BOYS BASKETBALL: Panthers fall short at Nashville

With one starter unavailable for the game and two others fighting foul trouble for most of the game, Pinckneyville just didn't' have enough to get past Nashville on the road Friday night, falling 58-50 in a battle for first place in the SIRR's Mississippi Division.

The first player to fall victim to the whistle was Grant Jausel, who picked up three personals in the first three minutes of the ball game. He would sit out the remainder of the first half. The second was Clayton Houghland, who earned his third foul 2:38 before the halftime break going for a steal on the defensive end.

Both players managed to finish the game without a fifth foul, but their absence on the floor definitely played a part in the Panthers' ability to score on offense.

"Guys have to play more intelligent," said PCHS head coach Bob Waggoner. "You can't put your hand in the cookie jar. You've got to move your feet. You've got to play a little more savvy. This time of year, no one is an underclassman, they've got enough experience to play like a senior or a player of experience. They've got to make better decisions, and that's something they have to do as players."

Thirty seconds after C. Houghland's third foul, Kyle Luke drove in for a bucket to cut the Hornets' lead down to three points at 18-15. But from that point until halftime, Nashville took full advantage of Pinckneyville's lack of scoring threats, closing out the half on an 8-0 run to lead 25-16.

The Panthers were getting good, open looks at three-pointers in the first half, but other than an early triple by Hayden Carter, those shots refused to fall.

"They were wide open looks, great looks, shots that we want our guys to take, shots that we work on all the time," said Waggoner. "We just didn't shoot it well enough early."

After the break, however, Pinckneyville began to heat up against the Hornets' zone defense. The Panthers put in eight three balls in the final two periods to stay in the ball game, but could never get closer than five despite having several chances to do so.

"We had great opportunities, had opportunities to get stops," Waggoner said. "Instead of fouling we give them a couple layups, that changes the complexion of the game. I'm very proud of our kids for battling through that, they still gave us opportunities all the way to the end."

"Second half, we shot it a little bit better and got in the ball game. The bright spot for us is that I really feel like we played a game without two starters for the most part. We had some bench guys that good some good experience, so we'll be better the next time."

The Panthers were able to limit Royce Newman, who remains unbeaten in his four-year career against PCHS, to just 9 points, but Ryan Brink burned Pinckneyville with 15 points, 9 of which came on three-pointers.

"I thought we did a great job of mixing up our defenses," Waggoner said. "I thought our rotations were great. I thought we changed who we guarded in different situations, we tried to take away Newman and did a pretty good job of that. We rotated on their shooters. (Brink) got hot a couple times and hurt us, that's what good players do."

C. Houghland led Pinckneyville with 17 points, Carter and J.C. Moll each added 9, Dylan Houghland had 6, Luke 4, Cale Jausel 3 and G. Jausel 2.

The Panthers bounced back on Saturday at home, beating up on Vandalia 69-38 after building a 36-13 lead at the half.

C. Houghland scored 20 in the game to lead all PCHS scorers against the Vandals. Moll had 13, G. Jausel 10, Luke and Carter 7 apiece, Alex Howard 6, Hunter Clark 3, Ryan Brueggemann 2 and Caulden Lazenby 1.

The Panthers (11-5, 3-1) host Carterville on Friday night in Pinckneyville.