Johnson leads Redbirds past Pinckneyville

WEST FRANKFORT - C.J. Johnson poured in 34 points to lead West Frankfort to an 86-79 overtime win over Pinckneyville on Wednesday night at Max Morris Gymnasium.

Dawson Yates scored 23 points for the Panthers, who led at the end of the first three quarters but were outscored 12-5 in overtime.

Pinckneyville led 16-11 after eight minutes and was up 20-11 early in the second. The margin was cut to 32-30 at the half.

The Panthers took a 54-52 lead into the fourth period and were ahead 63-56 with five minutes to go, but then needed a 3-pointer from Hunter Riggins with 8.8 seconds left to force the overtime.

The Redbirds used mostly free throws in the extra minutes to hand the Panthers an early loss.

"The positive is we scored 79 points," Pinckneyville coach Bob Waggoner said on his postgame radio show. "So we found someone to score the ball. I just thought our defensive principles and turnovers are what got us beat."

Dylan Houghland was the only Panther besides Yates in double figures with 15 points. Riggins, Dre Scott and Grant Tanner all had nine. Kelton Linze added seven and Ben Restoff had six.

Pinckneyville begins play in Carlyle's tournament on Saturday.