BOYS BASKETBALL: Round one of PJHS-DMS goes to Jr. Panthers

One of the most anticipated junior high basketball games in recent memory lived up to all the hype on Tuesday night at Du Quoin Middle School in front of a standing-room-only crowd - for roughly 25 minutes of action.

Du Quoin's 6'4 Lomontay Daughtery played just 4 minutes in the second half before fouling out, and from that point on, Pinckneyville dominated the game, closing out a 57-46 victory by outscoring DMS 19-5 after Daughtery's disqualification to stay unbeaten on the season.

"Whenever you've got a kid with that kind of athleticism and size on the floor, whether he's off the ball or on the ball, he can be there any time blocking shots," said PJHS head coach Haven Hicks. "We stressed this week in practice to pass fake, shot fake, because he likes to block shots. We preached to keep going at him, because that can crush your psyche when you get a couple shots blocked. I was really proud of my kids the way they continued to attack, attack, attack instead of getting scared."

Warriors head coach Aaron Wright said his team has tried to prepare for a situation like the one that presented itself on Tuesday.

"Even in practice we tried to take (Daughtery) off the floor a little bit so these kids know you're going to have foul trouble once in a while," Wright said. "Tonight was one of those nights. The first time he we out, I thought we played well. The second time, with a little pressure, I thought we were lost a little bit looking for him in the post and he wasn't there."

Daughtery was impressive in the early minutes of the game, blocking three shots on the Junior Panthers' first offensive possession and five in the first quarter alone. Braeden Pursell hit a three-pointer late in the period to give DMS a 7-6 lead after a defensive battle in the first seven minutes.

The Warriors were looking good after a Kadin Mays three and a stick-back three-point play by Daughtery midway through the second quarter made it 16-11. But the DMS big man picked up his third foul on a charge call with 2:57 to go in the half and had to take a seat on the bench.

That opened the door for Pinckneyville. Devin Kitchen scored in the lane, Dawson Yates took a steal in for a layup, then Kitchen put back a rebound after a Du Quoin turnover to compete a quick 6-0 for the Junior Panthers, who at that point led 17-16.

Mays scored in traffic for DMS and Yates added a free throw for PJHS to send the game to halftime all knotted up at 18-18.

Du Quoin had crept ahead 25-20 after the break, but Daughtery's fourth foul came with 3:54 to go in the third quarter. The Panthers rallied again, but a three-pointer from Pursell and another from Mays - a half-court buzzer-beater that made the Du Quoin crowd erupt at the end of the period - kept the Warriors in front 36-30 headed to the fourth.

PJHS started the final period with a 6-0 run to tie the game, getting buckets from Noah Carter and Devin Kitchen and a pair of free throws by Hunter Riggins, prompting Wright to send Daughtery back onto the floor with 5:15 remaining.

Mays, who led DMS with 19 points, drove to the basket and drew a foul before sinking a tough shot, then completed the conventional three-point play with 5:03 to go to give the Warriors the lead.

"Mays played fantastic," Hicks said. "He didn't turn it over much and he distributed the ball well. (Daughtery) didn't hurt us much, it was the rest of them. They've got a lot of talent and great athletes, they're going to be a team to be reckoned with in late January."

Daughtery was whistled for the fifth time less than a minute later though, and watched the rest of the game from the sidelines.

Once again, Pinckneyville responded. Trailing 42-39 with 4:20 to play, the Panthers exploded for a 17-0 run while Du Quoin's offense seemed out of sync, settling for many rushed, ill-advised shot attempts.

"I told them afterwards that I was pleased with the way we played most of the game," Wright said, "but with one person out, we don't change what we do. Next man up. We have to keep doing what we do and play harder sometimes when the chips are down."

Yates hit a big three-pointer with 3:22 to go to put Pinckneyville in front to stay, and Riggins scored 10 of his game-high 20 points in the fourth quarter as the Junior Panthers raced to 11-0 on the season.

"When you don't have your 6'4 kid in the middle of the lane, that's our back line defense," Wright said, "and when you get to the rim and he's not there, we struggled a little bit. We'll work on that."

PJHS got to the rim - and the free throw line - often throughout the game, particularly when Daughtery was sidelined with foul trouble.

"We've got to get to the rim," said Hicks. "We've got guys that can shoot, but to stand and shoot on the arc is not enough, you have to attack the basket to open up the perimeter shots. The kind of perimeter shots we want come from the inside out, so we preach to attack and be aggressive. Only good things can happen when you do that. It really opens up the offense."

Riggins, Devin Kitchen (15 points) and Yates (14) all finished in double figures for the Junior Panthers. Dalton Kitchen added 5 points, Carter had 3.

For Du Quoin, Pursell joined Mays in double figures with 10 points, Daughtery and Brian Winters each had 7, and Alex Zimmerman had 3.

"We played tremendously hard," said Hicks. "We put all kinds of pressure on them and they would not turn it over. I thought we guarded tremendously, our effort was fantastic, I'm super proud of my guys."

Round two between the Warriors (7-2) and the Junior Panthers (11-0) will take place on January 7 at Pinckneyville.

DMS travels to Centralia on Wednesday night while PJHS hosts Sesser-Valier.