GIRLS BASKETBALL: Herrin wins defensive battle with PCHS
Pinckneyville put themselves in good position to win Monday's game with Herrin, but the Lady Tigers refused to let the Lady Panthers prevail, as PCHS fell 37-29 in a defensive war at the Herrin Holiday Hoops Tournament.
Only fifteen total fouls were called in the game as both squads locked down on the other's offense.
"I thought tonight was the hardest we'd played all year from an effort standpoint, and that's what kept us in the game," said Pinckneyville head coach Alan Engelhardt. "Our initial defense was tremendous tonight. We kind of got them into doing some things that we wanted, but then we didn't check the weak side glass. I thought our strong side rebounding was there, but we didn't get to the back side rebounding and that hurt us. That, ultimately, was the difference in the game, that and the turnovers."
Pinckneyville held a slim 11-9 lead after one quarter, but managed only one bucket in the second, allowing Herrin to slip ahead 16-13 heading to the half.
"We stopped moving (in the second quarter), we got tired," Engelhardt said. "We hadn't played with that kind of effort, so we wore down. We didn't go very deep on the bench tonight, and we haven't been able to as much lately, but I thought we got our legs back under us in the third quarter and competed again."
Madison LeQuatte scored eight of her team-high ten points for the Lady Tigers in the fourth quarter, helping Herrin stay out in front.
Kearsten Opp led PCHS with ten points, Keelyn Stein had six on a pair of threes, Sophie Keith five, Caitlyn Anderson four, Andrea Morgan three, Taylor Smith one.
"You've got to use this to get better," Engelhardt said. "If we can take from tonight, even though we lost, that we can play with this kind of effort every night out, every practice, then we will get better and be able to compete better down the road."
PCHS (7-8) will face Du Quoin (4-11) in the final game for both teams at the Herrin tournament on Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m.
<span style="text-decoration: underline;">CORL 50, Pinckneyville 44 (Friday):</span>
Christ Our Rock Lutheran got sixteen points apiece from Sabrina Maschoff and Caroline Boehne as the Silver Stallions held off Pinckneyville 50-44 on Friday night in Herrin. A 20-11 first quarter for CORL was highlighted by ten of Boehne's points, and all sixteen of the freshman's points came in the first half.
For the Lady Panthers, Smith had ten points, Stein nine, K. Opp eight, Anderson seven, Morgan and Keith four, and Kaitlyn Goldman two.
<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Pinckneyville 42, Vienna 39 (Saturday):</span>
PCHS's post players torched Vienna on Saturday as Stein (22 points) and Anderson (12) combined for 34 of the Lady Pantehrs' 42 points in their 42-39 victory over the Lady Eagles.
K. Opp added six points, Morgan had two, and Pinckneyville picked up their eighth win of the season.
<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Sesser-Valier 66, Pinckneyville 20 (Saturday):</span>
Pinckneyville was no match for the Lady Red Devils on Saturday, as Sesser-Valier dominated from start to finish in their 66-20 victory.
K. Opp and Anderson both had six points for PCHS, Keith and Stein both had three and Mayci Doerflein had two.
Hannah Garascia (17 points), Karson Severs (15), Cheyenne Pitchford (12) and Jaylin Haley (10) each reached double figures for Sesser-Valier.