02/24/2023
BY JACK BULLOCK
SPARTA - The Pinckneyville Panthers have added another regional championship to the program's long list of accolades.

And they have senior guard Pearson Launius to thank.

The 6-2 guard led the Panthers with 19 points and he was the one that bailed them out with 4-of-5 free throws in the fourth quarter, 11-of-14 for the game.

“He (Launius) got us going 'down hill' against them. He took advantage of drives to the basket,” said Coach Waggoner.

Defensively Pinckneyville brought their usual 'A-game' Friday night, forcing the state-ranked Columbia Eagles into a miserable shooting night from the outside.

On a night in which they needed their outside shooting, the Eagles didn't get the shots to fall.

Coach Mark Sandstrom's team were an 'frigid' 2-of-16 from the 3-point arc.

This from a team that had shot 38.1 percent from the arc for the season.

Despite missing eight important fourth quarter free throws, the Panthers held on for a 48-45 win in a contest in which they never trailed.

For Coach Bob Waggoner and his players it was a great win after having lost three-consecutive games to end its regular season.

A week ago they looked like anything but a regional champ leading up to the postseason.

After consecutive victories over Cahokia Conference foes Freeburg and Columbia, the Panthers will now host the 2A sectional with a chance, with two victories, to get back to the super-sectional for the first time since going to the state finals in 2018.

This win marked the 55th regional championship for a program that surpassed 2,000 wins in their history this season.

“This was a good win against a very good team. We have a lot of respect for Columbia. They battled the whole way and made a great run at us. But our kids made enough free throws to hang on and got enough stops,” said Coach Waggoner. “I think that they (Columbia) are used to being the longer/taller team and we are long and tall also.”

Pinckneyville got eight points from 6-6 senior Karsen Konkel and seven key points from Hunter Smith, including a pair of free throws with :06.5 remaining to give the Panthers a 48-43 lead.

Reid Harriss added six points in the first half as he and Konkel managed to stay in the game despite foul trouble as they each ended up with four fouls each.

Columbia was topped in scoring by 6-7 senior Dylan Murphy with 17 points.

Senior guard Jack Steckler scored 12 points and 6-5 freshman Brody Langraf netted 11.

Six-eight sophomore Sam Donald was held to five points to round out the Columbia scoring.

The Panthers held Columbia well below its scoring average (60.5 points a game) and they took the lead just seconds into the contest.

Launius scored five of his points in the first quarter, part of an 11-2 beginning for Pinckneyville.

Two different drives to the basket, one resulting in a three-point play, were points for the senior guard.

Harriss and Konkel also scored inside and Launius ended the run with two free throws for a nine point advantage with 3:48 left in the first.

Steckler and Donald accounted for the six first quarter points for the Eagles.

But the Panthers added scores from Harriss on an assist from Launius and a 3-pointer from the right wing from Smith to lead 16-6 at the end of the first frame.

Hitting just 2-of-8 shots and committing four turnovers, Columbia didn't get the start they wanted in the opening eight minutes.

Coach Sandstrom's team got some things going on the inside in the second quarter.

Both Murphy and Landgraf converted three-point plays while being fouled.

They occurred during a 12-2 run, the best of the game for the Eagles that closed the gap to just 22-20 with under three minutes left in the half.

Reserve forward Kellen Scott scored on an assist from Launius and the senior guard hit 1-of-2 free throws to close out the half at 25-20 Panthers.

Pinckneyville nearly put the game away in the third quarter.

Switching to a 1-3-1 zone, the Panthers forced Columbia to shoot from the outside and the Eagles struggled, hitting just 2-of-9 shots, 1-of-6 from the arc, with both made shots by Murphy.

Konkel scored twice in the lane while Scott, Launius and reserve guard Asher Jausel added baskets.

Jausel took a pass from Launius and his driving lay up beat the third quarter buzzer for a 36-25 lead heading to the final eight minutes.

“Our 1-3-1 defense was effective in the second half. We didn't give them many open looks,” said Coach Waggoner. “It (the postseason) is why we're here. The postseason. We want to be in these moments. You work hard to have a chance. I'm just so happy for our kids and our community.”

Pinckneyville could have put the game in the rear view mirror but they struggled from the foul line.

This allowed Columbia to make a move.

They outscored the Panthers 12-3 to begin the final quarter with Steckler adding another three-point play and baskets by Murphy, including his second 3-pointer, cut the Eagles' deficit to just 39-37 with 2:48 remaining.

Pinckneyville wouldn't be denied on this night, as they managed to string together 9-of-11 free throws in the final 1:15.

A score with :01.1 left by Steckler cut the lead down to its final margin.

After a Columbia timeout, the Panthers got the ball inbounds to run out clock on the Eagles' season that closed at 28-5.

The Eagles shooting (17-of-45) wasn't good enough on Friday night, compared to 15-of-29 for Pinckneyville.

The Panthers won the boards' battle 22-16 while both teams struggled handling the ball combining for 24 turnovers, with 14 by Coach Waggoner's team.

The now 26-6 Panthers will face 25-6 Massac County on Tuesday.

The Patriots took out Murphysboro 55-40 to win the 2A Benton Regional.

“A lot of teams would like to trade places with us,” Eagles coach Mark Sandstrom said. “We won 17 in a row. We won three tournaments. We were ranked number-one at one point in time. I’m most proud of the kids. Those kids allowed me to be a basketball coach and they bought into their role 100 percent every day of the season. I never had to deal with any drama. They didn’t have any individual agendas.”

Pinckneyville (48) – Launius 4 0 11-14 19, Smith 0 1 4-8 7, Jausel 1 0 2-4 4, Queen 0 0 0-0 0, Scott 2 0 0-0 4, Keith 0 0 0-0 0, Harriss 3 0 0-0 6, Konkel 4 0 0-1 8.
2FG-14, 3FG-1, FT-17-27, PF-14.
Columbia (45) – van Breusegen 0 0 0-0 0, James 0 0 0-0 0, Steckler 5 0 2-3 12, Bosch 0 0 0-0 0, Hicks 0 0 0-0 0, Murphy 4 2 3-3 17, Donald 2 0 1-1 5, Landgraf 4 0 3-3 11, Hemminghaus 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-15, 3FG-2, FT-9-10, PF-22.
Fouled Out – van Breusegen, Bosch - Columbia.
Technical Fouls – None.