Panthers down Sesser, Carlyle at BIT

BENTON - The Pinckneyville Panthers put themselves in position for yet another Benton Invitational Tournament championship with wins over Sesser-Valier and Carlyle before the weekend's winter weather postponed the final session.

The Panthers rolled to a 64-39 win on Saturday after being Sesser-Valier, 65-44, on Friday night. Pinckneyville was slated to play Benton in the final Saturday night session but it was moved to Monday.

Benton was also 4-0 in the tournament after beating Meridian, 59-51, on Saturday behind Joey Craig's 34-point performance. Earlier in the tourney, the Rangers edged Carlyle (45-42) and Sesser-Valier (42-38).

In the win over Sesser-Valier, the Panthers jumped out to a double-digit lead in the first quarter and led 34-23 at the half before extended that to 49-30 after three periods.

Hunter Riggins hit three 3-pointers and led the Panthers with 18 points. Dawson Yates had 17, including a perfect 11-for-11 showing at the free-throw stripe.

Dylan Hougland, Grant Tanner and Dre Scott all had eight points for the Panthers, who were 24 of 28 from the line as a team.

Tyler Winchester scored 17 points, including four treys, to lead the Red Devils, who were 11 of 24 from the foul line.

Pinckneyville then improved to 20-2 overall with the win over Carlyle a few hours later.

Riggins, Yates and Kelton Linze all hit 3-pointers in the first quarter to help Pinckneyville push out to a quick 20-7 lead. The margin was 37-17 at halftime and 59-28 after three quarters.

Houghland and Yates both finished with 12 points and Tanner had 11. Riggins tallied nine and Scott had eight. Ben Restoff and Linze chipped in six each. The Panthers were again strong at the line, going 11 of 13.

The championship-deciding game is scheduled for late Monday night.