BASKETBALL: Pinckneyville routs Sparta 71-38 to advance
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[The same two teams that met last Friday night in the regular season finale at Thomas Gymnasium faced off again on Wednesday with a lot more on the table, but the end result was much the same.
Pinckneyville crushed Sparta 71-38 just five days after a 66-44 thumping in the same venue, advancing into the Championship of the IHSA 2A Boys Basketball Regional at PCHS where they will meet Trico.
"I thought our kids really answered the challenge and had a lot of engery," said Panthers' head coach Bob Waggoner. "Sometimes when you get in a Regional you can tighten up a little bit, but I thought we played loose, but under control, and we executed well."
The Panthers built a double-digit lead before Sparta even scored, then extended their advantage to 41-21 by the half in a game that was never in doubt.
Hunter Queen led the way for Pinckneyville with 19 points, Bryant Shute and Chris Priebe joined him in double figures with 10 apiece. Dylan Hardin added 9.
"We've done a great job of focusing on each game, bringing a workman like ethic to it, playing within ourselves," Waggoner said. "I thought our guys could have easily looked ahead, but they chose not to and really focused on Sparta, we had good walk-throughs."
The victory boosted the Panthers' winning streak to thirteen games, and ended Sparta's season at 5-24.
In the other semifinal, Trico slipped past Nashville 53-51 in overtime behind 20 points from Darren Meyerhoff.
The Pioneers, coached by PCHS basketball legend Shane Hawkins, and the Panthers (24-4) will meet for the first time since the 2006 Carbondale Holiday Tournament this Friday night at 7:30 p.m. for the right to move on to next week's Eldorado Sectional.
Players advancing in the Three-Point Showdown on Wednesday night at Pinckneyville included Red Bud's Josh Snyder, Jacob Kueker and Kenny Wilson, Sparta's Austin Brenning, Nashville's Kevin Gopal, Jesse Krawiecki and Kyle Mueller, and Trico's Jordan Jones.
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