01/10/2026
BY JACK BULLOCK
NASHVILLE - The Nashville Hornets on Friday night picked up a big conference win over the Pinckneyville Panthers and were in a prime spot for a let down the next day when they hosted Carlyle on Saturday night.

Coach Stote Reeder was slightly concerned heading into the matchup but his anxiety was eased in the first few moments of the contest.

The Hornets jumped out quickly from the opening tip and never trailed in a dominating 65-29 victory at the Assembly Hall.

The win pushed Nashville to a 14-2 won-loss mark and, after the Pinckneyville victory, they sit alone at the top of the SIRR Mississippi Division standings at 4-0.

Carlyle is now 9-7 after the loss.

The Hornets were paced by senior Maddox Ritzel with 19-points.

In fact 11 different Nashville players scored points against the Indians as they led by double-digits for most of the game that ended up as a continuous clock mercy rule midway through the fourth quarter.

Junior Palmer Renken was second on the chart with nine-points for the Hornets and junior Sam Blumhorst added eight-points.

Junior Kassidy Linkey scored six-points in the win.

All four scored in the first quarter with Linkey and and Renken each scoring from the 3-point line.

Ritzel added a pair of scores, one on a nice move in the lane, to close the quarter at 16-7 Hornets.

“This was one of those trap games where an average team or a good team comes out slow, happy with yesterday's win and lets a team like Carlyle, who is dangerous, hang around,” said Coach Reeder. “But we came out with some focus. We talked about leaving Pinckneyville on yesterday and Indian day today. We're on our way to being a great basketball team. This was a big step, not falling into a trap of this game.”

Carlyle was led by senior Zach Persing with 15-points but no one else had more than four-points for Coach Maverick Taylor.

He scored six of the seven first quarter points for the Indians and ended the half with 10.

Ritzel and Renken opened up the second quarter with a 9-2 run to force Carlyle into a timeout at 25-9 with 4:39 left in the half.

Ritzel scored twice inside and nailed a 3-pointer from the top of the circle in the run.

Carlyle managed a couple of scores in succession to stop the Hornets run with Persing and senior Ethan Brinkman getting points.

However junior Gannon Turner added a basket and Ritzel hit 1-of-2 free throws for a 28-15 halftime spread.

Carlyle committed eight first half turnovers, which fueled much of the Nashville first half offense.

The Hornets put the outcome to rest in the third quarter.

They forced another five turnovers by the Indians and hit 9-of-15 shots in the frame, pushing the lead to 49-25.

Ritzel snagged an offensive rebound off of a missed free throw by Linkey and stuck it home for his first basket.

Another drive from the right wing for points was followed by his second 3-pointer of the game.

Linkey and Renken each scored transition baskets in the run and Blumhorst added a pair of baskets in the lane.

“Maddox is obviously a big part of how we finish around the rim,” said Coach Reeder. “Our chemistry and our depth has kind of become our identity. Nobody cares who gets shots. Everyone knows Maddox gets the most shots because he's our best player but they also know that he is willing to make the right play for them, too. They're executing things very well.”

A 9-0 run by Nashville to begin the fourth quarter started the credits rolling.

Blumhorst scored on an assist from Renken and reserve sophomore Brenton Bultman got in on the fun with a 3-pointer from the right wing and and a fast break lay in that triggered the continuous clock at 56-26.

Two free throws by sophomore Grady Varel closed the run before the coaches went to the reserves for the final minutes.

Nashville forced 14 turnovers and committed just six of their own, with one coming in the final minute.

Carlyle ended up just 11-of-32 from the floor and they were 0-of-11 from the arc.

Nashville hit 27-of-46 overall, 6-of-16 from long range and held a slight 23-21 rebounding edge.

Ritzel, with his 19-points, passed former Hornet Royce Newman to move into second place in all-time scoring at the program.

The senior has 1,764 career points, which trails 2007 grad and former all-stater and two-time ABV “Player of the Year” Lucas O'Rear.

O'Rear, who played college basketball at Northern Iowa, finished his prep career with 2,116-points.

The Hornets play road games this week; Tuesday night at Greenville and Friday night at home against DuQuoin before hosting Effingham St. Anthony on Saturday in a make up game for losing a shootout game that was snowed out in December.

Then they host their own Nashville Invitational Tournament starting January 19th.

They will open with Waterloo in the pool play event.

Carlyle will face Red Bud, East Alton-Wood River and Pana next week before playing at the Okawville Invitational Tournament the following week.

“We've been saying it since the Mater Dei championship, there is no need to get big headed, it's one game at a time and one practice at a time,” said Coach Reeder.