BASKETBALL: Cicardi's 22 carries PCHS past Carterville
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Taylor Cicardi led Pinckneyville with 22 points as the Lady Panthers cruised to a 57-34 win over Carterville last night at Thomas Gymnasium.
"It was good to see us get out and defend, deny, and contest without fouling," said Lady Panthers' head coach Alan Engelhardt.
"We had our best game in terms of contesting the passing lanes and getting deflections, which led to run-outs. Offensively, we did a great job of playing through the post and getting post scores or points off of cuts from post feeds."
Pinckneyville jumped ahead 18-9 after the first quarter, 36-19 at the break, and the Lady Lions never got close in the second half.
Maddy Keith added 8 points for the Lady Panthers, Dani Jenkel and Katrina Henson 7, Mo Ramsey 4, Heather McDaniel 3 and Emma Opp, Taylor Kuhnert and Alexis Anderson each finished with 2.
"Taylor Cicardi had the big night, scoring 22, but she also found the open cutters for scores of their own," said Engelhardt. "The game of basketball is a lot more fun when several people are moving and touching the basketball, and we are improving in that respect."
Hannah Wood and Lauren Sherry each scored a team-high 7 points for Carterville, Mollie Thomas 5, Brigitte Gentry and Nina Skinner 4, Sidney Brothers 3, Andrea Kesler 2, and Sydney Michael and Courtney Lam 1.
Pinckneyville (7-4, 3-2) will take part in the Herrin Holiday Hoops Tournament beginning on Monday, December 27 when they take on Vienna at 7:15 p.m. (Gym A).
"You almost hate to go into Christmas break right now, because we are just starting to find our groove," Engelhardt said. "Hopefully we can have some good practices and get ready for the Herrin Tournament."
The Lady Panthers continue tournament play throughout the week taking on Du Quoin Tuesday, Dec. 28 at 8:00 p.m., Cobden on Wednesday, Dec. 29 at 6:30 p.m., and returning Thursday, Dec. 30 to face Murphysboro at 11:00 a.m. and Herrin at 8:00 p.m.