The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/102523
B-1 Wednesday, January 9, 2013 E-Mail Sports Items to: sports@pressdispatch.net Sports Tidbits From the Mini Mac By Mike Johansen N ew Years Day started marvelously, though a bit on the lazy side, watching the Tournament of Roses Parade. The best channel to watch it on was the Hallmark Channel because they did not break away for commercials, they had announcements right in the coverage, but you did not miss anything for commercials. That was good for all but one thing (uh, maybe two), I had to go in and out of the TV room to get my breakfast. There were some great emotional moments. A mother and her young son were reunited with the husband-father as he was brought in to ride a float for his Army unit in the parade. The mom and son did not know he would be riding or that he was back in the U.S., they thought he was in Afghanistan. So it was a surprise and they got to ride with him on the beautiful float the rest of the five plus mile route. The other moment was by State Farm where they married a couple right on the float and right on the LA TV station that Hallmark used. They rode the rest of the way down the parade route for this special wedding. They won a contest to get the wedding. There were a lot of special moments. The joint American-Chinese band and all the other college bands and high school bands were among my favorites. There were also other international bands as well. There were a lot of great groups and good music. We got to heara number from most of the bands. Commentators Bob Eubanks and Stephanie Edwards did a good job. The floats were truly fantastic this year and very beautiful. They have to be natural and use roses and other flowers and natural things to create them. Many use volunteer labor to make them. There were also the old time classic cars carrying the dignitaries and Grand Marshal. Then there were the mounted units and the beautiful horses as well as dogs and many of the animals were part of many of the floats. There were also the vintage tractors among many other beautiful entries. I loved the "Cars" float with Mater providing the jump start for the big Disney float. I do not remember exactly which year (I think it was 1979), when my mother, Jeff, was living in Pasadena on her first travel agency job. She invited the family out for New Years and we all went and joined for the parade. We did not go to the game, but did see the stadium the day before the game. The big event was attending the Rose Parade. Not standing on the streets, but with good tickets on the top row of one of those bleachers you see along the route. All those seats are sold and we had tickets, thanks to mom and dad. The day and night before we rode around Pasadena and saw where the floats were being constructed as well as the Rose Bowl Stadium. You had to have special passes to get in to one of those spots. We did not go in. You can get tickets to see the floats being built for $10. We went out to dinner, early, and then rode around Colorado Boulevard before heading home. It was raining lightly, but people were already camping out to reserve their free space along the parade route. They stood several deep the next day and only those who were adventurous enough and brave enough, stayed out all night camping to get one of the prized up front spots along the parade route. We went to the bleachers, not far from mom's apartment, early on New Years Day to make sure we got our seats. Fortunately, as I remember, it was not cold and the sun came out for the parade. The 5.5 mile Rose Parade route begins at the corner of Green Street and Orange Grove Boulevard in Pasadena. The parade travels north on Orange Grove at a leisurely 2.5-mile per hour pace and then turns east onto Colorado Boulevard where the majority of the parade takes place. We were on Colorado Boulevard. It was marvelous to see this spectacle in person, a once in a lifetime event since I don't live in California and no family does now. The other great place I visited with mom was the Norton Simon museum and art gallery. The library features works from BritContinued on page 7 Charger boys win two in a row First weekend sweep in four hoop seasons By Mike Johansen The start of the new year and second half of the boys basketball season was a perfect one for Pike Central, but it could get tougher right away this weekend. The Chargers downed the Wood Memorial Trojans 58-53 on Friday night on the road and went on the road again Saturday night with Chris Downey getting a last second rebound and basket for a 52-50 victory over the Mitchell Bluejackets. The Chargers are 3-5 overall, but 0-2 in the Pocket Athletic Conference. They won only one game all of last season. The road gets tougher this weekend with a game Friday night at PAC rival Heritage Hills, standing at 5-4 overall and 2-0 in the PAC. The JV game is at 6:30 p.m. and the varsity at 8. The game times are the same Saturday night as the Chargers venture back into non-conference play against the always tough Jasper Wildcats (3-6) in Jasper at Cabby O'Neil Gym. The Chargers ventured to Oakland City Friday night to meet the Wood Memorial Trojans, the only team the Chargers beat last season, and never trailed in posting a 58-53 win. "We did a fantastic job offensively and defensively and made some free throws when we needed to," said Pike Central Head Coach John Mokris. "We did a great job the first half. We got a little complacent the third quarter and they cut our lead to three. We went back up 11 or 12, we did a good job responding to the challenge. We got in a little foul trouble with our big guys. We were not ready to play defense until we got six or seven minutes into the second half, but we responded and held them off. I am real happy with the kids and happy for them that they have won more games than last year. We are learning and we are getting better." Kegan Aldridge made the first basket for the Chargers and Tyler Garland followed up with the second and a free throw for a 5-1 lead. Another basket by Garland off a feed pass from Shaine Eck had the Chargers on top 7-1. After a Trojan basket Garland had another three point play for a 10-3 edge and an Kegan Aldridge slips inside to put up a short, shot for two points against the Trojans during the second win of the season Friday night. Dustin Meny is ready to rebound if the shot is missed. inside shot by Chris Downey off a of two free throws. Aldridge had followed by a turnover by Wood pass from Aldridge had the Char- a basket and Eck two more free Memorial and a two from Clargers on top 12-3. Garland and throws to give the Chargers a 30- idge. After another Trojan turnGarrett Elliott had baskets for the 17 lead at halftime. over Toopes nailed a three to put Chargers to push the lead to 16-7 The Trojans hit the first three the spread back to 11 points, 40at the end of the first period. baskets of the third period to cut 29. The Chargers had baskets by The Trojans hit the first shot of the lead to seven before Garland Dustin Meny and two free throws the second period, but the Char- hit a shot with 5:12 remaining. The by Toopes to end the third period gers responded with baskets from Trojans responded again with two on top 44-31 as both teams scored Eck (a three) and Tyler Toopes, three-point plays to cut the differ- 14 points in the third frame. in his first varsity game as a fresh- ence to three points, 32-29 with There was no scoring the first man. Aldridge made a shot off a five minutes to play. two minutes of the final quarter Garland pass for a 23-12 edge. The Chargers finally responded as PC missed three shots and the Eck added a basket and one with a three from Trevor Claridge Continued on Page B7 Charger wrestlers win Forest Park Tournament By Mike Johansen It was a perfect week for the Pike Central Wrestling team as they edged Vincennes Lincoln on Thursday and then won five more matches on Saturday to win the Forest Park Invitational. It was the first tournament victory for the Chargers in the last few seasons and the win by tie breaker against Vincennes Lincoln on Thursday made it a perfect week for the varsity. The Chargers have seven wins in a row. The freshmen participated in the Evansville Memorial Tournament with Cordale Kenley picking up second place and Eli Loveland winning first in their weight divisions. "It was nice to get some of our starters back on the mat this week and it really helped get us over the hump on our team scores. Because of the snow we were only able to get on the mat 2 times over the break but the kids really seemed to retain a lot of their knowledge and conditioning to really have a nice week of wrestling," said Coach Billy Hewig. "We started out wrestling a tough match against Vincinnes and dug out about as close as a match as possible. It was a tie and came down to the eighth criteria which was points gained by near fall. We still did not have four of our varsity wrestlers at that point but still got the win against a very physical Alice team. "This weekend we finally wrestled as a team and it paid off. We worked together and unselfishly and went five for five as a team and won the Forest Park tournament for the first time since the 20032004 season. We beat three conference opponents and avenged two early season losses against South Spencer and North Knox. I am proud of our kids for battling during the tournament and it really excites me about our future. Alex Roberts was our only undefeated wrestler. He dropped down a weight class this week and it really made a difference for him," added the coach. The Chargers started the week at Vincennes Lincoln on Thursday, a one day delay in the schedule, and came home with a 43-42 win because of the eighth criteria after a tie match at 42-42. PC forfeited at 152, 195 and 220. The results of the match (Pike Central wrestlers listed first) are: 103—Caleb Hawkins was pinned by Joel Paul; 113—Jaccie Cannon won by forfeit; 120—Cody Whitehead was pinned by Tristan Tromley; 126—Nick Baker won by forfeit; 132—Austin Bolin pinned Micky Boger, 1:20; 138—Devin The Pike Central wrestling team gathered with the championship trophy from the Forest Park Invitational on Saturday. They went 5-0 in the meet and Alex Roberts went 5-0 at 170 pounds. The Chargers have won seven meets in a row and had not won that tournament since the 2003-04 season. Phillips pinned Alex Warner, 2:18; 145—Colt Brittain was pinned by Alex Worland; 160—Mason Roberson pinned Billy Drake, :37; 170— Alex Roberts pinned Cameron Carver, 1:35; 182—Jacob Day was pinned by Jason Wheeler; Hwt.— Bryce Manning won by forfeit. The Chargers were at Forest Park High School Saturday for the annual Forest Park Invitational and won all five dual meets to win the championship. Alex Roberts finished 5-0 at 170 pounds for the best finish among the Chargers. They also had several wrestlers go 4-1 for the day including Nick Baker at 126; Austin Bolin at 132; Devin Phillips at 138 and Dalton Miller at heavyweight, his first meet after suffering a concussion in December. Finishing 3-0 was Jaccie Cannon at 112 and finishing 3-2 for the day were Gage Fiscus at 120; A.J. Ronk at 152; Mason Roberson at 160; and Jacob Day at 182. The Chargers opened the tournament beating the North Knox Warriors 45-33, a revenge win for an earlier loss. The individual match results were: 103—Hawkins won by forfeit; 113—Cannon won by forfeit; 120—Fiscus won by forfeit; 126—Baker pinned Max Groteguth, 3:06; 132—Bolin was dec. by Ben Auberry, 4-8; 138—Phillips pinned Jon Brown, 3:28; 145—Eli Loveland pinned Dylan Ellis, :28; 152—A.J. Ronk was pinned by Joey Thomas; 160—Roberson was pinned by Jake Thomas; 170— Roberts dec. Blade Weber, 5-2; 182—Day was pinned by Austin Miller; 195—Lane was pinned by Wyatt Held; Hwt.—Miller pinned Noah Miller, 4:42. The second match of the day was against the North Posey Vikings with the Chargers winning 51-25. The match results are: 106—Hawkins won by forfeit; Continued on Page B7