2009 DTHC: Panthers Bounce Back, Finish with Convincing Wins

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Pinckneyville rebounded from a tough loss to Olney on Monday to advance into the 2009 Duster Thomas Hoops Classic third place game, defeating Carterville 54-26 on Tuesday despite an ugly opening quarter.

"I thought defensively we were really good, we guarded, we kept them in front of us, checked off, played really well," said Panthers' head coach Bob Waggoner.

"Offensively it took us a while to get going, we weren't taking advantage of our opportunities. We missed a ton of layups, again."

Taylor Pyatt made one of two free throws after being fouled driving to the basket with just 18 seconds gone in the game, but neither team would score again until Drew Bonner cut through the lane for a layup with 2:27 left in the first quarter to put the Lions on top 2-1.

The Panthers still were without a field goal when Pyatt posted up and went strong to the basket with 38 seconds on the clock, and Dudek hit a jumper just before the buzzer that gave Pinckneyville an 8-2 advantage.

The offense started to come together for the Panthers in the second, as they scored the first nine points of the period, including a three-pointer from Shay Kellerman. In total, Pinckneyville scored 16 unanswered points after Bonner's bucket in the first quarter.

With their defense forcing turnovers via the steal, charging foul, traveling, and five-second count, the Panthers stormed ahead 25-9 at halftime. Waggoner took advantage of the lead in the second half, giving his bench players a few extra minutes in hopes of keeping the team fresh for tonight's game.

A 39-23 Panther lead after three quarters was extended even further in the fourth, as Carterville managed only 3 points in the final frame.

Drew Dudek led all scorers with 14 points, Kellerman (12) and Nathan Morton (10) joined him in double figures for the Panthers.

Zach Watson and Daniel Lingafelter each had 7 points for Carterville (3-9, 1-2 in DTHC).

"So far the tournament's been good for us," said Waggoner. "It's helped us grow us a team, it's going to get us better and help us work on some weaknesses."

PINCKNEYVILLE 67,

LARWENCEVILLE 46

Overcoming a slow start, the Panthers (9-3) took the lead for good on a medium-range jumper by Nathan Morton in the second period and kept the third place DTHC trophy at home.

Nursing just a 23-19 halftime lead, Pinckneyville shredded Larwencevile's defense with a 15-2 blitz to start the final half and were never challenged.

Outscoring Larwenceville (1-3) 28-7 in the third quarter, the Panthers erased all memories of last year's disappointing DTHC loss to the Indians.

11 different Panthers scored with Taylor Pyatt's 13 points tops.

Landon Chandler added 10. Dane Kelly (13) and Nick Potts (10) were the Larwenceville leaders as a tenacious Panther defense forced a tourney record 30 turnovers.