BASKETBALL: Lady Panthers start season with a win at Ham-Co Tournament

Pinckneyville started their girls varsity basketball season with a victory on Monday at the Lady Foxes Invitational in McLeansboro, knocking off Wayne City 41-30 behind 18 points from Mayci Doerflein.

Pinckneyville led 15-8 after one quarter and 22-17 at the half before extending their lead in the second half with an 11-6 third quarter. Sophie Keith and Raygan Yates each added 8 points for the Lady Panthers.

"I thought the girls did a really good job of just playing solid tonight," said PCHS head coach Alan Engelhardt. "Everyone found a way to chip in and contribute. Mayci Doerflein really got us going offensively, dropping in 18 by scoring in a variety of ways. Sophie Keith played a solid all-around game, scoring 8, pulling down 9 rebounds, and deflecting several passes that led to steals. And Raygan Yates did a nice job of playing the point, getting us into our offense and dropping in 8 of her own."

Kiya Hagene (3 points), Taylor Smith (2) and Megan Breslin (2) also scored for Pinckneyville. The Lady Panthers continue play at Hamilton County High School through the weekend.

"We still have some things to clean up, especially ending halves," Engelhardt added. "We gave up a 9-0 run to end the first half and a 7-0 run to end the game. That 16 point swing is something that will bite us later if we don't work on it. We also still have some press-rotation issues that need to be tightened up."

"However, there were a lot of things to like about how the girls played. We only turned the ball over 3 times the entire game while forcing 16 turnovers. We consistently ran our offense and got good shots all night, and we've got skilled enough kids that we will make more of them as the season goes on."