With a 55-49 loss to Hamilton County Saturday, the Pinckneyville Lady Panthers finished third in the Lady Foxes Invitational.
With the game tied at halftime, Hamilton County outscored Pinckneyville  10-9 in the third and 16-11 in the fourth for the win.
“I thought our effort was pretty good, but our execution was lacking,” said Pinckneyville coach Alan Engelhardt. “Once again, we were hurt by the dribble drive. When we get beat off the drive, the rest of our defense has to help, and that leaves too many people open for easy baskets.
Offensively, we had much better shot selection than in our first three games, but we missed 19 shots in the lane. If we are able to convert some of the easy baskets that we work for, we win the game. Obviously, going 2-2 in the tournament is not how we wanted to start the year.”
Maddy Keith and Taylor Cicardi each scored 12 points to lead Pinckneyville, while Katrina Henson added nine.
With the win, Hamilton County improved to 4-0 and won the invitational title.
Pinckneyville 62, Gallatin County 35
Pinckneyville outscored Gallatin County in every quarter including 18-8 in the first, en route to a 62-35 victory Friday night.
“We played well in spurts tonight,” said Pinckneyville coach Alan Engelhardt. “At times we really rotated well and helped on the half-court, and at other times we were caught standing and watching instead of moving and attacking defensively.
Offensively, we did some good things to get easy baskets, but we still have to do a better job of finishing when we have worked for points. We had good all-around games from Taylor Cicardi (19 points, seven rebounds and four steals) and Katrina Henson (nine points, five assists and four steals). Our bench also did a nice job tonight, putting up 27 points and giving us a lot of energy.”
The Lady Panthers improved to 2-1 with the win.
Fairfield 54, Pinckneyville 51
Fairfield rallied from a four-point halftime deficit to edge Pinckneyville 54-51 last Tuesday in the Hamilton County Lady Foxes Invitational.
The Lady Panthers led 10-9 at the end of the first quarter and 23-19 at the break.
Fairfield outscored the Lady Panthers 17-14 in the third and 18-14 in the fourth for the win.
“Tonight's result was disappointing, not just because we lost, but because we were out-hustled and just did not defend the dribble drive at all,” said Pinckneyville coach Alan Engelhardt. “Offensively we settled too much for the three again, taking 28 of them and not looking to get the ball into the post where we have an advantage.
But scoring 51 points, we should not lose many games. We have spent the majority of our time in practice on defense, and tonight's effort is not acceptable. I can't say enough about Taylor Cicardi's effort again tonight, getting another double-double, with 10 points and 10 rebounds as she played with a heavy heart from her grandmother passing away earlier in the evening. We have a lot of problems to solve.”
Maddy Keith finished with 13 points while Cicardi had 10 and Katrina Henson nine.
With the loss, Pinckneyville dropped to 1-1 in tournament play.