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Panthers Win Third Straight

Posted January 06, 2009 10:00 pm

Doug Daniels

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[ Waterloo didn't look like a 1-11 team early, but Pinckneyville managed to pull away late, defeating the Bulldogs 64-43 last night at Thomas Gymnasium.

"We played unselfishly," said Panthers' head coach Bob Waggoner. "I thought offensively that was one of the better jobs we've done (this season) of moving the ball."

Coach Matt Mason's bunch got off to a great start on the road, as Nick Bretwisch's bucket with under three minutes to play in the opening quarter had Waterloo ahead 8-7.

Pinckneyville took over from that point on, however, as sixth-man Nathan Morton put the Panthers ahead with a score deep in the post, followed by a baseline drive for a fancy reverse layup.

Dustin Winter then turned up the defense, hitting a pair of free throws then coming away with a steal for a breakaway layup seconds later, which prompted a timeout from Mason and the Waterloo bench with 1:49 to go in the period, Pinckneyville leading 15-8.

Dalton Kaufmann tried to keep the Bulldogs in it with a three-pointer with 6:34 to go in the half, but an 11-0 Panther run followed, with Derek Kellerman finishing the spurt from beyond the arc with 3:20 remaining.

Waterloo would creep to within 44-32 after a Bretwisch three-pointer in the third, but solid Panther defense (which forced 20 Bulldog turnovers) and a solid shooting effort (26-of-52 as a team for 50%) made sure the Panthers won their third straight.

"Defensively, I thought we got at them, forced some turnovers," said Waggoner. "The defense creates the offense, and that gave us some easy baskets tonight."

Morton led the way with 18 points, Winter added 11, Shay Kellerman 9, D. Kellerman 8, Bryant Lively and Cody Sims 6, Landon Chandler 4 and Kyle Lamb 2.

"(Morton) played maybe his best all-around game of the season, in terms of both the offensive and defensive ends," Waggoner said.

Drew Dudek also returned to action after the Panthers after missing the team's first 13 games due to injury. Dudek didn't score but drew a charging foul on the Bulldogs during Pinckneyville's second quarter surge.

The Panthers' junior-varsity squad also won last night, improving to 6-2 on the season. Pinckneyville (9-4) is at Freeburg this Friday night to face the Midgets.

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