The Press-Dispatch

June 12, 2019

The Press-Dispatch

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The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, June 12, 2019 B-1 SPORTS Submit sports items: Call: 812-354-8500 Email: sports@pressdispatch.net or bring in a hard copy: 820 E. Poplar Street, Petersburg Lady Chargers competed well in scrimmage By James Capozella Press-Dispatch Sports sports@pressdispatch.net Last week's high school scrimmage on the Wood Memorial Lady Trojan basketball court proved to be something for which Lady Charger head coach Kyle McCutchan was hoping. "Be- fore the game, I told the varsity team that I am not worried as much about execution and hit- ting shots, but wanted the players to play hard, physical and complete and as it turned out, we did all of those things well. We only have four summer practices and not having everyone at every practice I thought we moved the ball well, hit shots and played under control on the offen- sive end." "Summer ball is usually more physical and Wood Memorial's a well-coached group who al- ways plays hard and I thought we did a good job on our decision making and took good shots. Mallory Hickey and Jaylyn Nelson shot the ball well from the perimeter and Mallory Hunt scored in the paint, but I thought every- one played well Thursday night offensively. De- fensively, I thought we competed well and made Wood earn every shot they hit. We gave a very good effort and we just need to continue work- ing on blocking out and rebounding better." In junior varsity action, coach said, "I thought the junior varsity also competed well. It was most of the girls' first taste of high school bas- ketball and they played well. They were physi- cal and aggressive on defense and were all over the floor, diving on loose balls. On offense, they made some nice drives throughout the game and had several good looks on offense. Myself and the other coaches were very pleased with the all-around good effort." Wood Memorial coach Johnnie Bartley said, "I thought Sydney Lamar did a nice job for us PATOKA VALLEY OUTDOORS By Sam Whiteleather By Andy Heuring Press-Dispatch Sports sports@pressdispatch.net Pike Central's Noah Onyett had a dis- appointing day at the boys' golf region- al Thursday. Onyett, who tied Pike Cen- tral's school record for nine holes, shoot- ing 34 twice this year and set the school record for 18 holes with a 69 to lead Pike Central's golf team to one of its best sea- sons, struggled to an 84 at Country Oaks on Thursday. "About five wedges, really they were easy shots, he just caught them thin, they went over the green into the heath- er grass," said Charger Coach Jarrod Gideon. "He didn't hit the ball bad or do any- thing poorly. He just had a couple bad shots that probably cost him six or sev- en strokes," said Gideon. Onyett started on the back nine at Country Oaks. His first trouble came on the par five 12th hole. The tees had been backed up at least 50 yards from previous years. Onyett hit a great drive on the hole. Coach Gideon said it was a "50 -50 shot whether to go for it or lay up." On- yett laid up just short of a larger ditch be- tween a narrow opening to the elevated two tier green about 80 yards out. It was a shot Onyett hits inside 10 feet most of the time. But instead, he caught it thin, causing it to squirt over the green into knee-high heather grass. From a nearly impossible line, he hit a wedge and the ball came out and onto the green, but he was above the severely sloped two-tiered green. It rolled off the green and back down to the landing area. He finished with a double bogey. Onyett settled down with two consec- utive pars, including one on the diffi- cult 13th hole. He had a 30 -foot downhill putt he rolled to 18 inches and tapped in for par. His tee shot on a long par five through a narrow chute clipped a limb and barely made it through the woods. It was so close to the tall bushes he was un- able to go straight down the fairway with- out hitting limbs in his back swing. So he hit out to the right into the adjacent fair- way and made bogey. It was the first of a four-hole bogey run. When he headed from hole 18 to hole one, Onyett and Gideon talked. "We talked and he said I need to really go low on this nine. He knew he needed to shoot in the low 70s to get out," said Gide- on. The top three golfers not on an advanc- ing team qualify for the state finals. "He went for things he normally wouldn't go for," said Gideon. Gideon said he thought Onyett was pressing a little all day knowing he need- ed a great round to advance to the state. In the end, it took a 73 advance to the state finals. The Washington Regional drew teams from Evansville, Indianapolis and all the way from the Attica Sectional. Evansville North won the team compe- tition with a team 297, as all four of their scoring players broke 80. They posted a 70 by Nathan Hoss, 74s by Mitchell John- son and Chase Claymier, and a 79 by Stew- ie Hobgood. North placed fourth last year in the state finals. Castle placed second with a 301, Plain- field was third with a 307. The other 15 team scores were: Park Tudor 310, Avon 312, Mater Dei 319, Brownsburg 334, Northview 334, Wash- ington 336, South Knox 340, Terre Haute North 343, Covenant Christian 347, Wood Memorial 349, Seeger 350, Greencastle 360, Decatur Central 368, Park Heritage 369, Terre Haute South 377. Kasey Lilly, of Plainfield, shot a 67 for medalist honors. "What is it Eva? " I call out to my daughter who has stopped dead in her tracks. She points to the ground, her mouth held tightly closed and her face tense. I walk back along the stream to- wards her. "There Dad, look" she says. From a distance I hear a rustling sound and see a dark object lying coiled on the ground in front of her. "Just hold still Eva" I say. As I walk, panicked thoughts flicker through my mind. I walked right past were she is without even noticing anything, how could I be so careless. This is timber rat- tler territory, I should have been more alert for snakes! When I finally reach Eva, the snake lets loose a loud hiss and flattens its head wide head which makes it look like a cobra's hood. The snake puffs its body up and hisses loudly again. Eva re- mains frozen in her tracks. Earlier in the day Rena and I had decided to take the kids hiking in a creek in South Central Indiana. The creek was full of geodes and fossils to look at and even though the sun was bright and hot above us, we were kept in comfort by the deep shade of the woods. The sun- light that did make it through was dappled and fell softly on the wet rocks of the creek bed. The kids were having a great time splashing in the creek and Rena and I shared some quiet moments as we followed along after them. I study the snake closer, relaxing a little as my fears start to fade away. "What is it Daddy? " Eva asks. "It won't hurt you girl, that's a hog- nosed snake". Seeing a hognosed snake in Southern Indiana is a rare treat. The hognose burrows or roots with its shovel like nose, hence the name. Their preferred diet is toads. What makes seeing a hognosed a real treat is their defensive behavior. Their first line of defense is to puff their bod- ies up to make them look big- ger than they are and to re- lease load hisses to make them sound meaner then they really are. They also flatten their heads for add- ed affect. They will on occa- sion strike, but they are not an aggressive snake and pre- fer to bluff their way out of a confrontation, as evidenced by their final defense which is to play dead. Yep, they take a page out of the opos- sum's book on this one. If threatened enough they flop over on their backs, thrash around a little bit and then roll into a neat coil before ly- ing still. Rena and the kids all gath- er around the snake as it con- tinues to hiss. I wait for it to flip over on its back but this snake's game is all hiss and no possum. "Come on guys, let's leave it alone" I say and we make our way on down the creek. Seeing a creature that is so unique only adds to the day. The kids are hap- py and free splashing in the creek, on a scale of one to 10 the weather is a definite 10, my wife is here with me en- joying the moment, and yes I could probably find some- thing wrong with the day if I tried hard enough, but I know in my heart that I am truly blessed. Blessed ONYETT'S STRONG SEASON ENDS See CHARGERS on 2 WE ARE PROFFESIONAL GRADE uebelhorgm.com 1-800-937-8721 Jasper, IN Pike Central's Noah Onyett follows through on a drive during competition at the Washington Re- gional. Onyett qualified individually for the region- al, but did not advance. Lady Charger senior Lauren Vaughn dribble drives the ball to the basket as junior Mallory Hickey gets ready for a rebound. James Capozella photo Charger senior Noah Onyett eyes his line for a putt during the Wash- ington golf regional last week. Evans to play for OCU Pike Central 2019 graduate Christian Benson signed his Letter of In- tent to play soccer for Oakland City University in May. Christian is seated at Pike Central for the signing, with his mother, Rebekah Evans, on his right and his father, Chad Evans, on his left. Benson will be coached by Elliott Spruell, a Mt. Carmel native who is the Mighty Oaks head soccer coach and director of Admissions. The sea- son will be August through December on Aigner Field on the Oakland City University campus. Christian joins a group of Oakland City Universi- ty players that are almost all international players. Lauren Vaughn makes Softball All-Conference Lady Charger Lauren Vaughn made the All-Con- ference (Pocket Athlet- ic Conference) team for spring softball. Pike Cen- tral finished 8 -12 in the regular season and 1-7 in conference action. Gibson Southern (22-1, 26 -2) won the conference, finishing at semi-state. The Lady Titans had four All-Con- ference players in Brenna Blume (catcher), Lyndsi Adamson (pitcher), Han- nah Long (infielder) and Lauren Lingafelter (util- ity). Forest Park, South Spencer and Heritage Hills each had two on the team, and Tecumseh, Southridge and North Posey each had one. Kennedy Sermersheim and Maciee Zink made it for Forest Park at catcher and infielder respectively. A.J. Middleton and Ash- ton Rasor were named for South Spencer (outfield- er and utility), and Lauren Caswell and Emma Eu- bank were named for Her- itage Hills (pitcher and in- fielder). Kaybree Oxley was named outfielder for Te- cumseh, Kennedy Nalley was named infielder for Southridge and Megan Brenton utility for North Posey. Honorable mentions went to Jordan Daming (South Spencer catch- er), Ashtyn Gree (pitch- er Tecumseh) and Kins- ly Heichelbech (infielder Tecumseh). Peyton Nal- ley was named outfielder for Southridge and Colby Rogers outfielder for Gib- son Southern. Utility hon- orable mentions went to Haley Lowe and Rylie Farr (North Posey), Reagan Hight (Tecumseh), Kylie Giesler (Forest Park) and Karlee Frobeter (South Spencer).

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