03-03-04
PINCKNEYVILLE VS. ANNA-JONESBORO
@ SPARTA CLASS A SECTIONAL
BY JACK BULLOCK
SPARTA - Using two big scoring runs in the first half to get separation, the Pinckneyville Panthers survived some foul trouble to advance to Friday night's Sparta Class A Sectional title game with a 57-35 win over Mississippi Division rival Anna-Jonesboro Wednesday night.

Six-four junior Mason Woodside scored 12 points in pacing the Panthers to their 24th win of the season.

The Panthers took care of Anna-Jonesboro (21-11) for the third time this season in reaching the sectional final where they will face league nemesis Nashville.

"They have a very good team and they have a chance to go to state," said A-J coach Jim Drew, whose team won 20-games for the second straight year, a first for the school in boy's basketball.
"We couldn't overcome our mistakes in the first quarter. The turnovers hurt us early."

Anna-Jonesboro committed seven turnovers (16 for the game) in the game's first four minutes, which helped spur the Panthers to a quick opening quarter advantage.

After spotting the Wildcats a quick 2-0 lead on a basket by Jimmy Keller in the opening minute, Pinckneyville scored the games next nine points.

Eric Stutes stepped back a canned a 3-pointer from the left wing to give the Panthers a 3-2 lead.

But the turnovers began to mount for A-J and coach Dick Corn's Panthers took control of the contest.

A fast break lay in off a Wildcat turnover got Pinckneyville rolling offensively.

Stutes and Woodside finished off the run with a pair of inside scores to make it 9-2 Pinckneyville with 2:50 to go until the first horn.

Coach Drew's club made up six points of the deficit with the coaches' son Jimmy Drew, Mike Chamness and Keller all scoring on drives in the lane. Keller's fast break lay in after making a steal made it 9-8 Pinckneyville with 1:11 left.

But Woodside scored twice in the final minute on two baseline drives to the basket.

Despite missing a free throw on a 3-point play attempt after being fouled by Chamness, Woodside and Pinckneyville reached the first horn with a 13-8 lead.

"Our post players didn't touch the ball much early and it was good for him (Woodside) to hit a couple of early shots," said Corn. "I think it speaks volumes about our balance when Daniel (Maddox) doesn't score in the first half and yet we were in control of the game."

The 6-8 Maddox got help from his teammates who stepped up in support.

The Wildcats, on the other hand, had a dreadful night offensively.

In a game in which they had several second quarter chances to stay close with the state ranked Panthers, Coach Drew saw his club squander too many of them, especially from the free throw line.

A-J opened the second quarter by missing four straight freebies and Pinckneyville took advantage of the A-J shooting troubles.

Jordan Priebe, the Panther's 6-8 reserve center, hit a turn around baseline jump shot. Woodside quickly scored again on another drive on the baseline to extend the lead to 20-9.

However the Panthers had two defensive lapses that resulted in consecutive 3-pointers by Anna-Jonesboro's Brett Wright. His second 'long distance connection' got the 'Cats within striking distance at 20-15 with just 3:26 left before halftime.

"The only time they got anything going was when we went to a zone when we got into foul trouble," added Coach Corn. "We didn't identify right on a shooter a couple times and he (Wright) hit a couple of 3's on us."

But the Panthers shut down A-J for the remainder of the half while scoring eight straight points.

Woodside scored four more points on a rebound basket and then a lay in on a nice pass from Derek Beninati.

Priebe hit another shot in the lane and the two teams headed to the locker room with a 28-15 lead.

Maddox finally got on the scoreboard by scoring six points in the third quarter as the Panthers began to pull away. His first shot on a short bank in the lane triggered a 12-2 run to stretch the Pinckneyville lead to its largest of the night.

Josh Kellerman scored twice in this run. His second shot came off of a steal and lay in which was followed by Priebe's rebound of his own shot in the paint.

This scoring sequence gave Pinckneyville a commanding lead at 42-20.

Anna-Jonesboro could get no closer than 18 points in the final quarter as the Wildcats saw their season come to a close.

"I don't care who you play in the sectional it is going to be a good basketball team and Anna-Jonesboro is a good team," said coach Dick Corn. "It wasn't a pretty game from our standpoint and we turned the ball over and fouled too much. But I am not going to complain about the outcome."

A-J's Keller scored a game high 13 points.

However no other Wildcat player hit for double figures.

Pinckneyville out shot their conference counter parts, hitting on 23-of-48 field goals to go with a 9-for-15 effort from the foul line.

A-J was 'cold as ice' as they hit just 13-of-45 shots with a paltry 3-of-14 of its charity tosses.

"We ended a pretty good season tonight," finalized Coach Drew. "We won 21-games and won back-to-back regional titles. We are happy that we got this far."

Nashville, a 61-34 winner over Herrin on Tuesday night, will take on the Panthers Friday night for the third time this season.

Each team owns a win in the two previous games.

According to Sparta High School, the game is a near sellout.

Pinckneyville (57) - Kellerman 4 0 0-0 8, Smith 1 0 0-0 2, Beninati 0 0 1-2 1, Searby 0 0 1-2 1, Stutes 2 1 1-2 8, Bingham 0 0 2-2 2, Woodside 6 0 0-1 6, Crawford 0 1 0-0 3, Priebe 3 0 3-4 9, Lively 1 0 0-0 2, Maddox 4 0 0-0 8.
2FG-21, 3FG-2, FT-9-15, PF-18.
Anna-Jonesboro (69) - Bittle 0 0 1-3 1, Chamness 1 0 0-3 4, Drew 2 0 0-3 4, Wright 0 3 0-0 9, Bennett 1 0 1-1 3, Brown 0 0 0-2, Keller 6 0 1-2 13, Bass 1 0 0-0 3.
2FG-10, 3FG-4, FT-3-14, PF-18.
Fouled Out - Keller, Bennett of Anna-Jonesboro.
Technical Foul - None.