The Press-Dispatch
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The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, October 3, 2018 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 By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net A penalty kick goal by junior Ethan Scott with 7:54 left in the second half snapped a scoreless tie as the Pike Central High School boys' soccer team ended its regular season with a 1-0 victory over visiting Forest Park on Saturday, Sept. 29. Scott's penalty kick was the result of a handball by a Rang- er defender inside the 18 -yard box after a shot by senior Aus- tin Holder ricocheted off Forest Park freshman goalie Dylan Weyer to Scott. "We knew what we were going to do after we scored – get real defensive, bring our numbers back and just try to play the ball up the sidelines," said Chargers head coach Jacob Western, whose team improved to 12-4 overall and 5 -2 in the Pocket Athletic Conference. "Scoring that late goal was huge." Pike Central had many opportunities to score – the Char- gers took 32 shots on goal for the game – but were stymied by Weyer, who recorded 15 saves. "Their keeper played a really good game, I thought," West- ern said. "He had some point-blank saves that we probably score most days." Meanwhile, Forest Park, which fell to 6 -9 -1 overall and 3- 4 in the PAC, took a total of 20 shots on goal. However, Pike Central junior goalie Noah Whann had 13 saves while record- ing the shutout. "They're a really good passing team," Western said of the Rangers. "They can pass the ball and they really made our defense move, and we weren't able to get the ball as much as we have in the last few games. So it was a little bit different of a game." Western said that he was particularly impressed with the play of senior Austin Dixson and juniors Gabe Caldwell, Car- son Johnson and Jersey Mills on defense. "All four of them back there were real good today," Western said. "They kept them in front most times and made them play the crosses in from outside the 18(-yard box)." "And then our six seniors were awesome," Western added, referring to Dixon, Holder, Christian Benson, Connor Gaines, Hayden Kabrick and Jacob Vest, who were recognized – along with their parents – during a pregame ceremony. "Connor Gaines gave us a great lift to start the game and he gave us a great little lift there the second half once we scored. And then our other five just played how they always play." Pike Central, ranked No. 13 in Class 2A, will take on sec- tional tournament host Gibson Southern in a semifinal match at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 3. During the regular season, the 12th-ranked Titans defeat- By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net Freshman Kaybree Oxley had a game-high 14 kills while senior Breanna Metzger added 12 more to lead Tecumseh to a 25 -10, 25 -14, 25 - 16 victory over host Pike Central in high school varsity volleyball action on Thursday, Sept. 27. With the win, the Lady Braves – ranked No. 3 in Class 1A – im- proved to 26 -2 overall and 8 -0 in the Pocket Athletic Conference to claim their eighth PAC title. "Tecumseh is a good team," said Pike Central head coach Brandi Chestnut, whose team fell to 11- 15 overall and 1-5 in the PAC. "You can always expect that they will come out hitting hard and not let- ting up. I thought our girls played well against them." In the first set, Tecumseh – lead- ing 6 -5 – scored seven straight points, including six following serves by senior Payde Lemen, to open up a 13-5 lead. A fter Pike Central scored to cut the deficit to 13-6, the Lady Braves scored six consecutive points, in- cluding five following serves by sophomore Lauren Brammeier, to extend their lead to 19 -6. The Lady Chargers scored back- to-back points – one on a kill by se- nior Taylor Lamey, the other fol- lowing a serve by senior Kylee Shoultz – to pull to within 19 -8 but Tecumseh would score the next three points to open up a 22-8 lead before closing out the set to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five match. A fter falling behind 7-2 in the second set, Pike Central rallied to score six straight points – including three on ace serves by senior Becca Crow and one on a kill by junior Au- drey Keepes – to take an 8 -7 lead. The Lady Braves subsequent- ly scored three straight points – one each on kills by Metzger, ju- nior Breah Bailey and junior Chloe Holder – to regain the lead at 10 -8 before Pike Central answered with a 3-0 run of its own to surge ahead 11-10. Following ties at 11-11 and 12-12, Tecumseh rattled off four straight points – two on kills by Oxley, one on a kill by Holder and one on an ace serve by Brammeier – to take a 16 -12 lead. Pike Central would score back- PCHS boys' tennis team ends season with 5-0 loss to No. 13 Jasper Bohnert places 78th in girls' golf state finals Tecumseh claims PAC volleyball title with win at Pike Central Gibson Southern rolls past Pike Central, 72-6 PENALTY KICK GOAL BOOSTS CHARGERS PAST FOREST PARK, 1-0 Pike Central High School senior Christian Benson (15) gets set to take a shot on goal as junior team- mate Ethan Scott (6) looks on during varsity boys' soccer action against visiting Forest Park on Saturday, Sept. 29. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School senior Kyle Wil- liams gets set to return the ball while play- ing No. 1 doubles against Jasper during the semifinals of the sectional tournament hosted by the Wildcats on Wednesday, Sept. 26. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School junior Audrey Keepes goes up to hit the ball over the net during varsity volleyball action against visiting Tecumseh on Thursday, Sept. 27. Ed Cahill photo By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net The Pike Central High School boys' tennis team saw a season chock full of challenges come to an end on Wednesday, Sept. 26, with the Char- gers' biggest challenge of them all – a match-up with host Jasper in the opening round of the sec- tional tournament. The Wildcats entered the match ranked No. 13 in the Indiana High School Tennis Coach- es Association's final regular season poll and played like it, winning 48 of the 49 sets played while breezing to a 5 -0 victory. "Jasper has a very good team and we knew that they would be tough to compete against," said Pike Central head coach Brent Beck, who be- gan the season with just four players. "I thought we played hard and did our best, but we still fell short." At No. 1 singles, Char- gers sophomore Ethan Huck lost to Wildcats se- nior Eli Franks 6 -0, 6 -0. At No. 2 singles, Char- gers junior Dalton Wil- liams lost to Wildcats senior Michael Kluem- per 6 -0, 6 -0. At No. 3 singles, Wild- cats freshman Max Ster- nberg won by forfeit. At No. 1 doubles, the Chargers' team of senior Kyle Williams and Quin- tin Sorgius lost to the Wildcats' team of Mitch Kluemper and sopho- more Bennett Schmitt 6 -0, 6 -0. At No. 2 doubles, the By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net Pike Central High School's Natalie Bohnert capped off a stellar senior season by becoming the school's first golfer – girl or boy – to participate in the IHSA A Girls' Golf State Finals on Friday, Sept. 28, and Satur- day, Sept. 29, at the Prairie View Golf Club in Carmel. Bohnert, the first Lady Charger golfer to win a sectional tournament, fired a 36 -hole total of 190 – or 46 over par – while placing 78th out of 100 competitors. Freshman quarterback Brady Allen threw for 191 yards and four touchdowns to lead Gibson Southern to a 72-6 victory over visiting Pike Central in high school football action on Friday, Sept. 28. Allen, who completed 11 of 14 pass attempts, also rushed twice for 11 yards and one touchdown as the Titans – one week following a 31-7 loss to Heritage Hills – improved to 5 -2 overall and 4-1 in the Pocket Ath- letic Conference. Senior wide receiver Dawson Witte caught five passes for 131 yards and three touchdowns, while ju- nior running back Mitchell Spindler carried the ball 13 times for 184 yards and two touchdowns. Pike Central, which slipped to 1-6 overall and 1-4 in the PAC with its 35th straight loss to Gibson WE ARE PROFFESIONAL GRADE uebelhorgm.com 1-800-937-8721 Jasper, IN PAID FOR BY THE COMMITTEE TO ELECT JOHNSON FOR SHERIFF, JEREMY BRITTON, TREASURER See TENNIS on 5 See PAC on 6 See BOHNERT on 2 See ROLL on 4 See GOAL on 4