PAXTON – Paxton-Buckley-Loda coach Scot Vogel has a message for his team this postseason.

"You can't worry about style points," Vogel said.

That's a good thing because there weren't any Tuesday night in the semifinals of the Class 2A Paxton Regional, where PBL was the quicker snail in a 36-23 win against Clifton Central.

Admitting his squad was facing a "more talented" opponent, Clifton Central coach Josh Sertich instructed his team to be patient on offense – very, very patient.

"We felt like it was the old adage of, 'If you're not as good, try to slow the game down.' The fewer possessions the better for us," Sertich said.

The strategy kept Clifton Central close, but PBL still controlled the contest. Leading 2-1 at the 6:26 mark of the first quarter, the Panthers (28-0) played defense for a stretch of more than three straight minutes before a steal led to a breakaway dunk by Brandon Heyen, who finished with 11 points.

Even after falling behind, the Comets continued to slow the game. With PBL holding a 17-6 halftime lead, Clifton Central controlled the ball for about 3 1/2 of the third quarter's opening four minutes. Eventually, PBL's opportunistic defense found chances to pounce.

"I thought we responded very well," Vogel said. "We were patient with our defense. We take a lot of pride in that. I just thought our kids were very solid. They made some good defensive decisions there after long possessions where we got tips and runouts for some transition layups."

"We were ready for anything. We know teams like to do that," PBL senior Lance Carpenter added.

PBL, which also got 11 points from senior guard Dylan Overstreet, advanced to Friday's regional title game, where it will face the winner of today's semifinal between Herscher and Watseka.

"All you got to worry about is, 'Did you get the job done?' I thought our guys did a good job with that," Vogel said.

Cody Westerlund