12-23-14
BY JACK BULLOCK
ANNA - The Pinckneyville Panthers got off to a “great start” on Tuesday night in its road win over Anna-Jonesboro.

It made up for a “not-so-great” ending.

Coach Bob Waggoner's club, however, held off a rally by the host Wildcats and posted a 68-54 triumph in one of the few games played this night before the night before Christmas.

The Panthers came out of the game no worse for wear, posting its third conference win against no losses and an 8-2 overall mark heading into its own Holiday Tournament which begins on Friday.

Six-foot-three junior forward Clayton Houghland came up big around the basket for the Panthers, netting a game-best 19-points as Pinckneyville took over the lead in the SIRR Mississippi Division.

Nolan Luke, a 6-foot-2 senior vet, added 15-points for the winners while 12-points came from sophomore Tyler Rulevish and 10-points from Brian Taylor in a balanced attack that produced 56 of the 68 total points.

Whether they were hitting from long range or pounding the ball inside, the Panthers were successful for most of the night as they shot the ball better than the hosts.

“I thought in the first half we played about as well as we could. Coming in here and defensively we guarded their guards. They are very athletic and quick and we limited their penetration. In the second half we kind of stood around and stopped attacking their zone,” said Coach Waggoner. “We missed a lot of easy shots that we should make. But we found a way to finish it (the game) off. Nolan (Luke) really led us there at the end getting the ball inside and Clayton (Houghland) finishing off with free throws.”

Anna-Jonesboro and head coach Mike Chamness saw their overall mark slip to 5-5 and they are without a victory in the league so far at 0-3 having lost to the three favorites in the division with defeats coming to Nashville, Carterville and now at home to Pinckneyville.

The Wildcats got 37-total points from their backcourt with Noah Prater and Zach Parr notching 14-points each while Noah Fuller added nine.

However only 12-total points of that 37 came in the opening half as the 'Cats fell way too far behind.

Coach Chamness can point to his clubs issues with handling the ball, especially in the first half, that contributed to its loss on Tuesday night.

The Wildcats committed 20-turnovers, most of which proved costly in the contest as Pinckneyville capitalized on most of the mistakes.

“This was kind of the same story as what happened Saturday night at Massac (County) we got down 19 at the half and we just dug ourselves too big of a hole against a good team,” said Coach Chamness. “I thought they (Pinckneyville) had a good game plan to keep Fuller and Parr out of the lane. And they executed well in the first half, they were 5-of-7 from the 3-point line. But I'm proud of our guys for coming out in the second half. We started knocking down some shots and we defended better.”

The Panthers took care of business on the glass, cleaning up most of the missed shots by either team on this night to the tune of a 33-19 edge overall with 10-offensive rebounds helping for a lot of second chance points.

By the time Anna-Jonesboro made a run at Coach Waggoner's squad, they were down 21-points.

The Wildcats managed to get to within seven on two separate occasions before the Panthers finished the job.

“Normally if you win the rebounding then you win the game and I thought the kids did a great job of sealing them off the boards and then we got on the offensive glass,” said Coach Waggoner. “I thought we were very aggressive on the ball and made sure we got second chance opportunities.”

Pinckneyville finished with a better shooting night, canning 25-of-47 overall (53.1 percent) while hitting 6-of-10 3-point shots.

A-J wasn't nearly that good from the are or inside, hitting just 6-of-19 from beyond 20-feet while getting just 21-of-46 attempts (45.6 percent) to fall.

After a bit of a struggle by both teams (four possessions and four turnovers to begin the contest) Pinckneyville jumped out to a early lead that they wouldn't relinquish.

A 9-0 run, with the Panthers down 5-3 early on, got Pinckneyville back the lead for keepers.

The first two of Pinckneyville 10-offensive rebounds produced points with 6-foot-3 Adam Banach, who followed up his four teammates with double-figures in scoring with eight points, scoring four points in back-to-back trips.

His second put-back gave the Panthers a 10-5 lead that forced an A-J TO.

Sandwiched around those to second chance opportunities was a pair of scores by Houghland; a 3-pointer from the left corner and rebound bucket, that produced a seven-point spread.

Although Anna-Jonesboro answered with a couple of scores (Parr and 6-foot-4 junior Dakota Earnhart) the Panthers were ready to push the lead up to double-figures.

Back-to-back bombs dropped in by Rulevish, the second one with just under :05 remaining, pushed the Panthers' advantage to 20-10 at the end of one.

The home team finally got a bit of offense going in the second quarter when Prater and Parr each scored on consecutive possessions.

Prater nailed his second of three treys and Parr drove the lane for a score to cut it to 22-17 in the early going.

After trading scores (Houghland on an inbounds play, Earnhart with a banked-in 3-pointer) which made it 24-20 with 4:17 remaining, the Panthers went on a game-changing 17-2 run to close the quarter.

Houghland and Luke scored the first seven of the points and Luke closed the 13-0 part of the sprint with a pair of scores inside.

His spin move in the lane, which found the bottom of the net with 1:25 remaining, gave the Panthers a reverberating 37-20 lead.

Senior guard Brian Taylor got in on the scoring fun on a transition score and Fisher added a jumper near the foul line with :03 left, Pinckneyville was in complete control at intermission at 41-22.

Coach Waggoner saw his club control the entire first half (9-of-11 from the field in the second quarter) and had a comfortable lead at intermission.

Anna-Jonesboro committed four turnovers in the second period, including three-consecutive miscues during that final run by the opponents as they trailed by 19-points at the break.

The Panthers continued to pour it on the hosts in the third quarter and the lead reached its high-point with 4:39 left in the frame.

Buckets by Fisher and Luke, both on drives to the basket, resulted in a 49-28 lead.

The saying of “every team makes a run” may or may not be completely true.

But on Tuesday night, the Wildcats finally got some offense going in the second half to put a scare into the other 'Cats.

Parr scored six of his points in the quarter and a 3-pointer from Earnhart and a rebound basket by senior Elijah Smith cut the margin to 54-41 heading to the final quarter.

Pinckneyville hit just 5-of-16 from the floor and committed three turnovers in their worst frame of the night, allowing Anna-Jonesboro a chance at redemption.

Twice in the final minutes the Wildcats got the score down to a three-possession game.

Six straight points to open the quarter, highlighted by a conventional three-point play by Parr on a drive to the lane and subsequent made free throw, got the home crowd fired up at 54-47.

However the Panthers closed out the contest as they settled themselves down and took care of the outcome from the foul line.

Pinckneyville made 7-of-9 free throws in the final stanza, including six-consecutive in the last 3:18 of the contest.

The Wildcats are seeded sixth at the upcoming Eldorado Holiday Tournament as they will face Carmi-White County at 10:30 am on Friday, December 26.

“In the last eleven days we have played Nashville, Carterville, Massac and Pinckneyville and it was the same story in each of those games. We would get down and then we would come back,” said Coach Chamness. “But these kids, even when it gets to 20 down, they are not going to quit. I've seen them for too long and they are too good of kids. We have just got to figure out how not to dig such a big hole. Once we do that then we will be OK. Hopefully (this stretch of games) will make us better down the line.”

Pinckneyville hosts a Pool Play two-day event, also beginning Friday.

The Panthers will play Red Bud at 9:00 am on Friday and then Tolono Unity on Friday night at 7:00 pm.

“We knew they were going to make a run. They (Anna-Jonesboro) are a very good team and I think that their guard play is as good as anyone we are going to see, especially athletically,” said Coach Waggoner. “But overall our depth wasn't as good without Caleb Dahn (injured) but we fought through some fatigue.”