BASKETBALL: Pinckneyville starts fast, crushes Cairo
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Pinckneyville jumped ahead 16-0 and went on to win 67-49 over Cairo in Saturday's season opener for the boys' varsity basketball Panthers.
Three players for PCHS finished in double figures, led by Hunter Queen's team-high 16 points. Dylan Hardin and Peyton Nippe each had 15 for the Panthers.
"I thought early in the game when we were fresh and focused, we played very well, ball movement was good, I thought we were aggressive," said Pinckneyville head coach Bob Waggoner.
"Cairo's the type of team that gives you a different look than you're used to to start to the year, you don't know whether or not they're going to be athletically as good as they were, or whether or not they're going to continue to pressure the ball and jump into passing lanes."
The Panthers made a living at the free throw line early on, as the Pilots sent them to the charity stripe four separate times in the first quarter resulting in six points. Meanwhile, Pinckneyville's defense was forcing tough shots and turnovers as Cairo continued to struggle offensively. Queen and Bryant Shute each had three-pointers in the opening frame, but it was dribble penetration doing the damage in the second.
Nippe took it hard to the goal with 6:45 left in the half, then Shute drove baseline for a layup a minute later to make it 22-2 Pinckneyville.
Cairo would hit a three-pointer on their next trip, but Hardin drove the lane to answer with a tough layup as the Panthers eventually built a 36-10 edge at the break.
The Pilots wouldn't go easy, rallying back to outscore the Panthers 22-10 in the third, but Pinckneyville got things corrected in time to keep them at a distance.
"In the second half, they shot the ball a little better, got a little confidence, and we got a little fatigued," Waggoner said. "I really thought that the biggest thing was that we got mentally fatigued, we quit battling through and doing some of the things we did in the first half."
Chris Priebe (7 points), Shute (6), Keegan Kellerman (4), C.J. Opp (2) and Luke Miller (2) also scored for Pinckneyville.
"I thought overall tonight was very positive for us," added Waggoner. "No matter what, I'll take lessons learned through a win than lessons learned through a loss."
"The main thing is we continue to battle. Overall I thought our kids did a very good job of adjusting to the style Cairo wanted to play."
In the Junior-Varsity contest, the Panthers got 14 points apiece from sophomore Chase Lazenby and freshman Caleb Dahn to lead PCHS to a 57-46 victory.
Next up for Pinckneyville is Gibault on Friday night at Thomas Gym.
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