BOYS BASKETBALL: Junior Panthers one step away after beating Albion

The Junior Panthers will play for a state championship this Friday night at Rend Lake College after dominating Tuesday's semifinal matchup with Albion, 52-35.

Pinckneyville jumped out to a 15-3 lead and never let Albion get any closer than six points down the rest of the way, finishing the game with three players in double figures.

PJHS led 4-3 with Dawson Yates scored on a second-chance opportunity with 3:01 to go in the opening quarter, jump-starting an 11-0 run for Pinckneyville to close out the period. Yates added a three-pointer during the stretch, and Austin Alspach put in two layups in the final two minutes, one on an asset from Devin Kitchen, the other on an assist from Hunter Riggins.

After the halftime break, when the Junior Panthers led 25-15, Albion cut the lead down to seven before Chase Fulkerson drained a three and Yates took a rebound coast-to-coast for a lay-up, making it 31-19 Pinckneyville a minute and a half into the third quarter.

The Junior Panthers later closed out the quarter on an 8-0 run, putting the game away and setting up a showdown with Nashville this Friday at 7:30 p.m. for the SIJHSAA Class M state title.

Alspach had eleven points to lead PJHS, Fulkerson and Dylan Houghland each added ten. Yates had seven points, Riggins six, Kitchen five, Garrett Vuichard two and Lucas Downard one. Josh Wright, Matthew Martin, Cole Kelly and Seth Witbracht also saw action for Pinckneyville.