The Press-Dispatch
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B-4 Sports Wednesday, Februar y 21, 2018 The Press-Dispatch By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net The Pike Central High School boys' basketball team suffered its second loss in as many nights when it dropped a 49 -35 loss to visiting Jasper on Saturday, Feb. 17. A fter hitting just 13 of 31 field goal attempts in a 54-41 loss at Forest Park on Friday, Feb. 16, the Chargers made just 11 of 34 shots from the floor against Jasper while falling to 9 -11 with their fourth loss in five games. "Both teams are very physical and very aggres- sive, and playing both on the same weekend is a tough weekend," Pike Central head coach Hunter Elliott said. "We really had quite a few good looks, especially ear- ly. It's one of those things where making shots kind of fixes a lot of problems." "I thought we played hard both games," Elliott added. "I thought we played hard against Jasper. But the phys- icality and the aggressive- ness kind of got to us." Back-to-back baskets by junior Jared Englert and se- nior Eric Nordhoff gave Jas- per (12-8) an early 4-0 lead before the Chargers scored seven straight points – on a basket by senior Breyton Booker and a basket and a three-pointer by senior Bry- ant Nalley – to take a 7-4 lead with 3:02 left in the first quarter. However, the Wildcats would answer by scoring 11 straight points – four by En- glert, three by sophomore Jackson Kabrick and two each by Nordhoff and senior Justin Persohn – to surge ahead 15 -7 with 7:49 left in the second period. A fter a basket by Nalley – off of an assist by Booker – pulled Pike Central to with- in 15 -9, a three-pointer by Kabrick extended Jasper's lead to 18 -9. A three-pointer by Char- gers senior Tyler Tormohlen cut the deficit to 18 -12 be- fore the Wildcats scored seven consecutive points – on baskets by senior Ben Elliott and Persohn and a three-pointer by junior Josh Weidenbenner – to take a 25 - 12 halftime lead. Jasper would subsequent- ly score the first six points of the second half – on bas- kets by Englert, junior Reece Mulligan and Nordhoff – to extend its lead to 31-12 with 4:07 left in the third period. During the Wildcat's 13- 0 scoring run, Pike Central went 0 -for-7 from the floor, including 0 -for-4 from be- hind the three-point line, while turning the ball over four times. The Chargers tried to claw their way back into the game, outscoring Jasper 14- 6 – on eight points by Nalley, four points by Booker and two points by senior Camer- on Henson – to close to with- in 37-26 with 6:25 remaining in the fourth quarter. However, Pike Central would commit three straight turnovers as the Wildcats scored five straight points – on a basket and a three-point play by Milligan – to extend their lead to 42-26 with 4:50 left in the contest. A three-pointer by Henson and a pair of free throws by Nalley pulled the Chargers back to within 11 points – at 42-31 – before Jasper scored seven straight points on a basket by Nordhoff and four free throws in as many at- tempts by Persohn to stretch its lead to 48 -31 with 1:20 re- maining. A fter a three-pointer by Nalley cut the deficit to 48 - 34, a free throw by Milli- gan gave the Wildcats a 49 - 34 lead with just under one minute left to play. A free throw by Pike Cen- tral junior Hayden Kabrick ended the scoring with 14.5 seconds remaining. "We didn't shoot the ball real well this weekend, and that hurts," Elliott said. "But, you know, defensively, 49 points is not a lot to give up. Our goal is to give up under 50. It's just scoring the ball was the issue." "We're trying to get kids to play with some confidence and shoot," Elliott added. "I thought we passed up some good looks. We've just got to keep being aggressive and keep taking it at them." Nalley led Pike Central with a game-high 20 points while Booker and Henson added six points and five points, respectively. Henson led the Chargers in rebounds with five, while Booker grabbed four rebonds and dished out a game-high three assists. For the game, Pike Cen- tral made 11 of 34 field goal attempts – a 32.3 percent av- erage – and hit nine of 10 tries from the free throw line while turning the ball over 10 times. "Even late, similar to the Forest Park game, we still had some chances if we could have hit some shots and made a couple more plays down the stretch in or- der to make it a little tighter game," Elliott said. "When it's a three-point game in- stead of a 10 -point game, it changes things a little." Englert led Jasper with nine points while Milligan, Nordhoff and Persohn add- ed eight points each. Senior Austin Simmers grabbed a game-high nine rebounds while Englert had three steals. For the game, the Wild- cats made 19 of 39 field goal attempts – a 48.7 percent av- erage – and hit eight of 11 tries from the free throw line while turning the ball over eight times. Pike Central, which played at South Knox on Tuesday, Feb. 20, will close out the regular season at North Posey on Tuesday, Feb. 21, with the junior varsity game tipping off at 6:30 p.m., East- ern time. "I don't necessarily feel like we're playing really bad," Elliott said. "It's just hitting shots and having confidence. I tell the boys all the time, I have all the confidence in the world in this team, and I think we've shown through- out the season that we can beat anybody when we come to play." "I think, moving forward, we don't have a whole lot of practices left, but I feel good about where we're at. Prac- tice today was very good. So I feel good going forward." • • • In the junior varsity con- test, sophomore Quentin Harmon scored a game-high 12 points and freshman Ca- leb Burger added 10 points to lead Jasper to a 41-38 vic- tory over Pike Central. Ju- nior Austin Holder paced the Chargers with 11 points while junior Christian Ben- son netted eight points. HIGH SCHOOL BOYS' BASKETBALL Pocket Athletic Conference Standings PAC Overall Team W-L W-L Heritage Hills .......................................7-1 .................19-2 Forest Park .......................................... 6 -1 ................. 17-4 Gibson Southern ................................. 4-2 .................11-9 Pike Central ........................................ 4-3 .................9-11 Tell City ................................................ 4-4 .................14-8 North Posey......................................... 3-3 ...............10 -11 Southridge ........................................... 2-6 .................9-12 South Spencer ..................................... 2-6 ................. 7-15 Tecumseh ............................................ 1-7 .................8 -14 Results of February 13 Pike Central 54, Gibson Southern 36 Forest Park 81, Boonville 43 Result of February 15 Forest Park 70, North Posey 55 Results of February 16 Forest Park 54, Pike Central 41 Boonville 75, North Posey 59 Heritage Hills 29, Tell City 23 South Spencer 64, Southridge 61 Wood Memorial 83, Gibson Southern 64 Results of February 17 Jasper 49, Pike Central 35 Boonville 75, South Spencer 71 Loogootee 61, Southridge 49 Tecumseh 62, Perry Central 52 Tell City 59, North Posey 56 (3OT) Vincennes Lincoln 53, Gibson Southern 41 Games of February 20 Pike Central at South Knox Boonville at Tell City Gibson Southern at Forest Park Jasper at Southridge Princeton at Heritage Hills Tecumseh at Northeast Dubois Game of February 21 Pike Central at North Posey – Junior Varsity, 6:30 p.m.; Varsity, 8 p.m. Games of February 23 Forest Park at Northeast Dubois Gibson Southern at North Posey Heritage Hills at Perry Central Southridge at Boonville Game of February 24 White River Valley at South Spencer END REGULAR SEASON STATE TOURNAMENT (All times Eastern) Games of February 27 Sectional 16 (4A) At Evansville North Evansville Harrison vs. Jasper, 7 p.m. Evansville North vs. Evansville Central, 8:30 p.m. Sectional 31 (3A) At Southridge Pike Central vs. Sullivan, 6:30 p.m. Princeton vs. Vincennes Lincoln, 8 p.m. Sectional 32 (3A) At Boonville Heritage Hills vs. Evansville Memorial, 7 p.m. Boonville vs. Evansville Bosse, 8:30 p.m. Sectional 47 At North Knox (2A) South Knox vs. Linton-Stockton, 6 p.m. Eastern Greene vs. North Knox, 7:30 p.m. Sectional 48 At Castle (2A) North Posey vs. Tecumseh, 8 p.m. Sectional 63 At Loogootee (1A) Barr-Reeve vs. Shoals, 6 p.m. Vincennes Rivet vs. Washington Catholic, 7:30 p.m. Sectional 64 At Springs Valley (1A) Wood Memorial vs. Northeast Dubois, 7 p.m. Games of February 28 Sectional 48 At Castle (2A) Evansville Mater Dei vs. Tell City, 7 p.m. South Spencer vs. Forest Park, 8:30 p.m. Games of March 2 Sectional 16 (4A) At Evansville North Castle vs. Evansville Harrison-Jasper winner, 7 p.m. Evansville Reitz vs. Evansville North-Evansville Central winner, 8:30 p.m. Sectional 31 (3A) At Southridge Southridge vs. Pike Central-Sullivan winner, 6:30 p.m. Washington vs. Princeton-Vincennes Lincoln win- ner, 8 p.m. Sectional 32 (3A) At Boonville Gibson Southern vs. Heritage Hills-Evansville Me- morial winner, 7 p.m. Mt. Vernon (Posey) vs. Boonville-Evansville Bosse winner, 8:30 p.m. Sectional 47 At North Knox (2A) North Daviess vs. South Knox-Linton-Stockton win- ner, 6 p.m. North Daviess vs. Eastern Greene-North Knox win- ner, 7:30 p.m. Sectional 48 At Castle (2A) Perry Central vs. North Posey-Tecumseh winner, 6 p.m. Evansville Mater Dei-Tell City winner vs. South Spencer-Forest Park winner, 7:30 p.m. Sectional 63 At Loogootee (1A) Orleans vs. Barr-Reeve-Shoals winner, 6 p.m. Loogootee vs. Vincennes Rivet-Washington Catho- lic winner, 7:30 p.m. Sectional 64 At Springs Valley (1A) Evansville Day vs. Springs Valley, 6:30 p.m. Cannelton vs. Wood Memorial-Northeast Dubois winner, 8 p.m. Games of March 3 Sectional 16 (4A) At Evansville North Championship game, 8 p.m. Sectional 31 (3A) At Southridge Championship game, 7:30 p.m. Sectional 32 (3A) At Boonville Championship game, 8 p.m. Sectional 47 At North Knox (2A) Championship game, 7:30 p.m. Sectional 48 At Castle (2A) Championship game, 8:30 p.m. Sectional 63 At Loogootee (1A) Championship game, 7:30 p.m. Sectional 64 At Springs Valley (1A) Championship game, 7:30 p.m. Above: Pike Central High School senior Bry- ant Nalley (40) has his shot blocked by Jasper ju- nior Jared Englert (41) during varsity boys' bas- ketball action on Saturday, Feb. 17. Nalley scored 20 points in the Chargers' 49-35 loss to the visit- ing Wildcats. Ed Cahill photo Below: Pike Central High School senior Kyson Western (14) dribbles toward the basket during varsity boys' basketball action against visiting Jasper on Saturday, Feb. 17. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School senior Cameron Hen- son (10) fires up a three-point shot over Jasper junior Jared Englert (left) during varsity boys' basketball action on Saturday, Feb. 17. Henson scored five points in the Chargers' 49-35 loss to the visiting Wildcats. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School junior Ju- dah Leathco (20) tries to dribble toward the basket during junior varsity boys' basketball action against visiting Jas- per on Saturday, Feb. 17. The Chargers dropped a 41-38 loss to the Wildcats. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School sophomore Connor O'Neal goes up for a shot during junior varsity boys' basket- ball action against visiting Jasper on Saturday, Feb. 17. O'Neal scored four points in the Chargers' 41- 38 loss to the Wildcats. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School junior Austin Holder (10) fires up a three-point shot during junior varsity boys' bas- ketball action against vis- iting Jasper on Saturday, Feb. 17. Holder scored 11 points in the Chargers' 41-38 loss. Ed Cahill photo Chargers suffer 49-35 loss to Jasper