The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1054616
D-4 Winter Sports Preview Wednesday, November 21, 2018 The Press-Dispatch Pictured above is the 2018-19 Pike Central High School girls' varsity basketball team. They are, first row, left to right: Kenzie Powell, Gracie Jones, Becca Crow, Kenzie Dunn, Emily Carnahan, Hailey Marchino, Hannah Carnahan, Allesha Sisk, Kelsey Barrett, Mallory Hickey and Kailee Mann. Second row: Assis- tant Coach Trent Whitehead, Hailey Parker, Jenna Horrall, Jayln Nelson, Lauren Vaughn, Erika Vinnedge, Mallory Hunt, Kya Leighty, Sophie Carnahan, Head Coach Kyle McCutchan and Assistant Coach Aubree Block. Ed Cahill photo Lady Chargers looking to post winning record in 2018-19 See RECORD on page 5 "I think we can be, record-wise, even better than we were last year. We can really shoot the ball. Last year, we faced a lot of teams that looked to take Erika away. This year, coming in, we don't have that one kid that other teams are going to focus on, per se. As long as we're unselfish, I think we can be better offensively because we can shoot the ball with many more kids." -Head Coach Kyle McCutchan " In any sport, Four Star Fabricators encourages all Pike Central athletes to work hard, play tough and win in life. Good Luck This season! Serving the Aluminum, Coal and Power Industries with Quality Steel Fabrication Phone: 812-354-9995 Fax: 812-354-3809 Four Star Fabricators P.O. Box 67, Petersburg, IN 47567 www.fourstarfab.com By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports sports@pressdispatch.net The Pike Central High School girls' basketball team lost seven seniors from last year's team that went 11-11 overall – the Lady Char- gers' first .500 or better won-loss record since 2008 -2009, when they also went 11-11 – under first-year head coach Kyle McCutchan. Among those who graduated in May was Erika Hendrixson, who was named to the Pocket Athlet- ic Conference's All-Conference Team for the second straight sea- son after averaging 15.0 points, 7.1 rebounds and 2.6 steals during 20 regular season games. Hendrixson, who verbally com- mitted last November to Maryville University in St. Louis, Mo., ended her four-year high school career with 1,142 career points. Also graduating were Demi Croak and Brook Nalley – both of whom received All-PAC honorable mention – along with Jalah Barnes, Natalie Burkhart, Halley Powers and Audra Stone. "The seniors were a good group," McCutchan said. "That's part of it. They come and go after four years. We're going to miss them. But I like the group we've got returning." "I think we can be, record-wise, even better than we were last year," McCutchan continued. "We can re- ally shoot the ball. Last year, we faced a lot of teams that looked to take Erika away. This year, coming in, we don't have that one kid that other teams are going to focus on, per se. As long as we're unselfish, I think we can be better offensive- ly because we can shoot the ball with many more kids." Last year's team averaged 45.4 points per game while allowing just 40.0 points per game, the La- dy Chargers' largest differential – +5.4 points per game – since the 2006 -07 season, when Pike Cen- tral scored an average of 9.9 points more than their opponents. "That's the lowest defensive av- erage for at least 20 years," Mc- Cutchan said. "That was our call- ing card. That's what I was most proud of. We didn't play a true up- and-down style. We slowed the games down some but, defensive- ly, we mixed it up." "We're putting in some different stuff this year, offensively, but last year was the first one, I think, in nine or 10 years that we averaged more points than the other team did," McCutchan added. "We did a lot of good things last year. Hope- fully, we can continue to improve upon that." This year's team features seven seniors, only two of whom – Bec- ca Crow and Hailey Marchino – saw extensive playing time during varsity games last season while a third senior, Emily Carnahan, split time between varsity and jayvee as a junior. Also returning from last year's varsity squad are juniors Jayln Nel- son and Lauren Vaughn. New to the Lady Chargers' var- sity team this season are seniors Kelsey Barrett, Hannah Carnahan (Emily's twin sister), Kenzie Dunn and Allesha Sisk, junior Jenna Hor- rall, sophomores Mallory Hickey and Kenzie Powell and freshman Mallory Hunt. Hunt and Powell will also see action on the junior varsity along with sophomores Gracie Jones and Kailee Mann and freshmen Sophie Carnahan, Kya Leighty, Hailey Parker and Erika Vinnedge. "We lost a lot of production, but I think that we'll be fine returning it, as long as kids continue to step up and adjust to their roles," Mc- Cutchan said. "Most of these kids last year weren't looked upon to be the leading scorer. If we can ad- just to being more of the main fo- cal point of the offense, and play- ing more minutes, we're going to be just fine." "I think we've got some talent," McCutchan said. "We're not go- ing to be a real big team, but we've got some good athletes. We've got some shooting. As long as we work on it and block out and do the sim- ple fundamental things, I think we're going to be alright." McCutchan provided a player- by-player breakdown for both the varsity and junior varsity: SENIORS Kelsey Barrett "Kelsey's a phenomenal kid," McCutchan said. "She's always positive. Kids love to be around her, and she's a pleasure to coach. She's not as tall, maybe not as skilled, as some of the other kids, but she's going to give you all she's got. Those are the kind of kids you love to be around." Emily and Hannah Carnahan "Emily dressed on the varsi- ty all year last year," McCutchan said. "Emily's more of a guard. Hannah's more of a forward type, a bigger, stronger kid, and she's going to bang. But Emily's had a very good start. She's shot the ball well. That's one of the things we've wanted her to continue to work at and she's shot the ball well and practiced well." "They're both going to give you everything they've got," Mc- Cutchan continued. "They're just going to be steady. You know what you're going to get out of them. They are two great kids and we're going to need them this year to play for us." Becca Crow "She's been on varsity since her sophomore year," McCutchan said. "She's a good player who can shoot and handle the ball well. She's quick. Once we get her to slow down and just make the sim- ple plays, she's going to be real- ly good. We're looking forward to having a big year out of Becca. She's one of our seniors who has plenty of varsity experience, so we're going to rely upon her to do some good things for us." Kenzie Dunn "She's a hard worker who's go- ing to battle for you every single day," McCutchan said of Dunn, who has undergone surgery to repair torn ACLs in both knees (once at the start of her eighth grade season and the other at the end of her freshman season). "She plays real aggressive, real- ly hard. She's a tough kid. You wouldn't know she's torn both her ACLs the way she's diving on the floor and everything else. Your heart goes out to kids who go through those kind of injuries, because those are significant in- juries. But the way she plays, you wouldn't know she's ever done it. She's got more floor burns than anybody." Hailey Marchino "Like Becca, she's got expe- rience and she can shoot," Mc- Cutchan said. "Hailey's a strong kid. We're going to count on her to rebound and hit open shots for us, and bang for us, whether we're in man-to-man or playing zone. We need her to utilize her size and strength. She's as good a shoot- er as we've got from all over the floor. As long as she stays confi- dent, she's a good player. We're going to be counting on her this year." Allesha Sisk "She missed last year," Mc- Cutchan said. "She loves basket- ball. A hard-working kid, she's scrappy, kind of like Kenzie Dunn. They play hard. The ball's on the floor, they're going to dive on it. You love kids like that who really give everything they've got. She's a kid who's going to battle for you every day and make you better in practice everyday, and she's going to make us better in the games when she's out there because she's going to rebound." JUNIORS Jenna Horrall "She's a good basketball play- er," McCutchen said of Horrall, who missed last year after tear- ing an ACL during soccer season that required surgery. "She's a good goalie, but I think she's got the potential to be a really good basketball player, too. She's got the mentality that you want – very coachable, can do a little bit of ev- erything. Once she gets total con- fidence in her knee, I think she'll play her best basketball in Janu- ary, which is when we want, as a team, to play our best basketball. She's a hard worker. She's going to do what you tell her." Jayln Nelson "She's as physically talented as any kid that's been at Pike Cen- tral since I've been around," Mc- Cutchan said. "Erika was six-foot tall. Jayln's not that, but she's so strong, she's so athletic. I'm ex- pecting a break-out year from her. I'm looking for her to take that next jump. She'll make plays ath- letically that you high-level high school boys do. She's an impres- sive athlete and, hopefully, she puts it all together and has a fan- tastic year." Lauren Vaughn "She started just about ev- ery game for us last year," Mc- Cutchan said. "She'll help handle the ball for us a lot. Her shot has improved. Last year, I put her at the top of our half-court trap. She does a good job anticipating. She's long and athletic. She had some huge shots in our win over Wash- ington in the sectional. I think she hit four three's and it seemed like they were all when we need- ed them. Her confidence, you can tell, is just sky high right now, so I'm looking forward to seeing how she plays this year. I think she's going to have a big year for us." SOPHOMORES Gracie Jones & Kailee Mann "Gracie Jones is a kid, from the first time I saw her in eighth grade to when I see her now, who has improved a ton, and I'll even group Kailee Mann with her," Mc- Cutchan said. "They are two kids who weren't very strong ball han- dlers but both can now bring the ball up the floor if they have to. Those two have come a long way. They're workers. They work hard and they take coaching." Mallory Hickey "She's a gamer," McCutchan said. "She's not the most athletic kid, but she's tough, she's skilled, and she's really improved her shot. She puts a lot of extra time. She's tough mentally and physically. I can get onto her and it doesn't af- fect her at all. She's going to make mistakes – everybody does – but she's going to battle for you and give you what she's got." Kenzie Powell "We don't have a ton of jayvee kids, so she's going to split a little bit," McCutchan said. "But she's played really well. She can really shoot it. She handles the ball. She's going to be asked to be the leader on the jayvee for the few quarters she plays and then she's going to come right up and hopefully knock some shots down for us on the var- sity. I'd say she's one of our top five shooters on the team, and her con- fidence is showing." 804 E. ILLINOIS ST, PETERSBURG Located across from Amber Manor Care Center HOURS Wednesday, Thursday, Sunday: 11am-9pm Friday & Saturday: 11am-10pm Great PIZZA Famous BBQ PARTY AND BANQUET ROOM NOW AVAILABLE DINE IN • CARRY OUT • CATERING 812-354-2277 VARSITY BASKETBALL GIRLS'