Breese Central 52, Pinckneyville 45
Breese Central outscored the Pinckneyville Lady Panthers 28-22 in the second half for a narrow 52-45 victory Saturday in the Pinckneyville Showcase.
“I really thought we competed well today,” said Pinckneyville coach Alan Engelhardt. “Breese Central has been a top 10 team in the state for most of the season, and we went toe-to-toe with them for 32 minutes.”
The Lady Panthers trailed 13-11 at the end of the first quarter and 24-23 at the break.
Central sealed the win, in the second half, outscoring Pinckneyville, 11-9 in the third and 17-13 in the fourth.
“We made a few too many errors to win against a team of Breese Central's caliber,” added Engelhardt. “If we eliminate some of our mistakes, we put ourselves in a great position to win the game. Maddy Keith showed some of the things she is capable of, putting up 19 points against possibly the best athlete in the state (Jena Hemann, who is signed by Texas A&M to run track and won four state titles last spring). This is a game that helps us get better even though we lost, and I hope the girls now understand that they can play with the best teams in the state when they attack, defend, and compete.”
Taylor Cicardi finished with 12 points to help Pinckneyville.
Steeleville 60, Valmeyer 40
Steeleville earned its 10th win of the season Saturday with a 60-40 victory over Valmeyer.
The Lady Warriors trailed 9-7 at the end of the first quarter but rebounded to outscore Valmeyer 20-9 in the second, 13-11 in the third and 20-11 in the fourth for the 20-point decision.
Alex Gale led Steeleville with 17 points followed by Natalie Ruebke with 14 points, while Jill Winkelman and Morgan Lindner each added 12.
Red Bud 49, Marissa-Coulterville 32
Chelsea Weekley and Christa Hill combined to score 25 points but it was not enough as Red Bud beat Marissa-Coulterville 49-32 Saturday.
Weekley finished with 14 points and Hill added 11.
No stats were available for Red Bud.
Hamilton County 53, Trico 39
Trico grabbed a 14-13 first quarter lead but were outscored by Hamilton County 40-25 the rest of the way in a 53-39 loss Saturday at the Black Diamond Shootout.
Ashley Modglin led the Lady Pioneers with 11 points, while Beth Daniels and Katelyn Thies each finished with 10.
Carmi-White County 48, Chester 23
Carmi-White County held Chester to under double digit scoring in every quarter for a 48-23 victory Saturday at the Black Diamond Shootout.
The Lady Jackets trailed 12-4 at the end of the first quarter and 23-10 at halftime. Carmi continued to cruise in the second half, outscoring Chester 11-8 in the third and 14-5 in the fourth.
Hilary Best led Chester with 13 points, while Jordan Clendenin had six.
Marissa-Coulterville 37, New Athens 22
Marissa-Coulterville outscored New Athens in every quarter including 20-9 in the second half en route to a 37-22 victory Thursday.
Chelsea Weekley led the Lady Meteors with 12 points, while Bailey Setzkorn added 11.
Sydney Clark scored 11 points to lead New Athens.
Sparta 53, Carterville 48
Despite falling behind by nine points in the opening quarter, Sparta rallied to top Carterville 53-48 in overtime Thursday in SIRR Mississippi Division action.
The Lady Bulldogs trailed 17-8 at the end of the first quarter and 23-20 at halftime.
Carterville outscored Sparta 13-12 in the third for a 36-32 lead heading into the fourth. Sparta fought back to outscore Carterville 13-9 in the fourth to force overtime, where the Lady Bulldogs pulled out the five-point win.
Sparta’s Jessica Robinson led all scorers with 33 points, while Alexis Kohrs added nine.
Wesclin 49, Red Bud 36
Red Bud went 0-for-10 from three-point range Thursday night as Wesclin pulled away in the second half for a 49-36 win.
The Lady Musketeers trailed 11-8 at the end of the first quarter and 16-13. Wesclin would go on to outscore Red Bud 15-8 in the third and 18-15 in the fourth for the 13-point win.
Ali Ringering led Red Bud with 12 points, while Tiffany Henry added 10.
Abby Schmitt scored 19 to pace Wesclin.
Chester 33, Trico 30
In their third matchup of the season, Chester edged out Trico 33-30 Thursday to clinch third place in the Black Diamond West.
Chester led 7-6 at the end of the first quarter and 15-10 at the break.
In the second half, Trico outscored Chester 20-18 but fell three points short.
Hilary Best scored 15 points to lead Chester, while Beth Daniels had 13 to lead Trico.
Pinckneyville 64, Du Quoin 51
Pinckneyville outscored Du Quoin 21-11 in the third quarter to pull away for a 64-51 victory Thursday night in SIRR Mississippi Division action.
“We had a pretty good third quarter running out to a 51-32 lead before giving up the final 4 points of the quarter,” said Pinckneyville coach Alan Engelhardt. “But again we didn't finish the game very well, turning the ball over a few times down the stretch to let the game get closer. We took 40 more shots than we took on Tuesday night. I was really happy to see Lindsey Winter be aggressive in the first half, scoring all 10 of her points, and getting us going when we were struggling to score. Defensively, we did a good job of forcing turnovers and getting some easier baskets.”
The game was tied at 12-12 at the end of the first quarter and the Lady Panthers held a 31-25 lead at the half.
Taylor Cicardi led Pinckneyville with 15 points, while Maddy Keith had 14 and Winter finished with 10.
With the win, Pinckneyville improved to 19-6 overall and 5-3 in the conference.