BASKETBALL: Lady Panthers' streak now at 13
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[A balanced scoring attack helped Pinckneyville gradually pull away from Herrin on Saturday, as the Lady Panthers won their thirteenth straight game overall by knocking off the Lady Tigers 42-33 at the West Frankfort Mid-Winter Classic.
"This was a game where again it felt like we were in control the entire game, but we never could get much separation from Herrin because of little mistakes," said PCHS girls' head coach Alan Engelhardt.
"A big difference in the game was all nine girls who played for us scored as compared to Herrin really only getting scoring from a couple of girls. We found a way to win in a slower tempo game, which is another step in a positive direction."
Pinckneyville shot an impressive 56% from the floor, but committed 21 turnovers in the contest that allowed Herrin to stick around.
"Defensively, we didn't let them have very many good looks on first shots, but we gave up 16 of their 33 points after surrendering an offensive rebound," Engelhardt said. "Those two things coupled made the game a lot closer than it should have been."
Taylor Cicardi continued to shine, scoring 13 points to lead Pinckneyville. Katrina Henson added 8 points, Maddy Keith 7, Taylor Kuhnert 4, Lindsey Winter 3, Heather McDaniel, Dani Jenkel and Mo Ramsey 2, and Haley Simpson 1.
"I like the fact that I think the girls are working to get better and not just settling for where they are at," commented Engelhardt. "By defeating Herrin we have put ourselves in the driver's seat for the West Frankfort Mid-Winter Classic."
The Lady Panthers (17-4, 1-0 at W.F.) take on tournament host West Frankfort on Tuesday (7:30 p.m.) before a Thursday matchup with Sesser-Valier (6:00 p.m.).