Coming into the fourth annual Duster Thomas Hoops Classic at 3-4, the host Pinckneyville Panthers were not one of the favorites to win the tournament crown.
But behind a stingy defense and an offense that caught fire at the right time, the Panthers swept through their pool with a 3-0 record to advance to the championship game where they knocked off defending champ Olney 57-34 Tuesday night.
“Who would have thunk it,” said Pinckneyville coach Bob Waggoner. “When you think about some of the teams we had in the past, nobody gave us much of a chance to win this year. We have played good defense all year, but our offense has struggled. Tonight you have to give credit to our guards for making shots.”
The game was tied at 9-9 at the end of the first quarter but the Panthers used a big second quarter run outscoring Olney 16-5 for a 25-14 halftime advantage.
The second quarter run was sparked by three-pointers from Payton Nippe and Christian Shopinski, while tournament MVP Kyle Lamb and Bryant Shute each had four points.
Pinckneyville pulled away for the win in the second half outscoring the Tigers 13-9 in the third and 19-11 in the fourth for the 23-point decision.
“I think our size and our defensive pressure really bothered them,” added Waggoner. “It’s an easy game when you make shots.”
Hunter Queen finished with 14 points to lead Pinckneyville while Lamb and Shute each added 13.
Steeleville 58, Red Bud 50
After losing its first three games of the tournament, Steeleville finished up on a high note with a 58-50 win over Red Bud in the seventh place game.
“It’s been a long two days of basketball, the guys were tired but its good to end the tournament with a win,” said Steeleville coach Gerald Mumbower. “I thought we did a nice job defensively the entire tournament, we just couldn’t get the key baskets when we needed them but tonight we did.”
Neither team shot the ball well in the first quarter as Red Bud was just 3-of-15 from the field and Steeleville was only slightly better at 3-of-12.
The Musketeers got their early offense from two three-pointers from Jacob Kueker while Torrey Gerberding came off the bench to knock down two threes for the Warriors. After the first eight minutes of play, Steeleville held a slight 10-8 advantage.
Steeleville caught fire in the second quarter making 7-of-11 shots from the field. Colin Smith led Steeleville with six points in the frame while Joey Wittenbrink came through with a four-point play, as the Warriors pushed their lead up to eight points.
Red Bud, while making just 4-of-12 shots in the period, ended the first half with a 4-0 run to cut the deficit in half, 26-22 at the break.
Behind a balanced scoring attack, where six different players scored, Steeleville increased its lead to 10 points, 39-29 midway through the third quarter.
Red Bud continued to battle back as Tyler Magruder and Kueker each made two three-pointers in the period to spark a 7-1 run to end the quarter down just 44-39.
For Steeleville, Gerberding had five points while Coire Reel and Andrew Pokrzywinski each had two baskets. Magruder finished the quarter with eight points to pace the Musketeers.
The Musketeers were able to cut the lead down to four points after a short jumper from Kueker but Gerberding drained two more three-pointers to ignite an 8-3 scoring run for Steeleville.
Red Bud wouldn’t get closer than eight points away the rest of the game.
“Torrey had a good night for us,” added Mumbower. “He is an important weapon for us when the other team plays a zone defense.”
Gerberding finished with a team-high 15 points while Pokrzywinski and Reel each had 12 in the win.
Kueker finished with 24 points and Magruder added 10 as the Musketeers played their second consecutive game without leading scorer Adam Kunkel who suffered a slight concussion Monday in the game against Pinckneyville.
Pinckneyville 59, Red Bud 38
A big third quarter was the difference as Pinckneyville improved to 2-0 in tournament play with a 59-38 victory over Red Bud Monday night.
“In the second half, we got into a rhythm and shot the ball well,” said Pinckneyville coach Bob Waggoner. “Our patience against Red Bud’s defense paid off.”
Leading by three points, Pinckneyville went on a 11-0 run in the third quarter to put the game away. The run was sparked by a couple of three-pointers from Hunter Queen and one from Bryant Shute.
“It was very important for us to get off to a good start in the second half” said Waggoner. “Red Bud cut the lead to three points and we go on to outscore them 17-2 the rest of the way in the third quarter.”
Neither team shot the ball well to start the game, as Pinckneyville was 3-of-15 and Red Bud was just 2-of-7 with eight turnovers. However, the Panthers were 6-of-8 from the foul line for a 14-7 first quarter lead.
Behind the play of 6’7 senior Kyle Lamb, Pinckneyville opened up an 11-point lead as the Panther post player had seven points in the quarter.
Red Bud ended the half with an 8-0 run to cut the deficit to 26-23. Junior Alex Phegley scored eight points in the second quarter as the Musketeers outscored the Panthers 16-12.
The third quarter was all Pinckneyville, Red Bud was just 1-of-9 from the field as the Panthers outscored the Musketeers 19-4 for a 45-27 lead going into the fourth. Queen finished the quarter with eight points.
The Panthers pushed their lead up to 20 points early in the fourth and cruised to the win.
Lamb had a game-high 22 points, while Queen added 16 in the win.
Phegley finished with 12 points to lead Red Bud, while Adam Kunkel had 11.
With the loss, Red Bud dropped to 1-1 in tournament play.
Olney 52, Steeleville 43
Steeleville attempted just two free throws in a 52-43 loss to Olney Monday evening.
Olney was 15-of-20 from the foul line, while the Warriors were just 1-of-2 in the nine-point loss.
“I saw good effort out of the team,” said Steeleville coach Gerald Mumbower. “Olney is a real good ball club and we played them even.”
Olney made 6-of-11 shots in the first quarter while turning the ball over just once for a 15-10 lead. Steeleville was 4-of-10 from the field with five turnovers.
Steeleville switched to a zone defense that slowed down the Olney attack and limited the team to just 3-of-12 shooting in the second quarter.
Despite the improved defensive effort, the Warriors were outscored 10-8 in the quarter and found themselves down 25-18 at halftime. Andrew Pokrzywinski led Steeleville with four points in the second frame.
“We knew coming into this game that we had to keep changing up our defense,” said Mumbower. “And I think that kept them off balance and made it hard for their top two scorers.”
Steeleville made only four baskets in the third quarter but they were all three-pointers. Joey Wittenbrink nailed two trifectas, while Pokrzywinski and Jacob Combs each made one.
The Warriors’ zone defense continued to be successful against Olney holding the Tigers to just 4-of-9 shooting in the quarter to outscore them 12-8 to trail just 33-30 heading into the fourth quarter.
Olney opened the fourth with a 7-0 scoring run to push its advantage up to 40-30.
Pokrzywinski went off for 11 points in the final quarter but Olney went 10-of-13 from the foul line to seal the win.
“Andrew had a really nice game for us,” added Mumbower.” He was able to score when we needed him to and he did a good job of getting us into our offensive sets against a very good defensive squad. Coire Reel did a good job inside, pulling down 13 rebounds and Joey Wittenbrink also had a very good game.”
Pokrzywinski finished with a game-high 20 points to lead Steeleville, while Wittenbrink had eight.
Michael Fehrenbacher scored 15 points and Joel Eagelson added 13 to pace Olney.
Olney improved to 2-0 in the tournament with the win, while the Warriors dropped to 0-2.
In other second round action, Du Quoin topped Benton 63-54 and Metro East Lutheran pulled away for a win over Lawrenceville.
Benton 45 OT, Steeleville 43
In overtime, Steeleville had two offensive possessions and turned the ball over both times as Benton escaped with a 45-43 victory.
“We just had too many turnovers,” said Steeleville coach Gerald Mumbower. “We gave this game away.”
The Warriors fell behind 12-6 in the first quarter and trailed 19-16 at the break.
Steeleville outscored the Rangers 15-10 in the third for a 31-29 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
In the fourth frame, Benton outscored Steeleville 14-12 to force the extra session.
Colin Smith scored 15 points to lead Steeleville, while Andrew Pokrzywinski added 14.
Red Bud 64, Metro East Lutheran 58
A strong second quarter in which Red Bud outscored Metro East Lutheran 25-12 was the difference, as the Musketeers held on for a 64-58 victory Monday morning.
Red Bud trailed 18-15 at the end of the first but held a 40-30 halftime advantage.
Metro East would go on to outscore the Musketeers 28-24 in the second half but it was not enough to overcome the first half deficit.
Adam Kunkel led Red Bud with 23 points, while Jacob Kueker added 15 and Tyler Magruder finished with 13.
Each team nailed nine three-pointers in the contest.
Pinckneyville 65, Lawrenceville 26
The host Panthers ran out to a 46-9 first half lead and strolled to a 65-26 victory Monday morning in the opening game of the 2010 classic.
Steve Brueggemann scored 16 points and Bryant Shute added 13 to lead the Pinckneyville offense.
In the other first round game, Olney knocked off Du Quoin 51-36.