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Boys Prep Basketball: Hornets end Panthers' win streak

Posted February 07, 2010 10:00 pm

Doug Daniels

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[ After a series of recent close calls, Pinckneyville finally let a victory get away from them this past Friday, falling 40-38 to the Nashville Hornets at Thomas Gymnasium.

The Nashville victory keeps the Hornets in the S.I.R.R. Mississippi Division race and gave them a split with the Panthers on the season.

"We let one slip away here tonight, but we didn't deserve to win the game," said Pinckneyville head coach Bob Waggoner. "You're not going to win if you only score 38 points."

Pinckneyville had control of the game leading by twelve on two different occasions, but the Hornets caught fire from behind the three-point line and shot their way back into the game in the third quarter.

"When you don't keep a hand up on a perimeter shooter, knowing the situation and personnel, then kids are going to make shots, especially if they're a good three-point shooting team, and (Nashville's) a good three-point shooting team," Waggoner said.

With the game knotted at 7-7, Nathan Morton put back a rebound with 1:53 to go in the first quarter. Landon Chandler sank a three that just beat the buzzer, and Pinckneyville was quickly up by five.

Baskets from Morton and Kyle Lamb extended the lead, and good ball movement led to a good look at three for Jake Bathon who connected from downtown to complete a 9-0 Panther run to make it 21-9.

Fouls got Pinckneyville in a bit of trouble, however, as with Drew Dudek sitting most of the first half with two quick fouls, the Panthers sent the Hornets to the line four times in the closing two minutes of the half where Nashville went 6-for-7 and closed to within 24-17 at the break.

"Our bench gave us little tonight, if anything," said Waggoner. "You have to get quality minutes out of your bench, you have to get guys that defend and rebound and we didn't get that."

A 7-0 Pinckneyville spurt out of halftime included a bucket and a block from Lamb, followed by another three-pointer by Chandler, and all of a sudden the Panthers were back up a dozen with 5:44 left in the third.

Just like they had fought back before the half, the Hornets had an answer again in the third quarter, sinking three consecutive three-pointers after a timeout, the third resulting in a timeout by the Panthers' bench.

Tyler Meyer, Greg Guest and Brock Pries all connected for threes during the run, and Gannon Mamell's hoop made it a one-point game after three periods of play.

Kyle Heggemeier got his three-ball to roll around and in with 6:07 to go and Pries continued the deep attack by the Hornets with 5:13 on the clock, putting Nashville up 38-33, their biggest lead of the night.

Bathon hit a three for the Panthers, but Pries responded with a reverse layup at the other end with 4:25 to play, and the Hornets would not score again - nor would they need to.

A pair of turnovers and a missed three-pointer were among the results the Pinckneyville offense came up with late in the game, and despite Nashville coming up empty on the front end of two one-and-one free throw situations, the Panthers were unable to capitalize.

Dudek hit two free throws with 47.6 to go in the game after a nice effort to get to the line, but with a chance to tie and just a few seconds to play, the Panthers were forced into a not-so-great look at three that was just off, and time expired.

Bathon's 10 points led the way for the Panthers, Pries and Sam Brown each had 10 for the Hornets.

PANTHERS, DUDEK BURY JACKETS 88-55

With the previous night's wake-up call still fresh in their minds, Pinckneyville responded by whipping Chester 88-55 behind Dudek's 23 points and five three-pointers.

The Yellow Jackets came to play early, with Zach Lochhead hitting a pair of threes in the opening quarter and a third early in the second, as Chester had a 17-15 advantage early in the contest.

"Give them credit in the first quarter, they made a nice run at us," Waggoner said. "I knew that the better team here tonight was the Panthers, and if we kept playing we'd eventually wear them down, they couldn't maintain that pace."

Things would be downhill for the Jackets from there, however, as Pinckneyville's skill began to show as the game wore on.

A 7-0 Panther run to close out the first half set up the 11-0 run that began the second, and suddenly Pinckneyville was up 50-28 and headed for victory.

Brueggemann (14 points) and Lamb (10) joined Dudek in double figures as Pinckneyville won their 20th game of the 2009-10 season.

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