Pinckneyville Claims Fifth Straight B.I.T.
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[ For the fifth consecutive year, Pinckneyville finished the Benton Invitational Tournament with a perfect 5-0 mark, defeating Carlyle 51-46 on Saturday night for their tenth win in a row overall this season.
"I don't think that record (for consecutive wins at the B.I.T.) will be broken, and you know what, we want to make it longer to where it's even more untouchable," said Panthers' head coach Bob Waggoner, who celebrated his birthday on Saturday with a pair of Pinckneyville victories.
"The main thing you want to get out of this tournament is to get ready for the second half run, to prepare and get ready for the regional," Waggoner added.
The Panthers (16-4) actually wrapped up the tournament crown by defeating Cairo in the morning session, with Benton and Hamilton County sharing second place.
Both teams started off the game with hot shooting from behind the three-point arc, with Josh Rosol and Tony Schaeffer connecting for Carlyle, and Nathan Morton and Dustin Winter (who hit two threes in the opening quarter and five in the game) sank deep balls for the Panthers, resulting in a 12-11 Pinckneyville edge after one quarter of play.
The Panthers threatened to pull away early in the second, as Taylor Pyatt laid in an easy two moments before Derek Kellerman hit for three with 6:04 left in the half.
Drew Dudek, who joined Winter on the B.I.T. All-Tournament team, hit for three, then sank a floater in the lane for two to give Pinckneyville their biggest lead at 24-14 with 3:38 to go before the break.
A fortunate rebound and putback by Aaron Smith, followed by free throws from Rosol and Smith, put a stop to the run, however, and the Indians crept back in it to trail 29-24 at the midway point.
Both teams got a bit sloppy turnover-wise in the third, and Carlyle again closed the gap, trailing 35-32 after Schaeffer's two with 1:57 to go, but Lively diced through traffic for a Pinckneyville bucket before the quarter ended.
Bryan Meyer cut the lead to two with a three-pointer to start the fourth, but Winter was good for three on back-to-back trips down the floor for the Panthers, who led 43-36.
Pyatt had a two-pointer waived off seconds later, a call that angered the big Pinckneyville crowd that made the trip to Benton all week, as the sophomore was whistled for charging.
It was D. Kellerman that came up big late for the Panthers, going 4-for-4 at the free throw line down the stretch and adding an easy bucket with under two minutes to play to hold off the Indians.
Winter led the way with 21 points and D. Kellerman added 11 as the Pinckneyville post players struggled against the Indians' defense.
"I'm not sure if they shut (the post) down, or if we didn't want to post tonight," said Waggoner.
Rosol led Carlyle with 17 points.
PANTHERS HOLD OFF PILOTS 69-62
A 19-point effort from Dudek, 17 of which came in the first half, helped Pinckneyville wrap up the 2009 B.I.T. with a 69-62 Saturday morning over the last team to beat the Panthers at Benton, the Cairo Pilots.
The Panthers never trailed in the game, getting things rolling with back-to-back three-balls from D. Kellerman before Dudek knocked down three trifectas in the opening period for a 21-12 advantage.
Six straight from the Pilots closed the gap early in the second quarter, but Dudek and the Panthers would respond, restoring their nine-point advantage by halftime, a lead thePilots failed to put a dent in in the second half until two relatively meaningless three-pointers with under 30 seconds to play.
Morton (12 points) and D. Kellerman (10) also finished in double digits. Hershel Graham led the Pilots with 17 points.
"No one expected this team to be where they are right now," commented Waggoner. "We're really doing a much better job of handling the ball, and with our passing."
The Panthers return to conference action on Friday at Nashville.
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