12-28-2019
BY JACK BULLOCK
PINCKNEYVILLE – As each game goes forward, Pinckneyville senior guard Dawson Yates continues to show how important he is to his Panthers' success story for 2019-20.

The 6-foot-2 three year starter scored 16 points, handed out six assists and drilled home 8-of-8 free throws his team defended their 2018 tournament championship with a 68-42 rout of Woodlawn in the title game on Saturday night at the Duster Thomas “Hoops Classic.”

Yates led four Panthers in double-figures on the night as they pulled away from Woodlawn in the second half for the championship win.

Dre Scott, a 6-foot-4 junior forward, tossed in 14 points while Coach Bob Waggoner's club got 13 points apiece from senior's Hunter Riggins and Devin Kitchen.

Woodlawn, the number three seed in the event, was paced by senior guard Blake McKay with 16 points.

No other Cardinals' played scored more than eight for head coach Brian Gamber and his Cardinals, who finished in second place in their first year participating in the Duster Thomas.

Junior guard Jackson Tiemann scored eight, senior Race Rynski added seven with Hunter and Hayden England adding six and five to the total.

“We had a good tournament. We were disappointed that we couldn't make it a better game with this atmosphere. We hung in there in the first half but we had some breakdowns,” said Coach Gamber. “But in the second half we just didn't have enough juice and we hit empty. If you go on empty against them (Pinckneyville) you better have plenty in the tank. It is tough to score on them. They grind you out and we just ran out of steam.”

Woodlawn lost to Pinckneyville, 57-52 in the title game of the Carlyle “Kaskaskian Classic” but were no match for the hosts on Saturday night.

After seeing McKay torch the Panthers for 39 points in the first meeting, Coach Waggoner wanted to make things much tougher on the 1A all-state candidate.

“The difference from today and when we played them before is we wanted to double McKay and make him have to give the ball up,” said Coach Waggoner. “We wanted him to have to make decisions with the ball and eventually wear him down.”

After playing three consecutive tough games against Mounds Meridian, Olney and Mt. Carmel, the Cardinals finally wore down against a Panthers' team they battled back on December 7.

In contrast, the Panthers rolled to three straight lopsided wins over Elverado, Salem and Carlyle by a combined 193-82 score to get to the title game.

Woodlawn hung in with the 2A ABV preseason top-ranked Panthers in the early going.

Tiemann nailed a 3-pointer to open the game's scoring and McKay netted eight of his points in the first frame.

However Yates got his teammates involved early.

The senior leader dished up four assists to Scott in the first quarter, all of which resulted in easy baskets in the lane.

Pinckneyville senior forward Grant Tanner got in on the fun with a steal and fast break lay in to give the Panthers back the lead at 12-10 with 2:51 left in the title game.

Woodlawn wouldn't get back the lead the remainder of the way.

Another Scott score and a Tanner rebound bucket gave Pinckneyville a 16-13 lead at the end of the first quarter.

A 3-pointer by Riggins, another Scott score on a drive and a transition score by Kitchen gave Woodlawn a “sinking” feeling, down 23-15.

McKay scored twice in the third quarter on drives in the paint for short jumper but the Cardinals still trailed 28-20 at halftime.

The Panthers ran away with the second half with a big third quarter scoring blitz.

Yates ran off of two offensive sets for open 3-point looks.

He connected on both long range shots during a 20-4 run, while Kitchen and Riggins also added a basket each in the scoring crusade.

The rest of the points came from the foul line.

Riggins tossed in a pair of free throws and Yates cashed in all eight of his attempts in the quarter.

Six consecutive tosses by Yates closed the third period at 48-24 Panthers.

The Cardinals numbers in their “train wreck” third quarter were 1-of-10 from floor and six turnovers.

If things weren't bad enough for Woodlawn, the Panthers added to the onslaught of points in the fourth quarter.

Pinckneyville hit four 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, three of which came from Kitchen.

Woodlawn produced a respectable fourth quarter with reserve junior Hunter England hitting a pair of 3-pointers and Tiemann adding his second 20 footer.

Pinckneyville closed out the game with an 8-2 run with Kitchen and Riggins hitting treys and a pair of free throws by junior Ben Restoff before both coaches emptied the benches.

The Panthers ended up 22-of-43 overall (51.1 percent) and hit 7-of-17 from the arc with Kitchen hitting 3-of-5.

Coach Waggoner's team was nearly perfect from the foul line, hitting 17-of-18 while committing just nine turnovers.

The Woodlawn numbers were not as pleasant to look at.

Coach Gamber's club finished 14-of-37 (37.8 percent) and were out-rebounded 23-12.

The Cardinals finished the 2019 part of their season at 11-2 with just the two defeats to the Panthers.

Pinckneyville is now 12-1 with their lone loss being to 2A top-ranked Chicago Orr in overtime.

“I think we do a great job of moving the ball and getting them (opponents) into a scramble situation and on the defensive end we do a great job to where the best play can't have the ball in his hands and get players to be uncomfortable,” said Coach Waggoner. “We have always done this and this year we have guys who are a bit more athletic and we have made more plays.”