BASKETBALL: Panthers get three wins, second place at Capital Classic
Although they took their lumps against one of the state's best Class 2A teams in the championship game, the Pinckneyville Panthers left the 2012 Capital Classic in Lawrenceville with three wins, a second place trophy, and perhaps something even more valuable to a young squad missing one of their leading scorers: experience.
"Even if we had not won that Marshall game and we ended up coming out of here 2-2," Panthers' head basketball coach Bob Waggoner said, "the biggest reason we came here was to get our inexperienced team a lot of experience early so that we could prepare ourselves for the conference season."
After sweeping the Lawrenceville pool at 3-0, the Panthers met up with Teutopolis in the championship after the Wooden Shoes clawed their way to 3-0 on the Red Hill side of the tournament. T-Town returned six letterman from a Super-Sectional team and had their way with the new-look Panthers 54-28 on Saturday night.
"They're state-ranked for a reason," said Waggoner. "Their length, their athleticism, they did to us tonight what we'd been able to do to the other three teams we played. They sped us up, they rotated, they trapped us, and they made us look a little inexperienced at times."
"It's a great game for us, it's a great learning experience. This is why you come here - to learn what you need to do to get better. I thought it was a great weekend for us as a team and I'm very pleased walking out of here."
A three-pointer from Brandon Edwards gave the Panthers an early lead, and Luke Miller dished to Caleb Dahn for a bucket to make it 12-9 Pinckneyville late in the first quarter. From that point on, it was all Wooden Shoes.
Teutopolis scored fifteen consecutive points to seize command of the game, never letting Pinckneyville get closer than 10 down the rest of the way.
Devin Falbe led T-Town against the Panthers with 14 points, and All-Tournament teamers Kyle Pruemer (13 points) and Classic MVP Derek Smith (8 points) also played big roles.
For PCHS, Chris Priebe (13 points vs. Teutopolis) and Caleb Dahn (4 pts) made the All-Tournament squad. Edwards (10 pts) and Miller (1) also scored against the Shoes.
"They're well-coached, they're disciplined, they have a good program," said Waggoner. "They're athletic, they're long. It's a good experience for us because a lot of times you learn lessons the hard way. We did some things to some other teams where maybe we weren't doing them correct, but we got away with it, and tonight you don't get to do that."
"We've got some players that even though they're seniors on the roster, they're more like J-V players in experience, and tonight they got that varsity level experience."
On Friday, Chase Lazenby's three-pointer with two seconds on the fourth-quarter clock gave the Panthers their first win of the season, a 38-36 triumph over Marshall, which had finished third in the tournament the past two seasons.
Neither team led by more than four points in the entire game and Pinckneyville won despite missing all four free throw attempts they took in the final frame.
Priebe led the way with 10 points, Lazenby added 7, Chaz Ruffino and Dahn 6, Sterling Bejma 4, Edwards 3, Miller 2.
That victory was followed by two blowout wins to finish off pool play - first against Lawrenceville on Friday night 62-30, and secondly a 65-39 slashing of Neoga early on Saturday.
Priebe, who was in double figures in all four games for Pinckneyville, led eleven Panthers that scored with 12 against Lawrenceville. Lazenby had 9 points, Brian Taylor and Chaz Ruffino 8, Tristan Fisher 6, Kelton Lively and Edwards 4, Dahn, Bejma and Miller 3, and Henry Dudek 2.
Against Neoga, Dahn led three Panthers in double figures with 12 points. Priebe and Taylor both had 10. Lazenby added 7, Dudek and Edwards 6, Bejma and Ruffino 4, and Lively, Miller and Fisher each had 2 as for the second straight game eleven Panthers got in the scorebook.
"That was a big thing, you want to get your younger kids in there," Waggoner said. "You want to have them play, you want to check on your depth, and you just want to continue to improve. I was excited that Caleb Dahn made the all-tournament team as a sophomore, he gives us another good inside option that's going to be strong for us throughout the season."
Minus 2011-12 All-SIRR guard Dylan Hardin (shoulder surgery), Waggoner used a starting lineup of Ruffino, Miller, Lazenby, Bejma and Priebe for all four games at Lawrenceville.
The Panthers (3-1) return to action Thursday at home against Waterloo Gibault.