CARTERVILLE- The Carterville Lions girls’ basketball team took on the Pinckneyville Panthers in the first game of the Carbondale Mid-Winter Classic on Monday night. The Panthers secured a 46-28 victory, thanks to a dominant fourth quarter.
The Lions found their first points of the game through sophomore Mya Toliver. The Panthers could not respond for almost three minutes straight due to the Lions’ gritty defense.
“[Going into the game] we watched film, and ran through some drills to simulate their offense” said Toliver when asked about how they prepared for the Panther defense.
Pinckneyville took the lead on an in-bound play that resulted in a three-pointer, moving the score to 5-2. Looking to capitalize on the lead change, the Panthers took the ball up to the other side of the court and netted another two-ball. However, Carterville senior Emma Rogers kept her team in the game by hitting an and-one to close the gap to 7-6. The first quarter ended in favor of the Panthers 9-6.
Coming out early in the second quarter, the Carterville defense ended up forcing a turnover which translated to Lion senior Anna Booker hitting a jumper to pull the score to 9-8 in favor of the Panthers. Pinckneyville gained some momentum from a blocked shot that was thrown down to the other side of the court for an easy layup. The Panthers rode the momentum, getting out to a 10-point lead until Lion sophomore Layla Yates added four points late in the quarter, bringing the score to 21-14 Panthers going into the half.
After the half, Carterville did not seem to make many adjustments and had difficulty finding their groove offensively, allowing Pinckneyville to score nine early points. The down Lion offense found a small spark in a three from sophomore Adie Sykes.
“[The shot] boosted confidence and it proved that we still had a chance that late in the game,” said. Sykes
Carterville cut into the late 12-point deficit by scoring consecutive layups from Yates and freshman Masyn Kries. The third quarter ended favoring the Panthers 29-22.
When asked how she stayed focus while cutting into the deficit Yates said, “I focused on running the plays correctly and getting good looks at the basket.”
Pinckneyville put the game out of reach for the Lions in the fourth quarter, scoring four threes to make their final push to the end of the game. Pinckneyville ended up taking the win 46-28.
The Carterville girls’ basketball team will play again on Tuesday, January 21st against Cape Central in the second round of the Carbondale Mid Winter Classic. To keep up with all things Carterville athletics, follow @CHS_Lion_Ath on Instagram and Twitter (X).
