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Pinckneyville advances with win over Harrisburg

by scott mees, The Southern

Tuesday, February 26, 2008 11:37 PM CST

BENTON - Collin Woodside racked up a game-high 21 points, including 8-for-8 from the foul line, Tuesday as Pinckneyville held off Harrisburg 66-59 at the Benton Class 2A Boys Basketball Sectional at Rich Herrin Gymnasium.

Harrisburg gave the Panthers all they could handle for a good portion of the game, but in the end, Pinckneyville simply had too much.

The Panthers (26-4) led by six late in the third quarter when Woodside hit a fall-away jumper with three seconds left.

"Collin's one of those kids that you look at when he walks on the floor and you're like he can't be one of your best weapons," said Pinckneyville coach Bob Waggoner. "He's 145 pounds but he's also the kid that's in the gym every day working on his shot. Tonight, one thing that's not going to get noticed is his defense."

Woodside was all over Reid Roper for most of the contest. Roper did hit four 3-pointers but all of them were near NBA range.

The Bulldogs used a 10-1 run late in the fourth quarter to keep it close. Matt Smithpeters hit a pair of jump shots during the run, and Cain Sheldon nailed four straight free throws to cut the Panther lead to 54-49 with just less than two minutes to play.

Roper drained his fourth long triple of the game to pull the Bulldogs within 56-52 with 1:34 left, but Pinckneyville made its final eight foul shots to seal the deal.

Kyle Cassity scored 15 points and grabbed 16 rebounds for the Panthers.

"We've got a rule if you get 14 I owe you a steak dinner," Waggoner said of Cassity's terrific night on the boards. "So he cost me money. We're happy for him and Kyle's the type of kid that's very competitive and he knew we were getting hurt on the glass."

The first half was tight and featured four lead changes. Hayden Hicks sank a 3-pointer as Pinckneyville led 17-14 early in the second quarter. But Roper buried three triples during a two-minute span to knot the contest at 23-all.

However, Woodside always nailed the big shots. He tipped in a miss by Miles Priebe with one minute left and sank a 3-pointer from the corner with three seconds left to give the Panthers a 30-27 lead at halftime.

"One thing we didn't want to do was get behind to any degree where they were able to relax a little bit," said Harrisburg coach Randy Smithpeters. "I was very happy with our effort. I have to give some of the credit to the Panthers because they defend awfully hard."

Hicks added 11 for Pinckneyville, and Brandon Hardin had nine. Roper led Harrisburg with 20 points, Smithpeters contributed 16 and Kendall Donaldson tallied eight.

The Panthers move on to Friday's sectional title game at 7:30 p.m. against the winner of tonight's Mount Carmel/Du Quoin game.

Etc?Saint Louis University head coach Rick Majerus was in attendance to get a look at Cassity. Panther fans wishing to buy tickets to Friday's game may do so Thursday in the third floor office at the high school. Student tickets (Pep Club members) go on sale at 10:55 a.m.; faculty, staff and board members from 1 to 3 p.m.; season ticket holders at 5 p.m.; and the general public at 6 p.m.

scott.mees@thesouthern.com

351-5086