Pictured are longtime hospitality room volunteers Marlene Craig, Nadine Craig, and Kay Bigham preparing to serve barbecue.
Daniel Herbst photo
PINCKNEYVILLE - The 12th Annual Duster Thomas Hoops Classic is in the books with a number of team and individual records being set. The Pinckneyville Panthers, under head coach Bob Waggoner, won the meet for the third time in the 12 years of the invitational, taking the lead in championships with three.
Olney, Jerseyville, Carterville, and Teutopolis all have won it twice.
For the four games of the tournament, the Panthers were the top offense, averaging 59 points per game, with the top field goal percentage at 54.6 percent and the top 3-point percentage at 39 percent. They were tops in assists at 12.8 assists per game and second in free-throw percentage at 77 percent (53 for 69).
While the games are, of course, always the focus at a tournament such as the one Pinckneyville hosts, it would not be nearly as successful without the support of dedicated game-day staff and volunteers.
And PCHS has an abundance of help - from the official scorer, stat crew, announcer and clock operators at the scorer's bench to the maintenance staff, hospitality room workers, ticket takers, parking lot attendants and pep band. Their work during the three days of the tourney may go overlooked by the fans, but certainly not by PCHS administrators and tourney officials. They are the behind-the-scenes heroes.
Fixing the clock above the backboard looks like a slam dunk for Kevin Bailey of the PCHS maintenance staff as he climbed the ladder for the successful repair before the tournament's final session on Saturday. Maintenance director Larry Coleman and Brian Kellerman provide support from the floor of Thomas Gym.
Daniel Herbst photo
Keeping a close eye on the action at the Duster Thomas Hoops Classic are (from left) official scorer Barry Kellerman, scoreboard/clock operator Brian Kellerman, announcer Wes Choate, statistician Grant Thompson, and stat director Gabe Herbst.
Daniel Herbst photo
The 12th Annual Duster Thomas Hoops Classic continued many PCHS Christmas traditions around the basketball tournament besides the games themselves. The PCHS Pep Band for the tournament's opening night included many returning members as they often do for games during the Christmas break: college students home on break, alumni with family ties to Pinckneyville, and this year's bonus of former directors Steve Cannedy and Cathy Cunningham. Returnees identified in the picture include Cannedy directing, Cunningham on keyboard, alum and part-time drum instructor Kyle Pursell, trumpets-Jacob Miller, James Davidson, low-brass-Nathan Bauersachs, Alex Bechtel, trombone-DJ Keene, tuba-Jacob Schmidt, while others also played for Saturday's final, including Chase Witbracht, Cale Jausel, and Madison Garavaglia.
Daniel Herbst photo