After an impressive victory over Herrin to start the West Frankfort Mid-Winter Classic, the Lady Panthers let their guard down Tuesday night and they got hurt.
West Frankfort outscored Pinckneyville 15-8 in the fourth quarter to pull out a 46-42 victory.
“I hope we learned a lesson tonight,” said Pinckneyville coach Alan Engelhardt. “We have to play hard every night, no matter who we are playing, or we will get beat. During our win streak, we played very hard and did a lot of the little things well, but tonight, every loose ball or tough rebound went to West Frankfort. We had 27 turnovers in the game and only 12 rebounds. The only real positive for us was that we shot the ball from the foul line fairly well, going 20-for-27. Other than that, there isn't much positive to say.”
Katrina Henson led Pinckneyville with 14 points, while Taylor Cicardi added 11 in the loss.
The Lady Panthers dropped to 17-5 overall and 1-1 in tournament play. Pinckneyville will take on Sesser-Valier Thursday at West Frankfort.
Pinckneyville 42, Herrin 33
Pinckneyville outscored Herrin 25-18 in the second half for a 42-33 win Saturday in the opening round of the West Frankfort Mid-Winter Classic.
“This was a game, where again, that felt like we were in control the entire way, but we never could get much separation from Herrin because of little mistakes,” said Pinckneyville coach Alan Engelhardt. “We shot well from the floor (56 percent) because we showed good patience to get open looks, but we turned the ball over 21 times and didn't get enough shots. I like the fact that the girls are working to get better, and not just settling for where they are at. By defeating Herrin, we have put ourselves in the drivers seat for the West Frankfort Mid-Winter Classic.”
Taylor Cicardi led the Lady Panthers with 13 points, while Katrina Henson had eight and Maddy Keith finished with seven.
With the win, Pinckneyville improved to 17-4 and 1-0 in tournament play.