BOYS BASKETBALL: Pinckneyville's slide continues at Carterville
Pinckneyville's varsity boys basketball team has won at least 20 games in each of Bob Waggoner's previous six seasons as head coach of the Panthers. To accomplish that feat this season, they'll have to win a Regional championship.
PCHS was trampled 67-41 on their trip to Carterville on Friday night for their fourth loss in a row to end the regular season, leaving the Panthers with a mediocre 5-5 record in the Southern Illinois River-to-River Conference's Mississippi Division, and an 18-11 mark overall. With the win, the Lions laid claim to second place in the conference behind Nashville.
Brayden Cowley's pull-up jumper with 5:45 to go in the opening quarter made it 4-3 Pinckneyville, but the Panthers would not lead for long, or again. Carterville responded with an 8-0 run, with six of the points coming from Matt Galik, who led all scorers in the game with 16.
Caleb Dahn made his way inside and converted a conventional three-point play with 2:47 to go in the period that brought PCHS within four at 13-9, but again, the Lions wasted no time in answering back. Michael Aschemann, who finished with 15 points, fired in a three-pointer from the top of the key moments later, and by the end of the period Carterville led 20-11.
"You have to give Carterville a lot of credit, they shot the ball well," said Waggoner. "I thought we played pretty well from about halfway through the second quarter through the third quarter. We didn't come out ready to play, and they did, and they got the best of us tonight."
The Lions extended that advantage to 32-15 by halftime, and the Panthers never got closer than down a dozen in the second half. PCHS did outscore Carterville 18-15 in the third period, only for the Lions to pound them 20-8 in the fourth.
The Lions were 24-for-44 on field goals for 55% while Pinckneyville made just 14-of-38 (37%).
"If you watch Carterville, their kids are shooting in rhythm," Waggoner said, "and a lot of times our guys are thinking about it, and that's not a good equation."
"I think we dribble it too much, we don't pass it enough, we don't cut it enough, we don't screen enough. We've got too many guys that want to keep the ball in their hands. It's bothered us all season, and I think right now it's really caught up to us."
Brian Taylor led the Panthers with 13 points, Dahn had 10, Nolan Luke 8, Cowley 4, Tristan Fisher 3, Alex Howard and Clayton Houghland each had 2, and Jackson Brand 1.
For the Lions, Swalls (10 points) joined M. Galid and Aschemann in double figures. Will Galik added 9 points, Matt Bigelow 6 (with 10 rebounds), Blake Watson 5, Taylor Heil 3.
The Panthers open Regional play on Wednesday with the 7:00 p.m. semifinal against Sparta in Nashville.
Carterville will meet either Chester or Vienna on Tuesday at 7:00 in Anna.