PAXTON — Quinton Hatfill, Paxton-Buckley-Loda varsity boys basketball team’s head coach, is off to an unprecedented start with his team.
With a 60-44 win over Watseka, the third-year head coach has his team off to a 4-2 record to start the 2025-26 campaign.
“To sit at 4-2 is something we haven’t seen in a few years, so hopefully that gives us some momentum and some confidence moving forward,” Hatfill said.”
The win on Tuesday, PBL’s third in a row, followed a third-place finish in the Toyota of Danville Classic that included wins over Charleston and Oakwood the previous Thursday and Saturday, respectively.
“I started to see good things in the last two games in the Toyota of Danville Classic,” Hatfill said. “I expected to see better things tonight that we didn’t see, but I’m happy to get three in a row.”
Tyler Cole drained a 3-pointer to start the scoring for PBL. After Watseka’s Payton Schaumburg made a jumper, the Panthers went on a 10-0 run.
Carson Goss started the run with a basket before Ethan Williams scored two points off a Cole assist. Dylan Vance then scored on a fastbreak layup and two free throws with 4:45 left in the first quarter before a steal and a fastbreak layup by Mason Vaughan extended PBL’s lead to 13-2.
“I think we came out with the kind of focus that we need to come out with,” Hatfill said. “It was nice to ride that wave all game.”
A 3-pointer by Tyler Waugh and a two-point basket and trey by Jack Hutchinson cut Watseka’s deficit to 13-10.
“It seemed like a seesaw battle,” Hatfill said. “We were fortunate to come away with the win.”
Cole scored on an offensive-rebound putback before a 3-pointer by Schaumburg and a free throw by Williams made it 16-13 as the first quarter came to an end.
Goss made a basket to make it 18-13 early in the second quarter. After drawing a charging foul on Waugh with 7:22 left in the quarter, Willaims tallied a basket before Dylan Vance added a bucket to extend PBL’s lead to 22-13.
Schaumburg drained a 3-pointer before Cole scored on a putback to make it 24-16. From there, Watseka went on a 7-0 run as Waugh made two free throws and Owen Swartz tallied a trey and two free throws to cut the Warriors’ deficit to 24-23 with 1:42 remaining in the first half.
Cole drained a 3-pointer to make it 27-23 by halftime, a leader smaller than expected of a team that stole the ball 11 times, according to Hatfill.
“I didn’t think we were very good in transition offense,” Hatfill said. “We’ve got to capitalize early on in games, and that’s how good teams start to pull away. We didn’t do that tonight. We allowed them to hang around a little bit too long. All credit to Watseka. They didn’t give up and their defense picked it up, but credit to our guys for pulling out a win. We’re always fortunate to win a game here at home.”
The Panthers started the second half on a 9-0 run as Williams started the run with a couple of baskets, including one assisted by Cole, who tallied a free throw and stole the ball and scored on a fastbreak layup to extend PBL’s lead to 34-23 with 6:27 left in the third quarter.
A putback by Williams made it 36-23 before Swartz ended the run with a two-point bucket.
Goss and Williams each made a basket before a basket by Swartz made it 40-27. A 3-pointer by Anthony Rodriguez extended PBL’s lead to 43-27 before a basket by Hutchinson made it 43-29.
Kayden Vance made a free throw for PBL before Schuamburg drained a 3-pointer to make it 44-32. Goss and Seth Dirks exchanged a basket to make it 46-34 before Goss made a free throw with 58.9 seconds left in the third quarter.
A 3-pointer by Schaumburg cut Watseka’s deficit to 47-37 as the third quarter came to an end before baskets by Lucas Shoemaker and Briley Thompson cut it to 47-41.
“We had some mental lapses on the defensive end, and they were able to hit shots,” Hatfill said. “That’s a team that can really shoot it, and if you allow them any breathing room, they can knock down shots.”
Watseka finished the game with eight treys made, including five from Schaumburg.
“I’m proud to get the win, but there’s a lot that we can take away from this game on how to really pull away from teams and, defensively, making little adjustments to who’s shooting the ball well on their team and communicating,” Hatfill said.
After Cole made up for a turnover with a steal, Jack Wesslund drained a 3-pointer.
Dylan Vance, who finished with 10 points, then stole the ball and dunked it to make it 52-41 with less than four minutes left in the contest.
“I’ve been preaching to Dylan to be aggressive and to use his athleticism and get out and run, and finally, he got the opportunity today and he flushed it,” Hatfill said.
Dylan Vance then made a transition layup to make it 54-41.
“I’m proud of Dylan, but it’s only up from here,” Hatfill said. “Now we know what to expect and he knows what to expect, and he can be aggressive in those types of situations.”
After Schaumburg drained his last 3-pointer with 3:03 left in the game, baskets by Vaughan and Cole and two free throws by Cole made it 60-44.
Along with Dylan Vance, Cole and Williams also scored in double figures with 17 and 13 points, respectively, while Goss finished with nine points. Vaughan had four points while Wesslund and Rodriguez each had three points and Kayden Vance had one point.
“It was a total team effort,” Hatfill said. “Anytime you win a game, it takes five guys on the floor, and I’m proud of our guys for coming away tonight.”
PBL 60, Watseka 44
WAT 13 10 14 7 — 44
PBL 16 11 20 13 — 60
Watseka
Hunter Wolfe 0-0-0, Jack Hutchinson 3-0-7, Austin Morris 0-0-0, Owen Swartz 3-2-9, Payton Schaumburg 6-0-17, Briley Thompson 1-0-2, Seth Dirks 1-0-2, Lucas Shoemaker 1-0-2, Tyler Waugh 1-2-5. Totals 16-4-44.
PBL (4-2)
Jack Wesslund 1-0-3, Kayden Vance 0-1-1, Anthony Rodriguez 1-0-3, Tyler Cole 6-3-17, Dylan Vance 4-2-10, John Rodeen 0-0-0, Mason Vaughan 2-0-4, Carson Goss 4-1-9, Ethan Williams 6-1-13. Totals 24-8-60.
3-pointers – Watseka 8 (Schaumburg 5, Hutchinson, Swartz, Waugh). PBL 4 (Cole 2, Wesslund, Rodriguez).