CARLYLE "KASKASKIAN CLASSIC"
Pinckneyville wins tourney title
Panthers' second half run dooms Woodlawn; Hillsboro, Greenville, Freeburg win
12-01-2018
BY JACK BULLOCK
CARLYLE – The Pinckneyville Panthers have come a long way in just over a week's time.

Back on November 21, Coach Bob Waggoner's club lost to West Frankfort on the road, 86-79 in overtime.

It was the highest point total surrendered by the Panthers during this mentor's tenure at the helm.

Known for its “defense first” moniker, Pinckneyville was uncharacteristically bad in the season opener.

But his Panthers regrouped and got back on track in a big way at the Carlyle “Kaskaskian Classic” in rolling to a second-consecutive championship.

Pinckneyville got 26-points from 6-foot-2 junior guard Dawson Yates and 14-points from 6-foot-3 junior Grant Tanner as they took control of their title game conquest early in the second half.

Rallying late in the opening quarter, Pinckneyville took command in romping to a 67-46 victory over 1A power Woodlawn on Saturday night to take home the championship.

The Panthers outscored their four opponents in the event by 102-points.

Saturday night, they overcame an early seven-point deficit and used a 10-0 move to begin the third quarter as they now sit at 4-1 on the season.

“If you looked at us two weeks ago and where we are now it might be the biggest improvement I've had from a team from the beginning of the season until now,” said Coach Waggoner. “We had three kids on the floor that had never been in a varsity game. I'm so proud of our development.”

The Cardinals are also 4-1, having won Pool B with a 3-0 mark after beginning the regular season with a win over North Clay.

Coach Brian Gamber got 12-points from junior guard Blake McKay and 10-points from senior guard Jackson Bennett.

For Woodlawn, after a hot start, discovered that the basket was more difficult to find in the second half of the game.

The total damage showed that the Cardinals hit just 16-of-49 from the field overall, and just 6-of-23 from the arc.

After hitting 5-of-12 overall in the first quarter run which got them an early lead, the Cardinals faltered over the last three quarters.

“They (Pinckneyville) have some big athletic kids that can wear on you. But we had some really good shots and looks at the basket but we just didn't make them,” said Coach Gamber. “A lot of it (difficulty) was their pressure but some of it was us just missing.”

In the meantime, the Panthers were the polar opposites as they righted the ship after a tough beginning.

Coach Waggoner's club hit 21-of-43 overall, 7-of-15 from long range and held a slight rebounding edge at 27-23.

“They (Pinckneyville) had a really good shooting night. They were making shots with a hand in their face and we had a poor shooting night,” said Coach Gamber. “When we were missing shots they were getting out in transition. When they are making a lot of 3's like they did tonight, they are going to be difficult to defend.”

With McKay and Bennett getting going early, Woodlawn took a 12-5 lead with less than four minutes gone from the opening tap.

But Pinckneyville finished the frame with a 9-0 run to take the lead.

Hunter Riggins hit his only shot of the night; a 3-pointer from the left corner, to begin the Panthers' run.

Yates scored on a drive to the basket and later added a trey from the left wing to make it 14-12 at the first horn.

As it turned out, Yates was just getting warmed up.

The junior, who played a significant role in the Panthers trip to Peoria last season, led the Panthers with 11-points in the second quarter.

Six-foot-three senior Jake Martin scored eight-points for the Cardinals with six of the points coming in succession in the second quarter.

He scored twice in the paint and also added a mid-range shot as Woodlawn got the lead back briefly at 23-22 with 1:49 to go before the half.

At this point, Yates continued to produce.

A 3-pointer from the left corner was followed by a pair of free throws with :05.8 left to give the Panthers a 27-23 spread at the break.

Woodlawn needed a big run in the third quarter but they didn't get it.

The Cardinals started the second half just 1-of-11 from the field as the Panthers took over.

Two buckets by Tanner were sandwiched around a pair of 3-point bombs by Yates and 6-foot-2 senior Dylan Houghland.

After a McKay 3-pointer, Yates scored again as they finished a 12-3 run for a 39-26 advantage at the 5:21 mark.

In that stretch, Pinckneyville hit its first five attempts in the third quarter and ended up 6-of-10 in the stanza.

When Pinckneyville sophomore Dre Scott scored in transition on an assist from Yates, the Panthers led 43-29 heading to the fourth quarter.

“He (Yates) scoring was there tonight but what gets overlooked is that he creates scoring opportunities, got them easy looks,” said Coach Waggoner. “It's what good players do. We got a lot of lay ups because his ability to create space.”

While some teams might suffer a bit of a letdown with a large lead, Coach Waggoner's bunch finished off the win by hitting 9-of-9 free throws in the fourth quarter and 18-of-21 for the championship run.

An 11-2 scoring spree gave Pinckneyville its largest advantage.

Six-foot-one sophomore Ben Restoff scored all nine of his points in the fourth quarter, hitting 3-of-3 from the foul line along with converting a conventional three-point play in the process.

Scott scored again on a back door cut to the basket on a pass from Tanner to give the Panthers a 63-38 lead with 2:03 remaining.

“Our attention to detail tonight was exceptional. To take a player like McKay and make him work. To be able to recognize and communicate to each other who the shooters are,” said Coach Waggoner. “It showed tonight what we can do defensively.”

Both teams will head back into regular season action this week.

Woodlawn will play at Christopher December 7 before getting into their Midland Trail Conference schedule.

“I'm proud of our guys effort tonight, I just wish we would have had a better offensive showing,” said Coach Gamber.

Pinckneyville will play @ Sparta on December 7 and then at the annual MICDS Shootout in St. Louis on Saturday, December 8.

“Right now we are starting to get into a rhythm and play better together,” said Coach Waggoner. “Our team defense and our team offense is better than it was at the beginning of the season.”

Championship
1
2
3
4
-
F
Woodlawn
12
11
06
17
-
46
Pinckneyville
14
13
16
24
-
67

Woodlawn (46)
– Fewkes 0 0 0-0 0, Hu. England 0 2 0-0 6, Rynski 2 0 0-0 4, McKay 2 2 2-2 12, Bennett 1 1 5-7 10, Hollenkamp 0 0 0-0 0, Spangler 0 0 0-0 0, Tiemann 1 1 1-1 6, Ha. England 0 0 0-0 0, Martin 4 0 0-0 8.
2FG-10, 3FG-5, FT-8-10, PF-20.

Pinckneyville (67) – Restoff 3 0 3-3 9, D. Riggins 0 0 0-0 0, Yates 2 5 7-7 26, Linze 0 0 0-0 0, Tanner 5 0 4-6 14, Carter 0 0 0-0 0, Scott 3 0 2-3 8, H. Riggins 0 1 0-0 3, Szczepanski 0 0 0-0 0, Dagner 1 0 0-0 2, Houghland 0 1 2-2 5, Simpson 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-14, 3FG-7, FT-18-21, PF-13.

Fouled Out - McKay - Woodlawn.
Technical Fouls – None.
HILLSBORO 55, OKAWVILLE 48
The Hiltoppers ended up with a third place finish and a 2-2 mark for the event with a win over the defending 1A state champion Rockets.

Coach Joe Vanzo, who's club is now 2-3 on the season with the victory, got 17-points from 6-foot-4 senior Jordan Gregg and 16-points from junior Nic Ondrey.

Senior guard Keaton Pruett added 11-points in the Hiltoppers' victory.

Okawville (2-2) was paced by 6-foot-4 senior Will Aubel with 15-points while senior Lane Schilling added 12 for Coach Jon Kraus.

Hillsboro finished off the triumph by making 4-of-6 free throws in the fourth quarter.

Third Place
1
2
3
4
-
F
Hillsboro
08
18
15
14
-
55
Okawville
12
05
12
19
-
48

Hillsboro (55)
– Carroll 0 1 0-0 3, Ondrey 7 0 2-2 16, Teutken 2 0 0-1 4, Pruett 3 1 2-2 11, Matoush 1 0 0-0 2, Bertolino 1 0 0-0 2, Gregg 7 1 0-2 17.
2FG-21, 3FG-3, FT-4-7, PF-15.

Okawville (48) – Harre 2 0 0-0 4, Frederking 0 1 2-2 5, Aubel 6 0 3-3 15, Green 0 0 0-0 0, Krohne 1 1 0-0 5, Parsley 0 0 0-0 0, Schilling 5 0 2-2 12, Heckert 1 0 5-6 7.
2FG-15, 3FG-2, FT-12-13, PF-13.

Fouled Out – Frederking - Okawville.
Technical Fouls – None.
GREENVILLE 59, CARLYLE 55
The Comets, led by 21-points from senior guard Brock Nelson, brought home the fifth place honors with a win over the host Indians on the final day.

Nelson did all of his damage from the 3-point arc as he nailed seven 3's in the victory for Greenville.

Senior forward Chad Stearns added 17-points while senior Kaleb Ephron chipped in 13.

Ephron iced the win with a pair of free throws with :05.8 remaining.

Coach Todd Cantrill's club ended their week 2-2.

The Indians (1-3) were led in scoring by senior Dawson Reinacher with 19-points while Chase Taylor added 14 and Luke Boatright tossed home 11 for Coach Andy Palmer's team.

Fifth Place
1
2
3
4
-
F
Carlyle
12
12
17
14
-
55
Greenville
13
15
16
15
-
59

Carlyle (55)
– Hoffman 1 1 0-0 5, Reinacher 6 0 7-7 19, Boatright 1 3 0-2 11, Jones 2 0 0-0 4, Taylor 5 1 1-1 14, Becker 1 0 0-0 2, Smith 0 0 0-0 0, Heinzman 0 0 0-0 0, Vonderhaar 0 0 0-0 0, Darr 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-16, 3FG-5, FT-8-10, PF-13.

Greenville (59) – Nelson 0 7 0-0 21, Green 2 0 2-4 6, Stearns 8 0 1-2 17, Ephron 1 3 2-2 13, Gray 0 0 0-0 0, Frey 1 0 0-0 2, Brauns 0 0 0-0 0, McCullough 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-12, 3FG-10, FT-5-8, PF-14.

Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.
FREEBURG 61, FLORA 48
The Midgets ended their week at 2-2 after their seventh place win over Flora behind 17-points from junior guard Luke Ervie and 14-points each from senior guard Owen Smith and forward Connor Diecker.

Coach Matt Laur also got eight-points from sophomore Jacob Blomenkamp in the victory.

The Wolves (0-4) was led by senior guard Nick Schafer with a game-best 20-points.

No one else hit for double-digits in scoring for Coach Phil Leib.

Seventh Place
1
2
3
4
-
F
Flora
12
10
13
13
-
48
Freeburg
11
15
21
08
-
61

Flora (48)
– Schafer 1 4 6-6 20, Beckham 0 1 2-2 5, H. Warren 0 0 0-0 0, Kohn 0 1 2-2 5, Kimmell 0 0 0-0 0, Conrad 0 0 0-0 0, Young 1 0 1-1 3, G. Warren 0 1 0-0 3, Gocey 2 0 2-2 6, Wiles 2 0 0-0 4, Behnke 1 0 0-1 2, Borders 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-7, 3FG-7, FT-13-14, PF-14.

Freeburg (61) – Ervie 5 1 4-5 17, Isaacs 0 0 0-0 0, Haas 0 0 0-0 0, O. Smith 4 1 3-4 14, Mack 0 0 0-0 0, Dieker 7 0 0-2 14, Blomenkamp 4 0 0-0 8, Stone 0 0 0-0 0, Range 2 0 0-0 4, C. Smith 2 0 0-0 4.
2FG-24, 3FG-2, FT-7-11, PF-16.

Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.
The All-Tournament team members for the 2018 "Kaskaskian Classic" are Blake McKay and Jackson Bennett of Woodlawn; Dawson Yates and Dylan Houghland of Pinckneyville; Will Aubel and Lane Schilling of Okawville; Nic Ondrey and Jordan Gregg of Hillsboro; Luke Ervie of Freeburg and Luke Boatright of Carlyle.