The Press-Dispatch
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B-4 Sports Wednesday, August 22, 2018 The Press-Dispatch high nine points – on five ace serves and four kills – as Pike Central defeated Vincennes Lincoln 26 -24, 22-25, 15 -10. Sophomore Addie John- son led the Lady Chargers in kills with five while soph- omores Neeley Correll and Lily Willis and freshman Eri- ka Vinnedge added one each. Powell and freshman Alaina McClellan had a team-high six digs each. Washington 3, Pike Central 1 Washington bounced back from a first-set loss to defeat visiting Pike Central 21-25, 25 -18, 25 -13, 25 -22. Senior Taylor Lamey had a team-high six kills for the La- dy Chargers while senior Al- yssa Jenkins had four. Junior Audrey Keepes added three kills. Seniors Becca Crow and Kylie Dawson had two kills each. Crow led Pike Central with three ace serves while junior Alexis Englert had two. Jen- kins had a team-high three blocks while Keepes and Tay- lor Lamey added one each. In the junior varsity match, sophomore Kenzie Powell had a team-high four ace serves and one kill to lead Pike Cen- tral to a 25 -23, 25 -22 victory over Washington. Sophomore Addie Johnson and freshman Erika Vinnedge also had one kill for the Lady Chargers. Joey Ridao and one each by Jonas Martinez and Nolan Nelson in the second half. Joey Ridao and Isaac Bur- dette had one assist apiece. Gabe Jones, meanwhile, had four saves in goal for Pike Central. "We knew going into this game that Gibson Southern would be a tough opponent, and after Gibson scored the first goal, I knew my team felt the pressure," Chargers head coach Tan- ner Gray said. "Joey, Nolan and Jonas really stepped up and brought us back in the game. But I can't credit the defense enough. Quin- tin Sanders and Chase Ridao played great games and contained Gibson's of- fense." In the junior varsity con- test, the two teams fought to a 1-1 draw, with Andrew Woods scoring the lone goal for Pike Central. "I thought the whole team is starting to learn how to play with each oth- er and we are finding the positions that really suit the players," Gray said. "The offense has been get- ting better and working off of each other. Andrew Woods scored the first goal of the season for us. I also think the defense played well, only giving up one goal, which was a penalty kick for Gibson that tied the game." Pike Central 6, South Spencer 0 Jonas Martinez and Jo- ey Ridao scored two goals each to lead the Chargers to a 6 -0 win over the host Rebels. Austin Henson and No- lan Nelson both netted one goal. Nelson also dished out one assist while Mar- tinez, Isaac Burdette and Cameron Roy had one apiece. "The boys continue to impress me with their ability to dominate teams in the offensive half of the field," Gray said. "We were tied with South Spencer 0 - 0 at halftime even though we dominated the game up to that point. Once we saw one goal go in, our confi- dence was back. Austin Henson got his first goal on the season. Joey and Jonas really proved how strong our offense can be." In the junior varsity game, the Chargers suf- fered a 5 -0 loss. "It was the second game of the day for many of our players, so it made for a long, hot day," said Pike Central junior varsity coach Colin Mahoney. "We are still seeing improve- ment in certain areas but there's still work to be do- ne. Cade Morgan and Ry- an Whann played very well for us." The Chargers, which played a junior varsity match at Washington on Monday, Aug. 20, will host South Knox at the Old Pe- tersburg Gym field on Wednesday, Aug. 22, start- ing at 6:15 p.m. On Satur- day, Aug. 25, Pike Cen- tral will play back-to-back games at the Gospel Cen- ter field against Mt. Carmel (Ill.) at 11 a.m., and against Heritage Hills at 1 p.m. PCMS Continued from page 1 LOSSES Continued from page 2 Pike Central Middle School's Chase Ridao (left) pushes the ball up the field during boys' soccer action against visiting Gibson Southern on Thursday, Aug. 16. The Chargers won the contest 4-2. Ed Cahill photo Above: Pike Central High School senior Makenna Goins (12) battles for control of the ball during varsity girls' soccer action against visiting North Knox on Wednesday, Aug. 15. The Lady Chargers won the contest 4-1. Ed Cahill photo Right: Pike Central High School senior Rebekah Luff (20) pushes the ball up the field during varsity girls' soccer action against visiting North Knox on Wednesday, Aug. 15. The La- dy Chargers won the contest 4-1. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central Middle School's Nolan Nelson (left) battles for possession of the ball during boys' soccer action against visiting Gibson Southern on Thursday, Aug. 16. The Chargers won the contest 4-2. Ed Cahill photo A fter opening its season with a 1-1 tie at Tell City on Tuesday, Aug. 14, the Pike Central High School girls' soccer team posted a 4-1 victory over visiting North Knox on Wednesday, Aug. 15. Pike Central 1, Tell City 1 Head coach Eric McCord said that the Lady Chargers fired approximately 20 shots on goal in the match against Tell City, but senior Kelsey Barrett was the only one to find the back of the net. "We had a lot of shots on goal, which is good, but you have to take it with a grain of salt because it's good to get shots off and pressure the defense, but that also means we only made one goal out of 20 or so shots," McCord said. "Overall, the team played really well and I like the teamwork I saw, so we're going to keep building on that." Pike Central 4, North Knox 1 A goal by sophomore Grace Brandle tied the score at 1-1 and a goal by senior Kelsey Barrett snapped the tie to lead Pike Central to a come-from-behind 4-1 vic- tory over the visiting War- riors. Barrett and freshman Alli Holder added goals in the second half as the Lady Chargers improved to 1-0 -1. "We continued to pass the ball really well," McCord said. "We had new players taking up defensive roles but they played exception- ally well. Despite the rain, we had a good game with decent communication and we controlled the ball very well." Pike Central, which host- ed Washington Catholic on Tuesday, Aug. 21, will host Evansville Day School on Thursday, Aug. 23, and Vin- cennes Rivet on Saturday, Aug. 25, before traveling to South Spencer on Tuesday, Aug. 28. PCHS girls' soccer team opens with 1-1 tie with Tell City, 4-1 win over North Knox PCHS boys' soccer team tops Tell City 7-0, drops 5-0 loss at Jasper By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net The Pike Central High School boys' soccer team opened its season with a 7-0 victory at Tell City on Tuesday, Aug. 14. Seven different players – seniors Christian Benson, Austin Holder and Hayden Kabrick, juniors Gabe Caldwell and Ethan Scott, sophomore Connor Young and freshman Devin Carl- isle – netted goals for the Chargers. Kabrick and Scott both had three assists, while Holder and senior Jacob Vest both had one assist. Junior Noah Whann had four saves at goalie. "The boys played togeth- er and we were able to have possession for most of the game," Pike Central head coach Jacob Western said. "To have seven different players score is very excit- ing. I thought defensively we were strong when we needed to be." Jasper 5, Pike Central 0 On Saturday, Aug. 18, the Chargers dropped a 5 - 0 loss at Jasper. "We lost 5 -0 to one of the best teams in the ar- ea," said Western. "It was a game we wanted to play in to see where we are at. We did not compete like we should have for 80 min- utes and they were able to expose us in some parts of the game." "We learned a lot from this game," Western add- ed. "And I think it will make us a better team in the long run." Whann had 15 saves in goal for Pike Central. The Chargers, who host- ed Washington Catholic on Tuesday, Aug. 21, will trav- el to South Spencer on Tuesday, Aug. 28, before re- turning home to host Boon- ville on Thursday, Aug. 30, and Princeton on Saturday, Sept. 1. PCHS girls' golf team posts win over North Knox The Pike Central High School girls' golf team im- proved to 7-0 in dual and tri- meets with a 195 -227 victo- ry over visiting North Knox on Monday, Aug. 20, at Prides Creek Golf Course. Senior Natalie Bohnert was the medalist with a nine-hole score of 38 while junior Madison Warner fired a career-best 49. Junior Hadley Holder and freshman Carissa Moudy both shot 54. Junior Em- ma Rainey had a 58. Fresh- men Nevi Lemond and Syd- ney Loveless both had a 71. "The team score – 195 – is our best team score of the season," Pike Central head coach Jarrod Gideon said. "We are definitely progress- ing in the right direction. I'm very proud of how the girls are working and get- ting better." "Natalie has been the medalist in every match and continues to prove that she is one of the best golfers in the area," Gideon add- ed. "Madison Warner, who has only been golfing for a month and a half, has real- ly improved a tremendous amount." Lady Charger linksters top Heritage Hills, Southridge The Pike Central High School girls' golf team placed first in a three-team meet held at the Christmas Lake Golf Course on Tues- day, Aug. 14. Senior Natalie Bohnert led the Lady Chargers with a 1-over-par 37 – just one stroke off her school record of 36 for a nine-hole score – while junior Emma Rainey fired a career-low 54. Junior Hadley Holder add- ed a 55 while junior Madison Warner had a 59. Freshmen Carissa Moudy and Sydney Loveless shot 61 and 69, re- spectively. As a team, Pike Central shot a 205. Southridge was second with a 210, while host Heritage Hills finished third with a 252. "We are starting to im- prove and I am excited to see some of the newcomers' scores really dropping," said Lady Chargers head coach Jarrod Gideon, whose team improved to 6 -0 in dual and tri-meets this season. Pike Central, which host- ed North Knox on Monday, Aug. 20, and South Knox and Wood Memorial on Tuesday, Aug. 21, at the Prides Creek Golf Course, will host Vin- cennes Lincoln and North Daviess in a tri-meet on Thursday, Aug. 23. On Tuesday, Aug. 28, the Lady Chargers will battle Gibson Southern and North Posey in a tri-meet at the Cambridge Golf Course in Evansville, before taking on Forest Park on Thursday, Aug. 30, in their final home match of the season. Call us at 812-354-8500 or email sports@pressdispatch.net GOT SPORTS NEWS? PCHS cross country teams open season in Forest Park Invitational The Pike Central High School girls' and boys' cross country teams began their seasons with strong show- ings during the Forest Park Invitational on Thursday, Aug. 16, as the Lady Char- gers placed fourth out of eight teams with 113 points, and the Chargers were sixth out of seven teams with 135 points. First-year sophomore Lib- by Stone was the top finisher for the Lady Chargers, plac- ing 16th out of 66 runners with a time of 24:37, while freshman Quinlan Teague placed 17th with a time of 24:44. "Libby Stone and Quinlan Teague had a great first race to their high school careers," Pike Central head coach Josh Roach said. "They con- tinue to show what they have been showing in practice." Sophomore Lauren Young finished 22nd with a time of 25:19; sophomore Jenna Meyer finished 26th with a time of 25:39, besting her personal course record time of 27:51 by more than two minutes; and sophomore Charlotte Dudenhoeffer fin- ished 34th with a time of 26:18, besting her personal course record time of 26:37 by 19 seconds. "Lauren, Jenna and Char- lotte held close at our three, four, five the whole race," Roach said. "We know that moving the whole pack of five that score up little by little will make big jumps in our team score." In addition, first-year ju- nior Shelby Vaughn finished 42nd with a time of 27:09; se- nior Erin Craig finished 51st with a time of 28:44, besting her previous course record time of 29:03 by 19 seconds; freshman Morgan Sallee finished 59th with a time of 30 :49; freshman Laney John- son finished 62nd with a time of 31:14; and freshman Morgan Anderson finished 63rd with a time of 31:57. "It's going to be a lot of fun to see how much they all grow over the year," Roach said. Jasper placed first with a team score of 35 points, followed by Forest Park (40 points) and Heritage Hills (78). Crawford Coun- ty (142) was fifth, followed by Northeast Dubois (164), Tecumseh (168) and Cas- tle (181). South Spencer al- so participated but did not have enough runners for a team score. BOYS: Draven Huff start- ed off his senior year with a bang, finishing sixth out of 89 runners with a time of 18:21, besting his personal course record time of 19:06 by 45 seconds. "In his mile splits, he was pretty close from mile one to mile two, and then ran his fastest mile on his last one," Roach said. Sophomore Ijaa Cham- bers was 15th with a time of 19:27.5; sophomore Colt Armstrong placed 48th with a time of 22:03; first- year sophomore Trent Zim- merman placed 55th with a time of 22:20 ; and junior A.J. Hill placed 59th with a time of 22:33. In addition, junior Sam Theising placed 63rd with a time of 22:58, while first- year sophomore Noah Rus- sell placed 86th with a time of 26:47. "The boys faced some really tough competition," Roach said. "We are still working on getting a big pack finishing within sight of each other. We are a lit- tle spaced out right now but it will get better." "They were all pretty pleased to get a baseline of where they stand," Roach added. "They now have a great idea of where we need to improve." Jasper placed first with a team score of 43 points, fol- lowed by Castle (61 points), Forest Park (83), Heritage Hills (98) and Northeast Dubois (115). Tecumseh (183) was seventh. Crawford County and South Spencer also participated but did not have enough runners for a team score. "One of our big keys this year is to not start off too fast and slow down," Roach said. "We are really preaching the negative splits, mean- ing each mile into the race is faster than the last one. Today, we started out a lit- tle fast and everyone slowed down in the second mile. However, everyone ran their third mile faster than their second and some even ran their fastest mile in the third mile. I feel like we finished very strong. Once they hone in on what we are focusing on, times will start to jump." Roach noted that both the girls' and boys' teams are dealing with some minor in- juries. "(First-year senior) Mad- ison Peer rolled her ankle and had to stop her race two-thirds of the way in- to it," Roach said. "( Junior) Nate Woolery, (sophomore) Lane Potts and (first-year sophomore) Ethan Gorby all sat out the race with mi- nor injuries. We plan to just give them that day off and don't think they will miss much more." Pike Central, which com- peted in the Southridge Invi- tational on Tuesday, Aug. 21, will travel to North Knox for a dual meet on Tuesday, Aug. 28, before competing in the Alan Hopewell Invitational hosted by Gibson Southern on Thursday, Aug. 30. 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