Nashville takes regional championship with win over Lady Panthers

The Nashville Hornettes put the squeeze on the Lady Panthers Thursday, and when it was over the Hornettes won 42 to 28 and took the Sesser regional championship.

In so doing they brought a very good Pinckneyville season to a close, and Panther Coach Alan Engelhardt tipped his hat to the winners.

"Nashville did a great job of keeping us away from the rim tonight and making it difficult for us to score," he said. "(Alyssa) Cole did a nice job of stepping out and hitting jumpers for them, and we didn't get enough stops to rebound and run."

The Lady Panthers finished the season at 18-11.

"We will miss our seniors (Haliegh Kling, Brianne Lacy, Aubrey Bruns)," Engelhardt said. "They have competed and done the unsung work for us for four years.

"But I hope our younger kids realize the opportunity in front of them if we will get in the gym and work."

On Tuesday, Nashville will face Harrisburg in the sectional semifinal at Carterville High School. The game starts at 7:30 p.m.

<b>SCORING</b>Quarter by quarter: Nashville, 10 12 16 04 42; Pinckneyville, 04 07 08 09 28.

Nashville scoring: Sabrina Kollbaum 9; Emily Schnitker 3; Jordan Donato 0; Rylee Luechtefeld 7 and Alyssa Cole 23.

Panther scoring: Haliegh Kling 2; Lily Tanner 5; Jilian Shaneyfelt 2; Aubrey Bruns 6; Lily Britt 6 and Kenzie Rushing 7.

3-pointers: Pinckneyville 3 (Tanner, Bruns, Rushing); Nashville 5 (Kollbaum, Schnitker, Luechtefeld, Cole 2).