The Press-Dispatch
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D-6 Winter Sports Preview Wednesday, November 21, 2018 The Press-Dispatch Pictured above is the 2018-19 Pike Central High School boys' varsity basketball team. They are, first row, left to right: Christian Benson, Joey Church, Hayden Kabrick, Draven Huff and Judah Leathco. Second row: Noah Whann, Ethan Scott, Mario Fields, Colin Craig, Ethan Gorby and Jaden Guth. Not pic- tured: Austin Holder. Ed Cahill photo Chargers have big shoes to fill for 2018-19 season See SHOES on page 7 It was definitely a senior-dominated group last year. I think a lot of these young kids, and this group of seniors, all the way up, have proba- bly been overshadowed a little bit by the kids ahead of them. But they've won at every level they've been at. They've had very successful jay- vee seasons every year. They've done a lot of good things." -Coach Hunter Elliott " Lana R. Hel ms, DDS , MSD, PC Making and sharing SMILES! Be a Winner! Stay in school, study hard and prepare for a great future. Board-Certified in Orthodontics for children, adolescents and adults Appointments Monday-Thursday 812-254-4500 2116 State Street, Washington www.lanahelms.com GOOD LUCK Chargers! Locally Owned and Operated Dr. Clint Shoultz 715 S. 9th Street, Petersburg • (812) 354-9400 Mon. 8am-7pm, Tues. 8am-noon, Wed. 10am-7pm, Thurs-Fri. 8am-5pm call for an appointment or come in and check out our selection. By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports sports@pressdispatch.net A fter losing seven seniors to graduation from last year's squad, the Pike Central High School boys' basketball team will take the floor for the first time on Wednesday, Nov. 21, against visiting North- east Dubois with only one player who saw action in more than sev- en varsity games during the 2017- 18 season. Those seven seniors – Bryant Nalley (432 points), Breyton Book- er (260 points), Cameron Henson (152 points), Tyler Tormohlen (109 points), Kyson Western (79 points), Kaleb Claridge (65 points) and Nick Hillyard (12 points) – accounted for 1,109, or almost 95 percent, of the 1,170 total points scored during the 2017-18 cam- paign by the Chargers, who went 11-12 under first-year head coach Hunter Elliott. Nalley, who was named to the Pocket Athletic Conference's All- Conference Team for the season straight season, ended his high school career with 1,260 points – ranking him second in school his- tory. "We looked it up, and we've graduated the second-, third- and fourth-leading scorers in the last two years," said Elliott, referring to his younger brother, Gabe, and Colton White, who ended their high school careers in 2017 with 1,139 points and 957 points, re- spectively. "So we've lost a lot of scoring there, and a lot of talent." This year's 12-man varsity ros- ter features six seniors – Christian Benson, Joey Church, Austin Hold- er, Draven Huff, Hayden Kabrick and Judah Leathco – along with juniors Colin Craig, Mario Fields, Ethan Scott and Noah Whann and sophomores Ethan Gorby and Jaden Guth. Benson saw action in 21 varsity games last season –scoring a total of 44 points, or 2.1 points per game – while Holder, Kabrick and Leath- co each appeared in seven varsity contests and Fields saw action in four contests. "It was definitely a senior-domi- nated group last year," Elliott said. "I think a lot of these young kids, and this group of seniors, all the way up, have probably been over- shadowed a little bit by the kids ahead of them. But they've won at every level they've been at. They've had very successful jay- vee seasons every year. They've done a lot of good things." "There's definitely some big shoes to fill," Elliott added. "We might not have the individual tal- ent maybe of some of those kids in the past, but I think this group, col- lectively, as a whole, can fill those shoes." That task, however, may be a "tall" order (pun intended) with only six varsity players' heights listed on the team's roster as 6 -foot or higher, with Craig the Char- gers' tallest player at 6 -foot-2. (On the junior varsity roster, ju- nior Coleman Henson is listed at 6 -foot-6 while two other players – sophomore Connor Young and freshman Alex Clark – are listed at 6 -foot.) Last year's team, converse- ly, had three players who stood 6 -foot-2 or taller – Nalley and Cam- eron Henson, both at 6 -foot-5, and Booker at 6 -foot-2. "We're a little bit smaller but we are faster, very quick, very athlet- ic," Elliott said. "We do lack a lit- tle bit of size but I think the effort and the intensity that we're going to play with will kind of make up for that." Elliott said that Pike Central – especially against teams that have a height advantage – will play a lot of man-to-man defense. "We will be putting a lot of pres- sure on the ball," Elliott said. "As a whole, we can guard the ball real- ly well, but I think Holder, Benson and Scott can really pressure the ball individually and still be able to press and kind of play at the pace that we want to play at." Offensively, the Chargers plan to mix it up, Elliott said. "We're going to push really fast and, at times, be able to spread the floor and make them come out and guard us," Elliott said. "So where we lack size as far as matching up with their bigs, well, that means their bigs also have to come out and guard our guards. So there's advantages to it as well." "We have a lot of people that can do a lot of different things," Elliott added. "We're going to have four guards on the court a lot of times. But at the pace we're going to try to play at and the defensive inten- sity that we're going to bring, we'll have to use more than five or six guys. We're going to be playing a little bit deeper bench and keep- ing people fresh and in and out." Elliott provided a player-by- player breakdown for the varsity: SENIORS Christian Benson "He's going to be one of our guys," Elliott said of Benson, a 5 -foot-11 guard. "He's very confi- dent, shoots the ball really well, handles the ball, can attack. He can do a little bit of everything. We're going to ask a lot out of him, but I think he can definitely live up to that. He's got some expe- rience. He didn't score a lot last year – it wasn't really required of him – but he's played at that lev- el. He's seen it, so I think he'll do just fine." Joey Church "He played in middle school," Elliott said of Church, a 6 -foot for- ward. "He's got some skills. He's got some size. He's a very good athlete. But, you know, there's go- ing to be a learning curve there as far as he's not played for a while. But he's one that, I think, will come along as the season goes and really be able to help us out." Austin Holder He's got a little bit of varsi- ty experience," Elliott said of Holder, a 6 -foot guard. "He's one of the quickest players, de- fensively, that I think we've ever had here. He's really worked on some things. It's just getting ad- justed that varsity level, that var- sity speed. He's going to come in and be one of our primary ball handlers and be asked to guard the other team's best player a lot of nights." Draven Huff "He's one of those guys that you just love to have around," Elliott said of Huff, a 5 -foot-11 guard. "He's such a hard worker, such a good kid, and I've been really impressed this year as far as the improvements he's made. The work ethic was always there, but it's just kind of the knowledge and not over-doing it sometimes. He kind of gets himself in bad situa- tions because he's trying to work a little too hard. But he's done well this year, and I think he can really come in and give us a de- fensive presence that we need." Hayden Kabrick "He's one that, basketball knowledge-wise, might be one of the best we've had in years as far as passing and seeing the game," Elliott said of Kabrick, a 5 -foot-10 guard. "And he can score. It's just the mental as- pect we've worked with him on. He kind of gets down on himself and frustrated at times, but the ball's going to be in his hands a lot. We have a lot of confidence in him and I know he can make some big plays for us." Judah Leathco Judah is one who can really shoot the ball," Elliott said Leath- co, a 5 -foot-11 guard/forward. "We're going to ask him to be one of our shooters this year. We're really going to have to shoot the ball well from the outside, and I think we have a lot of kids that are capable of doing so. Judah is pretty fundamentally sound. He's a very good leader. He does a lot of the little things that go un- noticed a lot of times. He's real- ly worked on his shot and his of- fensive ability. We need him to step it up on the defensive end at times, but he's definitely go- ing to be one of our sharpshoot- ers out there." JUNIORS Colin Craig "He's one that's going to help us on the inside," Elliott said of Craig, a 6 -foot-2 center. "He'll split time, play a little bit of both (varsity and junior varsity), so he can get as ma- ny minutes as possible. But he's definitely a great rebounder, kind of the prototypical big man as far as he wants to play with his back to the basket and stuff. But he is def- initely one who I think can really help us out this year on the inside." Mario Fields "Mario's one of our bigger ones," Elliott said of Fields, a 6 -foot-1 for- ward. "He's been great. Coming out of football, he's a very strong and physical kid. He's really very skilled and very smart, basket- ball-wise. It's just getting him in- to basketball shape here a little bit. We're still kind of working on that. He's one that's really worked on his shot as well, to be able to catch and shoot the three, and do a little bit of everything for us. But he's definitely going to be our an- chor inside." Ethan Scott "Ethan is so talented," Elliott said of Scott, a 6 -foot forward. "He's not even scratched the sur- face of how good that he can be. He can shoot it. He's very athletic. He handles it well and attacks well. He's such a competitor. I'm trying to get him to pay attention to all the small details and slow himself down a little bit, but he's going to be counted on to score. I think he's going to surprise a lot of people be- cause, I mean, a lot of people really don't know who he is, and they're going to find out who he is pret- ty quickly." Noah Whann "I kind of call him our fixter," Elliott said of Whann, a 5 -foot-11 forward who will also likely see action on the junior varsity. "He kind of plugs a lot of holes. He can play a lot of different positions. He can play a little bigger than he is. He can come out on the floor a lit- tle bit. He is probably the best nat- ural leader that we've had in the program since (Tyler) Toopes. He communicates really well and just does all the little things that a coach wants to see. I think, as a role player, he's just going to real- ly excel. He'll do a lot of things for us this year." VARSITY BASKETBALL BOYS'