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Late Comeback by Vashon Dooms Pinckneyville

Posted December 13, 2009 10:00 pm

Doug Daniels

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[ Pinckneyville let an eleven-point lead with under five minutes to play slip away on Saturday as Vashon stormed back in the closing moments to beat the Panthers 55-52 at the Marion Shootout.

DeVontae Jones led the comeback, scoring 9 of his 19 points during the late run for the Wolverines.

"Jones just wanted it more," said Panthers' head coach Bob Waggoner. "He just took it down there in the block and took us to the woodshed."

Pinckneyville trailed 20-17 after both teams struggled offensively in the first half, but the Panthers grabbed the lead with Nathan Morton's three-point play near the mid-way point of the third quarter, and extended it with a 6-0 run to close out the period.

Shay Kellerman tipped in a Jake Bathon miss to put Pinckneyville on top 37-28 heading to the fourth.

With 4:21 to go and the Panthers up eleven, Vashon began their run. Pinckneyville would not connect from the floor again until Dudek floated one in from the lane with 47 seconds to go, and by then the damage had been done.

Five trips to the free throw line helped the Wolverines climb back into it as Jones, Deaveon Jackson and Brandon Hart all cut into the defecit from the charity stripe.

Antonio Hopkins buried a three-pointer with 2:28 to play, and Vashon jumped ahead just seconds later on a steal and breakaway layup by Saladin Smith.

Free throws from Landon Chandler gave the Panthers the lead again momentarily, but the Wolverines were not to be denied, getting back to the line five more times before the game ended.

Hart had a three-point play with 1:53 to go, and Jones would add four points from the line in the final minute as Vashon held on for the three-point win.

Morton led the Panthers with 18 points, Dudek finished with 11.

Pinckneyville will next play at Nashville on Friday, then at Herrin this Saturday after falling to 3-2 with losses to Murphysboro and Vashon (2-3) this past week.

"I think we let two get away from us, we didn't finish ball games," Waggoner said. "I attribute that to not being able to focus in key situations, your deficiencies are most proven at tough times. If you can't focus, it's hard to get wins against good teams."

PANTHERS 60, WILDCATS 49

Foul trouble was a concern early on, but Pinckneyville battled through adversity and came away with a 60-49 victory over Anna-Jonesboro on Friday night to open River-to-River Conference play.

The Panthers' leading scorer on the year, Drew Dudek, had three early fouls and was held without a point until the fourth quarter. Nathan Morton, playing for the first time this season, picked up some of the slack with 13 points off the bench and was joined in double figures by Shay Kellerman (10 points) and Landon Chandler, whose 12 points all came on three-pointers.

"(Friday night) I think was our best overall effort for 32 minutes," Waggoner said. "I thought our defensive effort was outstanding."

Pinckneyville was ahead 27-22 at the half, but five regulars had two or more personal fouls.

"If we don't get in foul trouble, the game is over probably in the first half," said Waggoner. "I thought we did a nice job of keeping our composure. Landon Chandler really stepped up against that zone and hit some threes."

An 11-0 Panther run in the third, capped off with a three by Chandler, ran the Pinckneyville lead to 40-27, and the Wildcats were never able to get back within single digits.

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