BASKETBALL: Carlyle latest B.I.T. victim for Panthers
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[After winning Monday night's emotional day one matchup with tournament host Benton, Pinckneyville was looking to avoid a let-down against Carlyle on day two at the 2012 Benton Invitational Tournament and did just that by pulling away for a 52-39 victory, leading by as many as 17 points.
The victory was the 37th straight B.I.T. win for Pinckneyville, a streak dating all the way back to a Saturday night loss to Cairo in the 2004 mid-winter round-robin tournament.
"We had a couple turnovers and missed a couple easy lay-ups that could have got the game where it was a little more manageable," said PCHS head coach Bob Waggoner, "but we finished it off in the fourth and that's what I'm happy about."
"Carlyle creates a lot of problems because of their quickness, and they're tough matchups because they all can bounce and they all can shoot. They're a good ball club, they're well-coached, and I thought they were well-prepared tonight."
The Indians held a brief 9-8 lead in the opening quarter, but Bryant Shute found Dylan Hardin behind the defense for a lay-up then buried a three-pointer at the buzzer to give Pinckneyville a 13-9 lead, one they never relinquished.
Payton Nippe sparked a 7-0 Panther run in the second quarter with his bucket at the 4:08 mark, following that effort up with a conventional three-point play before Luke Miller hit a pair of free throws to put PCHS ahead 26-15.
Carlyle was hanging around down 28-20 at the break, but unlike a few recent games where the Panthers had come out a bit flat in the third quarter, this time Pinckneyville mashed the accelerator and outscored the Indians 11-2 in the first six minutes of the second half.
"There was a point in the second quarter where I thought we could push it to about 16, instead it kept hanging around 8 and finally we got it up to 10, but we had some opportunities, we just let it slide," Waggoner said.
"I thought our game plan was pretty solid getting the ball inside, we just didn't finish real well around there, but overall it was a good victory for us."
The Indians got within eight in the fourth quarter, but Hardin and Shute each hit a pair of free throws in the final two minutes to maintain some separation for the Panthers.
Hardin also had the first four points of the second-half push for the Panthers and finished with 12 points, one less than Shute's team-high of 13. Miller and Nippe each added 8 points, Justin Bumann and Hunter Queen each had 5. Matt Hilmes' 12 points led Carlyle.
The next test for the Panthers' streak at Rich Herrin Gymnasium will be a tough one as Pinckneyville (14-4, 2-0 BIT) meets up with Class 1A's No. 2 team in the state of Illinois, the Okawville Rockets (17-2, 2-0 BIT), at 7:30 p.m. on Friday night.