01-21-06
BY JACK BULLOCK
BENTON - Twenty-four hours or maybe a bit less.

That was the time frame in which the Pinckneyville Panthers turned around what was a problem on Friday night when they struggled from the foul line in beating the host Rangers at the Benton Invitational Tournament.

By not being sharp on Friday night, the Panthers allowed the hosts to hang around.

However coach Dick Corn's club made an 'about-face' from the previous evening by connecting on 19-of-23 attempts from that charity stripe to take home the top prize at the BIT.

Combined with a strong second half defensive effort in its finale against Carlyle, these Panthers tied up the Indians the same way they tied the ribbon on their second consecutive title.

Its 72-61 win in front of a large crowd at Rich Herrin Gym cemented what most people following this tournament knew coming in; that Pinckneyville is one of the top teams in the state.

On Saturday night, they kept the Tribe at arms length in most of the second half to improve to 19-1 overall, and an undefeated 5-0 at the Benton event.

"We just continue to find ways to win and that is important," said coach Corn. "The kids have played well together and I can't say enough about the effort that these kids have been giving us and the togetherness that they have shown. Right now we are playing well."
The Indians (3-2 in the BIT, 14-8 overall) stood their ground and stayed right with the state-ranked Panthers and top-rated team in the ABV 'Deep South' rankings on this night.

"I thought our kids played well tonight. If you take away that stretch in the fourth quarter we are right there," said Palmer. "But they (Pinckneyville) are so dangerous and have so many weapons and kids that can score. You have to give them credit tonight, they took care of the ball and did the things you need to do to win championships."

Coach Palmer's club jumped out to an early lead in the opening moments, thanks to scores by Jacob Tucker, James Snider and Kory Peppenhorst.

Tucker scored on a rebound of his own miss, a Snider score in the paint and a 3-pointer from the top of the key by Peppenhorst at the 5:32 mark made it 7-4 Indians.

But the Panthers quickly responded with an 11-2 run.
Both Austin and Lyle Winter hit the scoreboard in the tear.
An important part of the Panther success so far this season has been the play of their reserve unit.

On this night, Hayden Hicks came off the pine first for some quality minutes.

He connected on a pair of big first quarter shots, one from 15-feet and another from behind the arc.

His 3-pointer made it 20-14 with :59 left in the quarter.
Carlyle stayed in the hunt, mainly because of the play of Tucker.
He scored right before the first horn on a drive right down the middle of the lane to close the gap to 20-18.

On a 3-pointer to open the second quarter by Peppenhorst, Carlyle took a brief lead at 21-20.

But two other Panther players stepped up as they presented too much artillery for Carlyle to deal with.

Zach Hawkins scored four points in the quarter and Collin Woodside came off the Pinckneyville bench for an early bucket.

With James Snider on the bench with two early fouls, coach Palmer turned to his bench,
Matt Palm, a 6-foot-3 sophomore, scored eight second quarter points.

However it was Hicks that was the key factor at the end of the half.

He scored the last seven Pinckneyville points in the second quarter.

After a Palm score on a lob pass from Darrell Johnson cut the Pinckneyville lead to 33-31 with :43 left, the Panthers held the ball for the final shot.

A Carlyle defensive breakdown led to Hicks getting himself open from way behind the arc. This lefty let fly a NBA range 3-pointer that found the bottom of the net for a 36-31 halftime advantage.

"We let them get a good look at the basket there at the end of the first half," added Palmer. "They caught us in a scramble situation when we were trying for a steal and they hit a three to go up five at the break. Those little things are just killers in games against good teams."

The Indians never quit, overcoming two different five-point deficits in the third quarter.

Trailing 38-33, Carlyle scored 9-of-the-next-11 points in the contest, four of which came from Tucker. When James Snider scored in the lane from the right blocks on a pass from Peppenhorst, Carlyle led 42-40.

Pinckneyville then answered with seven points in a row, with Skyler Graskewicz hitting a 3-pointer in the run.

After back-to-back three pointers by Johnson gave Carlyle back the advantage at 48-47, the Panthers again held the ball for a final look and Woodside gave them the best shot.

His 3-pointer from the left corner in front of the Panther bench ripped the net for a 50-47 lead heading into the final frame.

Sadly for Palmer and his team, that would be as close as the Indians would get for the remainder of the contest.

Pinckneyville scored the games next nine points to open the final eight minutes; finishing the 12-0 surge to take command.

Hawkins had four of those points, including a rebound bucket with 6:32 to go to make it 59-48 forcing a Carlyle timeout.

Snider scored six points in the fourth quarter for the Indians and his last bucket in the lane at 2:14 narrowed the Panther lead to 63-56.

But unlike Pinckneyville's adventurous Friday night from the foul line, these Panthers were in no mood to mess around and risk sharing the tournament title.

Coach Corn's kids lined up and drilled eight consecutive free throws (10-of-12 total) in the final 1:54 of play to put the outcome to rest.

"I don't think that we fought as hard as we needed to in the first half," Corn said. "We didn't fight them for position in the post and we didn't guard them on the perimeter as hard as we needed to. But I thought we played more aggressively in the second half defensively. A lot of times when the shots start going into the hoop, it will pick up your defense."

For Pinckneyville balanced scoring has been the norm all season and the BIT final was no exception.

Three players hit for double-figures with Hawkins topping the squadron with 16.

Lyle Winter added 14 while Hicks' 12-points off the bench was a big lift.
Defense stopper Kyle Cassity, Woodside and Austin Winter added eight points each. Graskewicz hit a big 3-pointer and nailed three consecutive important free throws to finish with six.

Tucker with 15 with Palm and James Snider adding 10-apiece led Carlyle. Peppenhorst finished with three 3-pointers and nine total points.

Both teams shot well and each team took care of the basketball on the night.

Pinckneyville was 23-of-42 from the field (55 percent) while nailing 7-of-9 from the 3-point line.

Carlyle also shot well, making good on 25-of-51 attempts (49 percent) and 5-of-12 from downtown.

The Panthers violations were few with just four turnovers on the night while Carlyle committed just seven.

"We talked about how when you play against teams like Pinckneyville that every possession is important and when you get looks in the paint like we got tonight you have to make them," finalized Palmer. "We are pretty pleased with our effort and I think it will make us better in the long run. I hope that they believe that we can play with anybody when we play well."

	1	2	3	4		Final
Carlyle	18	13	17	13	-	61
Pinckneyville	20	16	14	22	-	72

Carlyle (61) - Johnson 2 2 1-2 11, Palm 3 0 4-4 10, Tucker 7 0 1-3 15, K. Peppenhorst 0 3 0-0 9, Huels 1 0 0-0 2, N. Snider 2 0 0-0 4, J. Snider 5 0 0-3 10.
2FG-20, 3FG-5, FT-6-12, PF-17.
Pinckneyville (72) - Hicks 1 2 4-6 12, K. Winter 1 2 6-6 14, Cassity 2 0 4-5 8, Graskewicz 0 1 3-3 6, Woodside 1 2 0-0 8, A. Winter 4 0 0-0 8, Rushing 0 0 0-0 0, Z. Hawkins 7 0 2-3 16.
2FG-16, 3FG-7, FT-19-23, PF-14.
Fouled Out - Tucker, Carlyle; A. Winter, Pinckneyville
Technical Fouls - None.

BENTON 55, HAMILTON COUNTY 49 OT
The host Rangers scored two big wins on Saturday to finish second in the BIT with a 4-1 mark.

Todd Browning scored 14-points for the Rangers, who improved to 12-8 overall.

Seiger Shurtz and Casey Ainslie scored 11-points each while Bryson Hammond added 10.

Hamilton County's Ceddrick Graham, the tournaments' top vote getter for All-Tournament, matched Browning with 14 of his own while teammate Jake Welch added 10.

Kevin Waier weighed in with eight points and Travis Ackley added six.

Nick Walls had four points, including a bucket at the end of regulation to send the game into an extra session.

Benton took care of the overtime from the free throw line, making 9-of-11 chances.
The Foxes finished the week 2-3 and are 8-9 overall.

	1	2	3	4	OT		Final
Benton	10	12	13	8	12	-	55
Hamilton County	11	9	11	12	6	-	49

Benton (55) - Sa. Shurtz 1 0 2-2 4, Hammond 1 2 2-3 10, Satterfield 1 1 0-1 5, Browning 6 0 2-4 14, Se. Shurtz 4 0 3-4 11, Ainslie 1 3 0-0 11, Meyers 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-14, 3FG-6, FT-9-14, PF-14.
Hamilton County (49) - Graham 6 0 2-3 14, Waier 4 0 0-0 8, Welch 4 0 2-2 10, Walls 2 0 0-0 4, Taylor 2 0 1-2 5, Hall 0 0 2-2 2.
2FG-18, 3FG-0, FT-7-9, PF-18.
Fouled Out - Ackley, Hamilton County.
Technical Fouls - None.

OKAWVILLE 66, CAIRO 53
The Rockets won the battle between the two clubs that had yet to win a game this week at the BIT.

Behind a 16-point performance from Jared Fisher, the Rockets held off the Pilots in a game where they led by 21-points at one point in the third quarter only to see the lead dip down to eight at 55-47.

Two other Okawville players, Craig Koenigstein and Kyle Meentemeyer added 10-points each coach Jon Kraus' 6-16 team.

Cairo (0-5, 4-14 overall) received 12-points apiece from Chris Williams and Anthony Jackson in the loss.

	1	2	3	4		Final
Cairo	9	8	15	21	-	53
Okawville	14	11	20	21	-	66

Cairo (53) - Ivory 1 0 0-0 2, Ar. Davis 1 0 0-0 2, Williams 3 2 0-4 12, Johnson 2 0 0-0 4, Jackson 1 0 0-0 2, An, Davis 5 0 2-6 12, Carlton 2 1 1-2 8, Hunt 1 0 0-0 2, Tucker 2 1 2-2 9.
2FG-18, 3FG-4, FT-5-14, PF-26.
Okawville (66) - Schwankhaus 1 0 4-4 6, Koenigstein 4 0 2-2 10, Heckert 1 0 3-4 5, Brammeier 0 0 3-4 3, Genter 3 0 0-4 6, Meentemeyer 4 0 2-2 10, Kolweier 4 0 0-0 8, Fisher 4 1 5-11 16, Wagner 0 0 2-2 2.
2FG-21, 3FG-1, FT-19-33, PF-14.
Fouled Out - Williams, Cairo.
Technical Fouls - None.