BASKETBALL: Panthers outlast Gibault, run out of gas at West Frankfort
Two of the top ball clubs in their respective River-to River conferences met Saturday night, in West Frankfort. Fans expecting a physical, evenly matched game received just that. In the end, the West Frankfort Redbirds pulled away from the Pinckneyville Panthers 54-43.
For the Panthers, it was their sixth game of the season. They had outlasted a talented Gibault team the night before, in a close game that was decided in the fourth quarter.
For the Redbirds, it was their home opener after winning their only other game, a win over rival Benton.
Close early, a West Frankfort run had the Redbirds leading 11-4 at one point. Pinckneyville cut that lead to 12-7 at the end of the first quarter.
A trio of three-point buckets fueled a Panther run in the second quarter that drew them back to within a single point, 25-24, at intermission. Hunter Johnson tossed in six points in the frame for Frankfort. Two of the Panther treys came from Nolan Luke, and another from Clayton Houghland fueled the attack. But, the Redbirds had all five starters, with the exception of a foul-plagued Christian Dunning, and one reserve all score in the second quarter. The balanced attack provided difficulty for the Panthers to cover defensively.
"Their guards did a good job of setting the tempo. West Frankfort played well at both ends of the floor," said Panther coach Bob Waggoner.
It was that pace that Redbird coach Dan Dewerff singled out following the win.
"When we got the ball moving, we got good looks ( for shots)," explained Dewerff. "When it became stagnant we tried to create on our own, we didn't. We try to do too much individually, which leads to turnovers."
The Redbirds increased their defensive intensity after the halftime break. It was early in the third quarter that Pinckneyville assumed their only lead of the night. With less than a minute gone in the third quarter, Tyler Rulevish drained a jumper to give the visitors a 26-25 lead. But, it was to be a short lived lead.
Versatile Redbird forward Johnson drained a three-point shot to give his team a 28-26 lead. Dunning capped off an off-balance driving basket with a free throw later in that quarter. In fact, those were the only two West Frankfort players to score in the third period. However, Johnson exploded for nine points in the period, including the three which regained the lead.
"They ran their offense to the post through Johnson," said Waggoner.
The fourth quarter saw Dewerff's team enter with a five point lead. Tristan Fisher tried to bring Pinckneyville back in the last quarter. He had two baskets and was five of six from the three point line. West Frankfort parceled out their scoring, as both coaches were juggling players in foul trouble. Braxton Koehl hit an important shot with 2:57 left in the game to keep the pressure on their opponents. Down the stretch, Keegan Easley scored and converted on his free throw attempts. Johnson had a basket and was four of four from the free throw line. Fisher tallied nine points in the fourth quarter, but two Rulevish free throws were all that the Panthers could muster otherwise.
Waggoner refused to blame tired legs at the end of the game, however.
"No excuses. I give West Frankfort all the credit," said Waggoner.
The game featured 51 total fouls. That did not surprise Dewerff.
"That tough defense is what they are known for. We have to get physical,too. For the most part we did that."
Scoring for West Frankfort were Johnson 24, Easley 11, Koehl 9, Dunning 7, Karoski 3, Twist 2.
Scoring for Pinckneyville were: Fisher 15, Luke 10, Houghland 5, Caleb Dahn 4, Rulevish 4.
In the Junior Varsity game, West Frankfort won 58-51.
West Frankfort travels to Eldorado on Tuesday. Pinckneyville (4-2) begins Mississippi Division play Friday in Sparta.
<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Panthers outlast Hawks in Gibault</span>
(Waterloo, Ill.) - The Panthers were coming off a 54-44 win at Waterloo over the Gibault Hawks the previous evening, a hard-fought victory made possible by PCHS's 12-0 run to start the fourth quarter.
Fisher (16 points), Luke (12) and Houghland (12) were all in double figures for the Panthers, who trailed by seven early in the second quarter before their first of two big runs on the night.
A three-pointer by Rulevish, who had five points in the period, and four points apiece by Fisher and Luke in the final six minutes of the first half helped Pinckneyville take a 27-23 lead into the break.
"Tyler Rulevish did a great job of coming in whenever Brian Taylor was in foul trouble," Waggoner said. "That was a great lift. It was just a good overall game for both teams. I have a lot of respect for Gibault, Coach Reuter, and their program. I thought both teams played hard."
Gibault had closed back to within a point heading to the fourth period, but the Panthers came out firing on all cylinders. After Luke drove for a lay-up to start the period, FIsher hit his second triple of the night with 6:35 to play and Pinckneyville was off and running. The Hawks didn't get on the board in the fourth until there were less than three minutes to go.
"Fisher had a couple huge threes on some sets we run and really guarded well," said Waggoner. "We had three guys in double figures, our balance was good."
"I thought our guys did a pretty good job of battling through not playing well and still finding a way. I told our guys any time you can win up here it's a good win for us."
The Panthers went 9-for-12 at the free throw line in the final frame to stay comfortably ahead.
Rulevish (9 points) and Taylor (5) also scored for PCHS. Brian Deterding led Gibault with 19 points.