BASKETBALL: Junior Panthers fight off Sesser-Valier to advance
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Top seed Pinckneyville Junior High School (District #50) moved on into Saturday night's championship game of their Class S, Region 3 tournament at Christopher with a 45-40 semifinal victory over Sesser-Valier on Wednesday.
Clayton Houghland (13 points) and Caulden Lazenby (11) both scored in double figures for the Junior Panthers, who will meet either Christopher or Chester in the final round this weekend.
The Panthers led a back-and-forth contest 23-22 with 5:47 to go in the third period, then caused four consecutive Red Devils turnovers to spark an 8-0 run over the next two minutes.
Lazenby's fast break lay-up at the start of the fourth gave PJHS their biggest lead at 13 points, but Sesser-Valier fought back to within three with a 12-2 spurt to trail 43-40 with 7.5 seconds to go.
Lazenby was fouled with 5.7 on the clock and missed the front end of a one-and-one opportunity at the line, but one of the Red Devils was called for a lane violation, giving the Pinckneyville guard another chance. Lazenby made good on both free throws afterwards, making it a two-possession game.
Cale Jausel (8 points), Hunter Hicks (6), Jackson Brand (4), Dylan Carns (2) and Justin Bauersachs (1) also got in the scoring column for the Junior Panthers.
The Christopher Regional's championship game tips off around 6:00 p.m. on Saturday night at Christopher High School.
<u>Tamaroa-St. Bruno's season comes to an end</u>
Tamaroa-St. Bruno's eighth grade basketball team, playing all year long without an eighth-grader, saw their 2011-12 season come to an end on Wednesday night as Bethel eliminated the Indians 57-53 in overtime at the Waltonville Regional for Class S, Region 6.
Tyler Rulevish capped off an amazing individual season with 38 points in the losing effort, Bradley Kurtz added 7, Evan Williams 5, and Kyle Luke 4.
Bethel moves on to face top-seeded Woodlawn on Thursday.
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