GIRLS BASKETBALL: Lady Panthers beat Carlyle; Keith closes in on record

The Lady Panthers spread the scoring around in Saturday's 55-40 home win over Carlyle, getting at least 6 points from 6 different players led by Andrea Morgan's 18.

Sophie Keith also contributed in a big way, scoring 8 points, grabbing 9 rebounds and blocking 7 shots. The 9 rebounds puts Keith just 4 shy of Pinckneyville's career rebounding recording. She'll have a good chance to set the mark in Tuesday night's home game against Anna-Jonesboro.

PCHS led 15-11 after the first quarter, then outscored the Lady Indians 16-6 in the second to lead 31-17 at halftime. Carlyle crept closer with a 15-9 third period, but the Lady Panthers closed out strong in the fourth.

"Today's game was a mixed bag as far as results," said PCHS head coach Alan Engelhardt. "We did several things well for most of the game, but we had a couple of areas that allowed Carlyle to stay in the game."

"In the first quarter, we allowed 6 points on run-outs against our press on communication breakdowns and during the end of the third and start of the fourth quarter, we really just stood around on offense, turning the ball over and missing several short jumpers. The rest of the game, we were pretty dominant, doing a nice job of having some balanced scoring, sharing the ball, and pressuring on defense."

A 14-for-18 performance at the free throw line helped Pinckneyville's cause.

Mayci Doerflein added 8 points for the Lady Panthers, as did Raygan Yates. Taylor Smith scored 7 points, Gabby Bartnicki finished with 6.

"Looking at us, I can see glimpses of how good we can be and our good stretches are fun to watch," Engelhardt added. "We just have to continue to work to eliminate our bad stretches and lengthen the good and we will give ourselves a chance to win every time out."

Pinckneyville is 8-2 and hosts Anna-Jonesboro on Tuesday night with the junior varsity tip at 6:15 p.m.