01-18-16
BY JACK BULLOCK
BENTON - The Pinckneyville Panthers have had some dominating performances in their long history of basketball, including its run at the Benton Invitational Tournament.

But Monday nights triumph over the Sesser-Valier Red Devils might be the programs' most convincing display of prowess.

Coach Bob Waggoner's squad steamrolled S-V in such a way that the tournaments' 30-point continuous clock in the fourth quarter came into play.

Pinckneyville led from start to finish, pressured the Red Devils into more turnovers that points in the 68-26 pounding in Game Two of the 44th annual BIT.

Sesser-Valier was forced into 27-turnovers in the rout, with virtually nothing good coming from the contest as the Red Devils fell to 0-1 in the round robin tournament.

The Panthers moved to 1-0 and are looking at defending their tournament crown.

If they win again this season it will be 10-of-11 years that Pinckneyville will wear the crown.

“I think 1-through-15 did their job tonight. It was exciting for me because even when we subbed in the second half our younger kids really played with a lot of energy,” said Coach Waggoner. “They continued to compete well and continued to build on the lead.”

Coach Waggoner's crew wasted little time in put together a quick run that made the outcome a forgone conclusion.

Nine of the Panthers scored in the white-wash as they improved to 13-5 on the season.

Pinckneyville was led by Clayton Houghland with 14-points while Hayden Carter tossed in 11.

Sam Simpson powered home eight-points while teammates Alex Howard, Caulden Lazenby and Ryan Brueggemann added seven each.

The game got so out of hand that Pinckneyville used everyone at one point in the game.

Coach Shane Garner's Red Devils fell to 9-9 on the campaign.

Six-foot-two junior Jamie Lance led S-V with just six-points as the Red Devils managed just 10-points in the second half.

This fight on the court got ugly for the Devils as Pinckneyville sprinted clear after the midway point of the first quarter.

Sesser-Valier got scores from Lance and sophomore Lukas Gunter to close the early deficit to just 9-5 with 4:08 left.

Then the Panthers went on their first run of the night, an 11-2 sprint, to take control.

Back-to-back 3-point bombs by Houghland and a score from sophomore Grant Jausel got it going.

Then other score from Houghland, a 6-foot-3 senior, pushed the margin to 20-7.

Sesser-Valier managed to get a 3-pointer of its own from Addison Baxter to close the frame at 22-12.

From the second quarter on, the Panthers put the hammer down and sped away for the victory.

A 15-2 run to open the stanza ended most of the drama.

J.C. Moll, a sophomore guard, got into the fun with a steal and fast-break lay in.

Houghland canned another trey, Jausel converted another S-V turnover for points and consecutive scores from Simpson, a score on a shot near the basket on an assist by Houghland, and a 3-point bomb from the top of the arc pushed the peddle down even further.

When Alex Howard scored in the lane with :42 left, Pinckneyville led 37-14.

A bucket by Sesser-Valier's Lance ended the half with the Devils down by 21-points.

The Panthers closed the book on this win with a 9-0 run to begin the second half.

Scores from Carter on consecutive possessions got things flowing and back-to-back baskets by Houghland push the advantage higher.

Carter added another score and 1-of-2 free throws from Houghland got the lead to 46-16 at the 5:44 mark.

Two scores late in the quarter from Lazenby closed the frame at 58-20 Panthers.

The game closed with the clock running the entire fourth quarter with reserves finishing the game.

The Panthers were a stellar 28-of-49 on the night (57.1 percent) and 5-of-11 from the arc.

They held a slight rebounding edge at 19-17 and committed 12-turnovers with three of them coming late in the game after the outcome had been decided.

The Red Devils were 10-of-27 overall with 1-of-14 from 3-point land.

But the woes of Sesser-Valier was handling the ball, with 19 of the miscues coming in the first half as the Panthers took full advantage of the mistakes.

Sesser-Valier will play Carlyle on Wednesday night at 6 pm while Pinckneyville with suit up against Meridian at 7:30 pm.

“The first four minutes of the game we imposed our will on them (Sesser-Valier) defensively and didn't give them any looks at the basket,” said Coach Waggoner. “It set the tone for the rest of the game.”

Sesser-Valier (26) – J. Gunter 0 0 2-2 2, L. Gunter 2 0 0-0 4, Smith 1 0 2-4 4, Farmer 0 0 0-0 0, Baxter 0 1 0-0 3, Launius 0 0 0-2 0, Wilson 1 0 1-2 3, Rock 1 0 0-0 2, Fennes 0 0 0-0 0, Kiselewski 0 0 0-0 0, Lance 3 0 0-0 6, Page 1 0 0-0 2.
2FG-9, 3FG-1, FT-5-10, PF-13.
Pinckneyville (68) – C. Jausel 0 0 0-0 0, Moll 2 0 0-0 4, Brand 1 1 0-0 5, Lazenby 3 0 1-2 7, Luke 0 0 0-0 0, G. Jausel 2 0 1-2 5, CArter 5 0 1-2 11, Houghland 2 3 1-2 14, Simpson 2 1 1-2 8, Howard 3 0 1-4 7, Chandler 0 0 0-0 0, Clark 0 0 0-0 0, Brueggemann 3 0 1-1 7.
2FG-23, 3FG-5, FT-7-15, PF-13.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.

MERIDIAN 56, HAMILTON COUNTY 40
The Bobcats jumped out to an early lead and cruised home as they opened the event with a win over the Foxes.

Coach Erik Griffith got 19-points from Darnile Valentine and 12-points from Byron Nesby in the victory as Meridian moved to 1-0 in the tournament and 11-8 overall.

Hamilton County saw its tournament begin 0-1 and its overall record is now 1-16.

Jake Whipple (14) and Oakley Dial (nine) led the way for Hamilton County, as they fell behind 37-15 at halftime but rallied some in the second half to close to within the final margin.

Hamiton County will play Benton Wednesday night at 9 pm in its next game at the BIT.

Hamilton County (40) – N. Rapp 3 0 0-0 6, Dial 3 1 0-0 9, Pike 0 0 0-0 0, Whipple 5 0 4-7 14, E. Rapp 1 0 1-2 3, Colclasure 0 0 0-0 0, Miller 0 0 0-0 0, Potter 1 0 0-2 2, Rubenacker 1 0 0-0 2, Van Abbema 1 0 2-3 4, Adams 0 0 0-0 0, Neal 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-15, 3FG-1, FT-7-14, PF-10.
Meridian (56) – Nichols 0 0 2-2 2, Nesby 6 0 0-0 12,Valentine 8 0 3-3 19, Lowe 3 0 0-0 6, Jeter 0 0 0-0 0, Young 1 0 0-0 2, Nicholson 2 0 4-8 8, White 2 0 0-0 4, Patrick 1 0 1-2 3, Robertson 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-23, 3FG-0, FT-10-15, PF-13.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.

BENTON 56, CARLYLE 52 (2OT)
The Rangers held off the Indians in double-overtime to begin their quest for the tournament title.

Derek Oxford scored 17-points and Timmy Henson added 14 in the victory.

Brendan Ritchason added 12-points as the Rangers improved to 15-3 while Carlyle is now 7-10 overall.

Coach Andy Palmer's team was led by Conner Siever with 17-points and 12-points from Maverick Taylor.

Carlyle (52) – Taylor 3 2 0-0 12, Cox 1 1 0-2 5, Peebles 2 0 4-4 8, Velasquez 1 1 0-1 5, Nettles 1 0 0-0 2, Johnson 0 0 0-0 0, Siever 8 0 1-2 17, Toennies 0 0 3-6 3.
2FG-16, 3FG-4, FT-8-15, PF-19.
Benton (56) – Thomas 0 0 0-0 0, Owens 1 0 0-1 2, Torres 1 0 0-0 2, Wynn 0 1 0-0 3, Wills 0 0 4-4 4, Henson 5 0 4-6 14, Oxford 2 2 7-10 17, Hayes 1 0 0-0 2, Ritchason 6 0 0-2 12.
2FG-16, 3FG-3, FT-15-23, PF-19.
Fouled Out – Toennies - Carlyle; Owens - Benton.
Technical Fouls – None.