02-24-12
BY JACK BULLOCK
PINCKNEYVILLE – Not many players in high school basketball are willing to work on their mid-range game.

But Dylan Hardin has turned the “old school” approach into an art form.

On Friday night in the title game of the Pinckneyville Class 2A Regional, Hardin painted the Panthers into the Eldorado Sectional using the floor at Duster Thomas Gymnasium as his canvass.

The 5-foot-10 junior guard beat Trico defenders off the dribble for most of the night, getting loose for 10-to-15 foot shots in and around the lane.

When he was finished with this masterpiece, Pinckneyville had secured its state-record 49th regional championship with a 50-45 win over second-seeded Trico in front of a packed house surrounding Dick Corn Court.

Hardin finished with a game-high 25-points as Pinckneyville pushed its mark to 25-4 for the campaign, which will continue into next Tuesday and a date with Olney East Richland at Eldorado.

Hardin nailed ten of his shots from inside the 3-point arc and stepped out to connect once from long distance as he and his Panther teammates survived a brief late game rally from Trico to pick up the victory.

“It's a lost art (mid-range game) most of the kids want to stand behind the arc but he (Hardin) is a kid that can play. He is a triple-threat. He can shoot the three, he can drive it or he can post up,” said Coach Bob Waggoner when talking about Hardin's versatility. “He is a tough matchup and he was the best player on the floor tonight.”

The Pioneers and head coach Shane Hawkins let a big opportunity slip away in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter.

After 6-foot-7 senior center Chase Heins scored just seconds into the final stanza, Trico trailed just 36-33 and seemingly had shifted the momentum.

However Trico committed five fourth quarter turnovers, stopping their own run and allowing Pinckneyville to regroup.

“They (Trico) were pressing a little bit offensively, trying to get the ball inside to Heins for some easy shots,” added Coach Waggoner. “We took advantage of it (fourth quarter turnovers) tonight.”

Championship caliber teams will make their free throws to protect a lead.

On Friday night, the Panthers did just that as they went 10-of-13 from the charity stripe in the game, all of which came in the fourth quarter.

Pinckneyville spread the floor in the final minutes, forcing Coach Hawkins to make a decision to either chase the Panthers or allow some time to run off the clock before fouling.

Hoping to buy some time for his weary troops, Hawkins chose to lay back for nearly two minutes.

“We were so gassed and they shoot free throws so well and they had all the right guys on the floor to shoot them,” said Coach Hawkins, when talking about sitting back and waiting on Pinckneyville in the fourth quarter. “I thought if we could drain the clock for a minute it might revitalize us. I just knew the way that they shoot free throws we just couldn't go out and just start fouling. I thought we needed a minute before we made a final run.”

As it turned out, once Trico began fouling Pinckneyville made the free throws count.

Senior guards Bryant Shute and Hunter Queen along with forwards Chris Priebe and Payton Nippe all toed the line with success, combining to make eight free throws.

By the time Hardin got his turn at the foul line, the junior iced the game with another pair with :08.2 remaining.

“I thought our depth effected them (Trico) because they got tired because they couldn't sub in as much,” finalized Coach Waggoner. “We ran two minutes off the clock in the fourth quarter and they had a heck of decision to make. Either come and foul us or let us keep running clock.”

Trico made three 3-pointers in the final :42 seconds but never got the game down to one possession.

Both teams, with the emotion of the big game showing, struggled early in the opening quarter.

Trico held a 6-2 lead following a 3-pointer from senior forward Daron Meyerhoff and a fast break lay in from junior forward George Kuhlman.

But it didn't take Hardin long to heat up.

He connected on a baseline jumper and made a steal of an in-bounds pass by Trico and took the ball the to the other end for a lay in to even the score at 9-all at the end of the first quarter.

Priebe stepped out and hit a couple of mid-range shots of his own in the second quarter and Hardin hit his only 3-pointer of the night with just over a minute left in the half for a 18-15 Panthers' lead at intermission.

Hardin picked up where he left off in the first half by taking the ball into the lane on drives that resulted in a pair of scores and a 22-15 lead with 5:55 left in the third quarter.

Meyerhoff, who finished his night and career with 20-points in his final game, made a couple of big shots in the third quarter.

His steal and fast break lay in followed by a conventional three-point play by Kuhlman closed the gap to 30-27 at the 2:16 mark.

But the story of the contest continued to be Hardin, who collected two more scores before the third quarter ended.

He grabbed a missed 3-pointer by Shute for a score and his drive in the lane for a basket with :04 left made it 36-31 heading into the fourth quarter.

Trico got to within three points one final time with 5:40 remaining on another Meyerhoff score on a reverse lay in down the baseline.

But after being allowed to run over two minutes off the clock before being sent to the line, the game was shortened enough for Pinckneyville to survive and advance to the sectional.

Following Meyerhoff's 20-points, Trico got nine points from Heins who also played in his final prep basketball game. Dylan Witthoft finished with six points while Kuhlman and Blaine LePere added five each.

Priebe was the only other Panther in double-figures besides Hardin as he finished with 10-points.

“I thought Dylan Hardin was just phenomenal tonight,” added Coach Hawkins. “They made a lot of jumpers tonight. I thought we did a pretty good job defensively.”

Pinckneyville shot 19-of-37 overall from the field and held a slight 20-19 rebounding edge.

The Pioneers weren't nearly as effective offensively, hitting just 16-of-42 overall.

“Their pressure gets you to play way too fast. We shot it too fast and we turned it over a few times,” said Coach Hawkins. “We had looks we wanted tonight early but we couldn't buy a shot. We got the ball to Chase (Heins) and he was shooting six-footers and couldn't get one of them to fall. We got the ball where we wanted tonight but just couldn't get one to fall.”

The Panthers get a rematch with Olney, a team that plays in the Pinckneyville “Duster Thomas” Classic in December each year.

This season Pinckneyville defeated Olney 45-33 for third place.

“Credit goes to our kids, I thought the job that they did on Heins and Witthoff was what determined the game,” said Coach Waggoner. “Late in the game Meyerhoff got loose and hit some shots but overall our defensive pressure really dictated the tempo. They are an explosive team and are very skilled. But I thought that our kids could guard them and they haven't been guarded that way this year.”

Trico (45) – Witthoff 0 2 0-0 6, Bunselmeyer 0 0 0-0 0, Meyerhoff 4 3 3-4 20, LePere 1 1 0-0 5, Kuhlman 2 0 1-1 5, Heins 3 0 3-5 9, Compton 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-10, 3FG-6, FT-7-10, PF-18.
Pinckneyville (50) – Hardin 10 1 2-2 25, Bumann 1 0 0-0 2, Nippe 0 0 2-2 2, Miller 0 0 0-0 0, Shute 0 1 1-2 4, Queen 1 0 3-5 5, Priebe 4 0 2-2 10, Kellerman 1 0 0-0 2.
2FG-17, 3FG-2, FT-10-13, PF-12.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.