BASKETBALL: Indians hold off Panthers in nail-biter
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Pinckneyville had a chance to knock Du Quoin out of the race for the Southern Illinois River-to-River Conference Mississippi Division title on Friday night, but the Indians came through with a dramatic 68-65 victory in Thomas Gymnasium despite a 30-point effort from PCHS's Steve Brueggeman.
"Our seniors really stepped up again," said Indians' head coach Gave Sveda. "Connor (Wheeler), J.C. (Davis) both did a nice job again like they always do. Our kids coming off the bench, Aaron Smith, Brandon Williams came in and gave us good minutes. I'm happy, an all-around good effort."
The Panthers had a chance to tie with 8.5 seconds to go and possession of the ball, but three-point attempts by Bryant Shute then Brueggeman were off the mark, and Du Quoin completed the season sweep in the 'Battle of the Beaucoup.'
"I think it's two teams at the end of the year playing better basketball that are giving great effort," said Pinckneyville head coach Bob Waggoner after the game. "I really feel that Du Quoin has a few kids that are better playmakers and create for themselves, and I think that was a little bit of a difference tonight. They can make some tough shots that they created on their own and we missed a couple easy ones and a free throw late to give us a chance to win."
Neither team could have anticipated the early pace of the game, as both squads had no trouble finding the basket.
Du Quoin jumped on top 13-9 after a three-pointer from James Williams and a jumper from Sam Gossett, but the Panthers responded to regain the lead with a three from Hunter Queen and a put-back by Dylan Hardin with 2:40 to go in the opening period.
J.C. Davis and Connor Wheeler each connected on threes before the period ended, however, and the Indians led 21-18.
"I did not expect this outcome as far as the point total," said Sveda. "Their scores recently have been a lot lower-scoring, I thought it'd be a little slower-paced ball game. Both teams hit a lot of shots, especially in the first half, tough shots. Our offense was clicking, theirs was clicking, it was an offensive night."
Du Quoin was again holding on to a three-point advantage with 2:00 left in the half when Aaron Smith hit a reverse lay-up, then just before the buzzer Davis bombed in a three from the top of the key to give the Indians a 38-32 edge at the break.
After Davis hit a jumper to start the second half, the Panthers went on an 8-0 run with five points from Brueggeman and another three-ball from Queen to trail just 41-40, but Wheeler came right back and hit a three of his own with 5:11 on the third quarter clock.
Hardin hit a runner across the lane with 2:10 to go in the period to knot it up at 49-49, the first of four ties within the next five minutes of play.
J. Williams came around a screen for three to start the fourth quarter scoring, but Queen answered right back from deep in the corner for Pinckneyville.
Again the Indians jumped ahead by three when Wheeler elevated from downtown, but this time Payton Nippe was open in the corner to tie it at 57-57 with 5:51 to go.
"The game plan for them was to play off of (Nippe) and use Wheeler to double in the post," said Waggoner. "It comes to a point as a player you've got to either drive it or shoot it and he did both tonight, and it put them in a tough defensive position."
The Panthers led by one after a Queen free throw, then again later after a Brueggeman post move, and a third time with 2:10 to play when Brueggeman was fouled on a rebound, then sank both shots at the line.
"Steve created a lot of that own his own and was aggressive," Waggoner said. "I've said all year he's one of the best players in southern Illinois and tonight he showed that."
Sveda said he expected a big effort from the Pinckneyville senior.
"We knew coming in he'd probably be our toughest match," said Sveda. "He can do so many things. He can step out and hit threes, he's a very good screener, he can handle the ball a little bit, he's a tough post match at 6'3."
Wheeler penetrated and got the lead back for the Indians at the line, then the Panthers came up empty, allowing Wheeler to set up Gossett for a short jumper and a 66-63 lead with 1:11 to play.
Brueggeman drove the baseline to cut it to one, but Seth Baxter drove in for an up and under lay-up that put the Indians up 68-65 and set up the Panthers' final attempt with 8.5 seconds to play.
Shute got a tough look from the right wing and missed, then the rebound came out to Brueggeman who caught the iron with his shot at a tie as the buzzer sounded.
"You've got to give Pinckneyville a lot of credit," Sveda added. "They've got an awfully good ball club, they're going to fight on their home court. They play hard, hit some big shots, they're well-coached, give them a lot of credit, but our kids responded well."
While Brueggeman was lighting up the scoreboard for the Panthers, Kyle Lamb was held in check with only 6 points.
"I just don't think we looked for him enough," Waggoner said. "I thought he posted, I also thought he had an opportunity to score a few times and didn't get it in the hole."
"As a post player, you want to be aggressive and you want to understand where the trap is coming from. I thought Kyle was very unselfish, I thought he found the open look when they were trapping and instead of forcing things, he was looking for the assist."
Credit also goes to Gossett (6'3), who guarded Lamb (6'7) much of the night in the post at a considerable size disadvantage.
"I thought Sam Gossett did an incredible job on (Lamb) in the post and our guards on the weak side in the second half, did a better job of being there and helping out," Sveda said. "When Brandon Williams came in the game he did a nice job kind of wearing him down a little bit, he's a big body we can put on him."
Leading the way for Du Quoin was Wheeler with 23 points, Davis added 14, Gossett 12, Baxter 9, J. Williams 6 and B. Williams and Smith 2.
Queen was the only Panther other than Brueggeman in double figures, finishing with 10 points. Hardin added 8, Nippe and Lamb 6, Christian Shopinski 3 and Shute 2.
Earlier in the evening, Pinckneyville claimed the victory in the junior varsity contest 56-42.
<u>Panthers claw out a win at Sparta</u>
On Saturday night, the Panthers put themselves in position to finish third in the Mississippi with a 48-36 win at Sparta after leading by as many as fourteen early in the fourth quarter.
Brueggeman was again PCHS's leading scorer, finishing with 14 points.
"I thought Steve (Brueggeman) played a good game," Waggoner said. "I thought Dylan Hardin came in and gave us good minutes, I thought Payton Nippe came in and gave us good minutes, I thought Hunter Queen did an excellent job defensively on (Jordan) Thompson, just a good all-around game."
"We kept our composure. That was the main thing."
Sparta was on top 10-8 with a minute left in the opening quarter, but the Panthers went on a 10-0 run from there and never trailed the rest of the night.
Brueggeman hit a top-of-the-key triple during the spurt, with the other 7 points coming at the free throw line from Brueggeman, Nippe and Hardin.
After Pinckneyville led by six at the break, the Bulldogs were within seven with 4:10 to go in the third period when the Panthers outscored Sparta 10-3 over the next nine minutes of play to seal the victory.
Queen added 10 points for PCHS, Hardin 8, Nippe 5, Shute and Lamb 4, Shopinski 3. Aaron Rushing led Sparta (10-17, 3-6) with 12 points, London Oliver had 11 before fouling out late.
The Panther J-V team improved to 13-4 (8-1) on the season with a 62-43 win earlier in the evening.
The Panthers (18-8, 4-5) have only senior night remaining in their regular season schedule, a match-up with S.I.R.R. newcomer Carterville this Friday.
After that, Pinckneyville heads back to Sparta for regional play on Wednesday, February 23 against Gibault (Waterloo) at 8:00 p.m.