The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: http://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/751731
B-2 Sports Wednesday, November 16, 2016 The Press-Dispatch it was nice to pull out a win." A free throw by junior forward Brook Nalley gave Pike Central a 1-0 lead with 6:48 left in the first quarter before junior forward Eri- ka Hendrixson banked in a three-pointer from the top of the key to extend the Lady Chargers' lead to 4-0 just 32 seconds later. A fter Boonville senior Ar- ielle Blankenship scored on a putback of her own miss to pull the Lady Pioneers to within 4-2 with 5:07 remain- ing in the opening period, Pike Central ripped off nine straight points – on back-to- back baskets by senior for- ward Peyton Ruppel, one by Nalley and a three-pointer by junior guard Demi Croak – to take a 13-2 lead with 3:51 left in the first quarter. A fter Boonville senior Brooke Miles hit a pair of free throws to cut the deficit to 13-4, Pike Central junior guard Audra Stone, fouled in the act of shooting a three- point shot, hit two of three free throws and – following a steal by Nalley – Croak buried her second trey in as many attempts to extend the Lady Chargers' lead to 18 -4 with 2:01 remaining in the opening period. The Lady Pioneers would score the next eight points – on a free throw and a bas- ket by junior Kyerra Wil- lem, a basket by Miles and a three-pointer by junior Abbey Green – to close to within 18 -12 with 6:20 left in the second quarter back- to-back three-point shots by Croak, a three-point play by Hendrixson and a basket by sophomore forward Hailey Marchino gave Pike Cen- tral a 29 -12 lead with 3:46 remaining before halftime. Boonville answered with a 5 -0 scoring run – on a bas- ket by junior Hallie Mocko- bee and a basket and a free throw by Miles – to narrow the deficit to 29 -17 before a free throw and a basket by Stone extended the Lady Chargers' lead to 32-17 at halftime. During the first half, Boonville made six of 18 field goal attempts – includ- ing just one of six tries from beyond the three-point arc – and turned the ball over 16 times. "The first half, I thought we really got after it on de- fense," Warner said. "A lot of times for us, how hard we play on defense translates to how we do on the offen- sive end. Early on, we were knocking some shots down, we were getting that confi- dence level up quite a bit for us, and that transferred to the defensive side." "We were just moving the basketball," Warner added. "We were just playing how we think we should play, instead of trying to do so much one-on-one. We were moving the ball, getting open looks for everyone, and we were taking quality shots. It's not like we were really forcing anything the first half. We were just tak- ing what the defense gave us and knocked down open looks." When play resumed, Boonville came out in a full-court pressure defense which forced the Lady Char- gers to commit as many turnovers in the third quar- ter – 6 – as they had made during the entire first half. The Lady Pioneers con- verted three of those turn- overs into points while out- scoring Pike Central 14-6 in the third period to close to within 38 -31 heading in- to the final quarter. Even when the Lady Chargers managed to get into their offense during the third period, they hit just three of 10 field goal at- tempts while shooting – and missing – one try from the free throw line. "Like I told the girls after the game, we were so con- cerned with getting pres- sured that we just wanted to cross over and cross over and go side to side, instead of just making one good hard move and dribbling the ball up the floor – which is something we're going to work on tomorrow in prac- tice, obviously, and get bet- ter at," Warner said. A fter a basket by Boon- ville freshman Ramey Wild- er at the start of the fourth quarter narrowed the gap to 38 -33, a free throw by Nal- ley and a three-pointer by Croak stretched Pike Cen- tral's lead to 42-33 with 5:52 remaining. Boonville fought back, however, scoring three straight points – on a basket by Willem and a free throw by Mockobee – to close to within six points at 42-36 with 4:46 left. Then, after the Lady Char- gers turned the ball over on a five-second inbounds vio- lation with 3:10 remaining, Miles scored to cut Pike Central's lead to 42-38 with 2:55 to play. Nalley would hit a pair of free throws with 2:38 left to give the Lady Chargers a 44- 38 lead before Blankenship scored – off an assist from Willem – just 11 seconds lat- er to pull the Lady Pioneers back to within four points. Following an exchange of baskets by Hendrixson and Blankenship that left Pike Central holding a 46 -42 lead with just under two minutes remaining, Stone and Blan- kenship both hit a pair of free throws before Croak – with the Lady Chargers leading 48 -44 – hit three of four free throws in the final 47 seconds to seal the win. Croak, who hit five of nine tries from beyond the three- point line, led Pike Central with 18 points while grab- bing a team-high eight re- bounds. Stone added 11 points and three steals while Hendrixson – who al- so had three steals – tallied 10 points, grabbed five re- bounds and blocked three shots. Croak and Nalley both dished out three as- sists. The 5 -foor-11 Hendrixson was whistled for four fouls during the contest, includ- ing three for charges on the offensive end. "She was attacking the rim, which is what we want," Warner said. "Going to the rim, sometimes she's a little out of control, but she needs to develop that jump stop and score it so we don't put ourselves in that position. The last one probably was a little bogus, but we were trying to convince them, 'You've just go to slow down and take what the defense gives you and not force it." For the game, the Lady Chargers made 16 of 44 field goal attempts – a 36.4 per- cent average – and hit 13 of 20 tries from the free throw line. Pike Central attempt- ed 14 three-point shots, hit- ting six. "We're a good shooting basketball team if we just get our feet set and ready to shoot it, and the first half, we did," Warner said. "We were ready to catch and shoot." "The second half, I don't know if we got so concerned about preserving our lead or just so concerned with the amount of pressure we were getting applied to us, but I thought we went away from that." In addition, Pike Cen- See CHARGERS on page 4 CHARGERS Continued from page 1 BOX SCORES HIGH SCHOOL VARSITY GIRLS' BASKETBALL PIKE CENTR AL 51, BOONVILLE 44 11/9 at Pike Central Boonville 7 10 14 13 – 44 Pike Central 18 14 6 13 – 51 Boonville: Arielle Blankenship 4-8 2-2 10, Abbey Green 1-8 0 -0 3, Kyerra Willem 2-7 3-4 7, Ramey Wild- er 1-2 0 -0 2, Makenzie Mason 1-3 0 -0 2, Hallie Mocko- bee 2-8 1-6 5, Emma Parker 0 -0 0 -0 0, Brooke Miles 4- 9 5 -6 13, Haley Barker 1-3 0 -0 2. Totals 16 -48 11-18 44. Pike Central: Halley Powers 0 -3 0 -0 0, Hailey Marchino 1-1 0 -0 2, Demi Croak 5 -9 3-4 18, Jalah Barnes 0 -1 0 -0 0, Becca Crow 0 -4 0 -0 0, Natalie Bur- khart 0 -0 0 -0 0, Brook Nalley 1-8 4-7 6, Erika Hendrix- son 4-7 1-1 10, Audra Stone 3-6 5 -8 11, Peyton Ruppel 2-5 0 -0 4. Totals 16 -44 13-20 51. Three-point field goals: Boonville – Abbey Green. Pike Central – Demi Croak 5, Erika Hendrixson. SOUTH KNOX 39, PIKE CENTR AL 34 11/11 at Pike Central South Knox 15 6 11 7 – 39 Pike Central 6 5 8 15 – 34 South Knox: Morgan Engstrom 2-10 2-4 6, Chase Keller 2-5 1-2 5, Jarissa Page 6 -13 1-2 16, Olivia Schutter 3-7 0 -0 7, Paige Cavins 1-1 3-6 5, Grayson Keller 0 -0 0 -0 0, Mykayla Couchenour 0 -2 0 -0 0. Totals 14-38 7-14 39. Pike Central: Halley Powers 1-1 0 -1 2, Hailey Marchino 0 -0 0 -0 0, Demi Croak 0 -5 0 -0 0, Becca Crow 4-6 2-4 11, Natalie Burkhart 1-3 0 -0 2, Brook Nalley 4- 11 2-4 10, Erika Hendrixson 3-7 1-1 7, Audra Stone 1- 3 0 -0 2, Peyton Ruppel 0 -2 0 -0 0. Totals 14-38 5 -10 34. Three-point field goals: South Knox – Jarissa Page 3, Olivia Schutter. Pike Central – Becca Crow. HIGH SCHOOL JUNIOR VARSITY GIRLS' BASKETBALL PIKE CENTR AL 45, BOONVILLE 24 11/9 at Pike Central Boonville 4 9 6 5 – 24 Pike Central 13 12 14 6 – 45 Boonville: Kenzie Edwards 1 0 -0 3, Ramey Wilder 2 0 -4 4, Ashlie Ripperdan 0 0 -0 0, Brooke Allen 3 0 -0 6, Katelyn Dougan 0 0 -0 0, Dalla Gardner 1 0 -0 2, Ciera Moyer 1 0 -4 2, Anastasia Matthews 1 1-2 3, McKenna Walter 2 0 -0 4. Totals 11 1-10 24. Pike Central: Allesha Sisk 3 0 -0 6, Lauren Vaughn 3 1-2 7, Emily Carnahan 4 0 -0 8, Jayln Nelson 4 1-1 9, Jenna Horrall 1 0 -2 2, Meredith Benson 0 0 -0 0, Kelsey Barrett 0 -0 0 -0 0, Hannah Carnahan 0 0 -0 0, Hadley Holder 0 0 -0 0, Kenzie Dunn 1 0 -0 2, Amy Young 4 3- 4 11. Totals 20 5 -9 45. Three-point field goal: Boonville – Kenzie Ed- wards. PIKE CENTR AL 46, SOUTH KNOX 12 11/11 at Pike Central South Knox 2 0 3 7 – 12 Pike Central 4 16 16 10 – 46 South Knox: Mykayla Couchenour 1 0 -0 2, Jillian Reeves 0 0 -0 0, Kenady Hageman 0 0 -0 0, Cheyenne Helms 1 0 -0 2, Blair Evans 0 2-2 2, Macey Marvel 0 0 -0 0, Shelby Osborne 0 1-4 1, Grayson Keller 0 1-2 1, Lexy Leal 2 0 -0 4. Totals 4 4-8 12. Pike Central: Lauren Vaughn 0 0 -0 0, Allesha Sisk 2 1-2 5, Emily Carnahan 3 3-5 9, Jayln Nelson 5 1-2 11, Jenna Horrall 0 1-4 1, Hailey Marchino 0 0 -1 0, Jalah Barnes 2 0 -0 4, Meredith Benson 0 0 -0 0, Hannah Car- nahan 1 1-2 3, Amy Young 2 0 -0 5, Kenzie Dunn 1 0 - 0 2, Meredith Benson 0 0 -0 0, Kelsey Barrett 1 0 -0 2, Hadley Holder 2 0 -0 4. Totals 19 7-16 46. Three-point field goal: Pike Central – Amy Young. MIDDLE SCHOOL 8TH GRADE GIRLS' BASKETBALL PIKE CENTR AL 33, NORTH POSEY 17 11/10 at Pike Central North Posey 2 4 6 5 – 17 Pike Central 11 11 8 3 – 33 North Posey: Tori Crawford 2-11 0 -0 4, Kennedy Hallam 1-12 2-5 4, Grace Glaser 1-3 0 -0 2, Jenna Hea- ton 2-10 0 -0 4, Destiney Nottingham 1-4 0 -4 3, Haleigh Latham 0 -3 0 -0 0, Brooke Coleman 0 -3 0 -0 0, Taylor Freeman 0 -0 0 -0 0. Totals 7-46 3-9 17. Pike Central: Kenzie Powell 3-9 1-1 7, Kenley Beck 1-4 0 -0 2, Mallory Hickey 4-12 2-6 10, Lily Willis 0 -7 3-4 3, Gracie Jones 1-5 0 -0 2, Lauren Young 2-4 0 -0 5, Addie Johnson 1-4 0 -0 2, Emma Camp 0 -4 0 -0 0, Halli Fair 0 -1 0 -0 0, Kailee Mann 1-4 0 -0 2, Jackie Pozos 0 -1 0 -0 0. Totals 13-55 6 -11 33. Three-point field goals: North Posey – Destiney Nottingham. Pike Central – Lauren Young. Three-point field goals: None. MIDDLE SCHOOL 7TH GRADE GIRLS' BASKETBALL PIKE CENTR AL 17, NORTH POSEY 9 11/10 at Pike Central North Posey 0 2 0 7 – 9 Pike Central 4 5 4 4 – 17 North Posey: Kaylee Besider 0 -2 1-2 1, Haley Love 0 -4 0 -2 0, Claire Kuester 0 -2 0 -0 0, Jaedyn Rhineburger 2-7 0 -2 4, Jenna Rhineburger 1-7 0 -0 2, Paige Patterson 1-2 0 -2 2, Kayla Deport 0 -0 0 -0 0, Alexa Simmons 0 -0 0 -0 0, Paige Celina 0 -2 0 -0 0. Totals 4-26 1-8 9. Pike Central: Sophie Carnahan 0 -3 2-4 2, Mallo- ry Hunt 0 -3 0 -0 0, Kya Leighty 3-4 1-1 7, Kya Sullivan 2-4 0 -0 4, Albany Ashley 0 -1 0 -0 0, Alli Holder 1-5 0 - 0 2, Ashton Catt 0 -3 0 -0 0, Hannah Woodford 0 -2 0 -0 0, Alaina McClellan 0 -0 0 -0 0, Hailey Parker 1-4 0 -0 2, Kayla Gladish 0 -0 0 -0 0. Totals 7-29 3-5 17. Three-point field goals: None. have been "bird-dogging" Scott since early in her sophomore year – an as- sistant coach first made contact with Scott's fami- ly when the Lady Chargers played at Gibson Southern – and decided to make her an offer just before the NJCA A's signing period opened on Nov. 1. "As you get to this time of the year, you start to see what your needs are for next year, and she fit in real nicely with our ros- ter and what our needs will be," Schnarre said. "The fact that she can catch and play other positions is a re- al big plus." "We just saw her in Princ- eton, when she was play- ing there just about three weeks ago," Schnarre add- ed. "It was about the end of October, and there were about eight teams togeth- er there in Princeton. That was the point and time that we said she ought to fit in nicely with what we need. We moved pretty quick af- ter that." Scott added that she also liked the fact that Wabash Valley College is located in Mount Carmel, Ill., which is less than an hour-long drive from Petersburg. "That's good, because my dad works really close to there, " Scott said. "So if I ever need anything, he's always, like, right there." SCOTT Continued from page 1 Pike Central High School junior guard Brook Nalley (12) looks for an open teammate after re- covering a loose ball along the baseline as Boon- ville freshman Makenzie Mason (11) closes in during varsity girls' basketball action on Wednes- day, Nov. 9. Nalley scored six points in the Lady Chargers' 51-44 season-opening victory. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School junior guard Audra Stone (15) collides with Boonville senior Arielle Blankenship (1) during varsity girls' basketball action on Wednesday, Nov. 9. Stone scored 11 points in the Lady Chargers' 51-44 season-open- ing victory over the visiting Lady Pioneers. Ed Ca- hill photo Above: Pike Central High School sophomore guard Kenzie Dunn (25) looks to shoot the ball af- ter colliding with Boonville freshman Ciera Moya (left) during junior varsity girls' basketball action on Wednesday, Nov. 9. Dunn scored two points in the Lady Chargers' 45-24 season-opening victo- ry over the visiting Lady Pioneers. Ed Cahill photo Right: Pike Central High School freshman guard Jayln Nelson (left) eyes the basket while be- ing defended by Boonville junior McKenna Wal- ter (right) during junior varsity girls' basketball action on Wednesday, Nov. 9. Nelson scored nine points in the Lady Chargers' 45-24 season-open- ing victory over the visiting Lady Pioneers. Ed Ca- hill photo