getting rebounds," said PCHS head coach Bob Waggoner. "They started to get a little penetration on us, and that's when they hurt us and made their run. We readjusted, kids got back into the lane, started making them have to play from the perimeter and continued to rebound the ball."

"We know they're a drive first team. They got to that a little bit, but overall our kids followed the game plan very well."

With A-J on top 5-3 in the opening moments of the game, the Panthers ripped off nine straight points to take a lead they never relinquished. The spurt featured a three-pointer and a deep two by Clayton Houghland, and a pair of stick-backs from Adam Banach.

PCHS led 14-10 with a little over a minute to go in the opening period when Tyler Rulevish sank two triples to close out the quarter. Rulevish would finish the night as one of four Panthers in double figures, scoring twelve points - all on threes.

"Rulevish came up big for us with some clutch threes and really played with some confidence," Waggoner said.

The Wildcats hit four three-pointers themselves in the opening half and were again within four points with 4:14 to go until the break, but Pinckneyville closed out the second quarter with a 17-2 run that included a stretch where Anna-Jonesboro committed five turnovers over the course of six possessions. That allowed PCHS to head into the half up 41-22.

But the Wildcats had a run left in them. Over the last minute of the third quarter and first two minutes of the fourth, A-J cut the lead down to eight with an 11-0 run. Once again it was Rulevish hitting a big shot from beyond the arc, this time ending a three and a half minute scoring drought for Pinckneyville.

"We missed some shots, that's part of the reason they made their run," said Waggoner. "We had some good looks and just missed them."

The Wildcats got as close as seven points down with four minutes to go, but the Panthers made their last six free throws of the ball game to keep a comfortable advantage.

"We finished it off, I thought our kids responded well," Waggoner said. "I thought Nolan Luke, in the fourth quarter, was pretty clutch. Rulevish hit some nice shots. I thought overall it was a good game for us."

Houghland led the Panthers with 19 points, Luke had 15, Rulevish 12, Brian Taylor 10, Banach 8 and Tristan Fisher 4.

Noah Prater and Zach Parr each had 14 points to lead Anna-Jonesboro (5-5, 0-3).

Pinckneyville (8-2, 3-0) will play at 9:00 a.m. this Friday against Red Bud in the Auxiliary Gym at PCHS to kick off the 2014 Duster Thomas Hoops Classic. The Panthers return later that night to take on Unity (Tolono) in Thomas Gymnasium at 7:00 p.m.

For the full schedule of the Duster Thomas Hoops Classic, see page 8.