Lady Panthers smother Sparta; hang on to beat Woodlawn
<b>PCHS 49, Sparta 22</b>
Nine different Lady Panthers scored and the team moved the ball around well, keeping the Sparta Lady Bulldogs off balance Thursday, and leading to a 49-22 victory.
The game was still tight after the first quarter, when Pinckneyville led 13-10, but after that the Panthers put the clamps down on defense, allowing the Lady Bulldogs only 12 more points the rest of the way.
"I thought that after the first quarter, we really did some nice things defensively," said Panthers Coach Alan Engelhardt.
"(The Bulldogs) started the game in a box-and-one on Mo Morgenthaler, not letting her get touches on offense, but she got several deflections on defense, leading to run-outs.
"Lily Tanner did a great job pulling rebounds on her way to a double-double, leading to more fast break opportunities as well," he added.
"Offensively, I thought we did a nice job sharing the ball and got lots of looks around the rim. Nine girls got in the scoring column, and the game is more fun when everyone can get involved."
<i>Scoring by quarter</i>
Pinckneyville: 09 13 14 13
Sparta: 10 05 01 06
<i>Scoring by team</i>
Pinckneyville: Tanner (16); Morgenthaler (10)*; Wiggers (7)*; Ruppert (4); Patterson (4); Knight (2); Heisner (2); Harris (2); Pauley (2).
Sparta: Rheinecker (11)*; Braun (7); Jackson (4)1 2-2 4.
* includes a 3-pointer
<b>PCHS 58, Woodlawn 50</b>
Coach Alan Engelhardt took some of the blame for the Lady Panthers almost throwing the game away against Woodlawn, but all in all it was a good game for Pinckneyville.
"We played 30 really good minutes today and struggled the last couple, letting an 18-point lead get trimmed to 8," Engelhardt said. "A lot of those last couple of minutes are my fault. We haven't worked enough in those situations and we are playing a bunch of girls who haven't ever played in those game-type situations."
Aside from that lapse, though, it was a game to remember.
"We did a lot of good today," the coach said. "I thought we moved the ball pretty well on offense and that got us some really good looks around the rim. We knocked down our perimeter shots well today, going 4-7 from behind the arc."
Engelhardt said the game was a blueprint for future success. "Our three most experienced players combined for 41 points (Morgenthaler 13, Ruppert 16, Tanner 12), and (we got) big contributions from a couple of other girls with Baggett adding 8 and Heisner 7.
"We knew Woodlawn could score some points - they shoot a lot of threes and chase the rebounds pretty well," he added. "For the most part, we did a nice job of limiting their opportunities. Lily Tanner did another good job on the backboards, coming up with another double-double (12 points, 11 rebounds, and 5 assists) and Emily Ruppert caused havoc on defense, leading to offense (16 points, 7 rebounds, 5 steals).
"Our kids are getting better, which is a credit to them. We have plenty of room for improvement, but we are getting there."
<i>Scoring by team</i>
Woodlawn: Bailey (21)***; Shields (5)*; Peterson (11)*, Williams (6)**; Bequette (3), Burkett (4)*.
Pinckneyville: Morgenthaler (13)***; Ruppert (16); Gulley (2); Baggett (8); Heisner (7); Tanner (12).
*** number of 3-pointers hit