The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1061312
The Press-Dispatch Sports Wednesday, December 12, 2018 B- 3 second quarter and got our- selves back in the game." Southridge scored the first four points of the sec- ond half – on baskets by Steckler and Montgomery – to extend its lead to 22-12 with 6:48 left in the third pe- riod. The Lady Raiders would stretch their lead to as many as 11 points – at 28 -17 – be- fore senior Hailey Marchino hit three of four free throw attempts to pull Pike Central to within 28 -20 with just un- der two minutes remaining in the third quarter. An exchange of free throws – one by Steckler for Southridge and one by senior Allesha Sisk for Pike Central – left the Lady Raid- ers holding a 29 -21 lead with 1:17 left in the third period. Southridge then scored four straight points – on a free throw by junior forward Grace Sickbert with 29 sec- onds remaining in the third quarter and a three-pointer by Montgomery with 7:39 left in the fourth period – to extend its lead to 33-21. Pike Central would bat- tle back, however, scoring nine straight points – five by Vaughn and four by Hickey – as the Lady Chargers closed to within 33-30 with 4:12 re- maining in regulation. A fter a free throw by Steckler gave the Lady Raiders a 34-30 lead, Pike Central scored five straight points – on baskets by Marchino and Hickey and a free throw by junior Jayln Nelson – to surge ahead 35 -34 with 2:53 left in the fourth period. Southridge senior guard Mady Neukam would hit one of two free throw attempts to tie the score at 35 -35 before a basket by Vaughn – off of an assist by Hickey – gave the Lady Chargers a 37-35 lead with 2:22 remaining in the fourth quarter. The Lady Raiders subse- quently scored four straight points – on two free throws by Montgomery and two by Neukam – to regain the lead, at 39 -37, with 1:16 left before a three-pointer by Marchino – off of an assist by Crow – propelled Pike Central to a 40 -39 advantage with 50 sec- onds remaining. Montgomery then hit a three-pointer to give South- ridge a 42-40 lead. A fter a missed three-pointer by Marchino was rebounded by Steckler, Neukam was fouled with 16 seconds re - maining. Steckler, however, missed both ends of the double bo- nus. Hickey, fouled in the act of shooting with five seconds left, hit her first free throw – cutting Southridge's lead to 42-41 – but missed the sec- ond one. However, Nelson grabbed the offensive rebound and put up a shot, which missed, but Hickey was able to grab another offensive rebound and was fouled again while trying to shoot with 1.8 sec- onds remaining. Hickey then hit her first free throw attempt, tying the score at 42-42. A fter Southridge called a timeout, Hickey's second free throw was off the mark, sending the game into overtime. A three-point play by Montgomery gave the Lady Raiders a 45 -42 lead early in the four-minute overtime pe- riod, but Pike Central pulled even when Vaughn hit a three-pointer – her fourth of the game – with 3:22 left. However, Southridge would score five straight points – on a pair of free throws and a three-point play by Montgomery – to take a 50 -45 lead with 51.5 seconds remaining. The Lady Chargers would close to within three points twice – at 50 -47 and 52-49 – before Montgomery hit two free throws to give the La- dy Raiders a 54-49 lead with 12.8 seconds left. Crow, fouled with 6.7 sec- onds remaining, hit the sec- ond of two free throw at- tempts to close out the scor- ing. "The first quarter beat us tonight," said McCutchan, whose team slipped to 4-5 overall and 0 -3 in the Pocket Athletic Conference. "When you fall behind 13, it's tough. You've dug yourself a hole." Montgomery, after scor- ing 11 of Southridge's first 13 points, netted 10 of the Lady Raiders' 14 points in the overtime period. "She pulled them through," McCutchan said. "I don't want to say 'single- handedly,' because nobody does that, but she stepped up in crunch time and put us away, really. Hats off to her." Vaughn led Pike Central with 19 points while Hick- ey and Marchino added 12 points each. Hickey, Marchi- no and Vaughn had four steals each. Hickey also grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds and dished out a game-high four assists. "She made some big plays," McCutchan said of Hickey. "She's a gamer. And if you have to send a kid to the line, I'd want to send Mallory. She's a tough kid." "She's upset that she didn't make the one to win, but that's okay," McCutchan added. "She played hard, and she put us in position to get a chance to win. She's taking it hard right now, but she did a lot of good things tonight, and I'm awfully proud of her." For the game, Pike Cen- tral made 13 of 50 field goal attempts – a 26.0 percent av- erage – and hit 19 of 31 tries from the free throw line while turning the ball over 18 times. Neukam scored nine points while grabbing a game-high 12 rebounds for Southridge, which improved to 3-7 overall and 3-1 in the PAC. Neukam also had a team-high four steals. Steckler added six points while dishing about a team- high three assists. For the game, Southridge made 16 of 32 field goal at- tempts – a 50.0 percent av- erage – and hit 18 of 27 tries from the free throw line while turning the ball over 30 times, including 20 in the second half and overtime. "I told them after Mon- day's loss (a 55 -37 setback at South Spencer after trail- ing 27-26 at halftime) it was a very disappointing loss," McCutchan said. "I just thought that we just kind of quit. Tonight, it was the reverse. We got down early and they just kept battling. I told them I love coaching that team, because they were really getting after it. They were scrapping, get- ting on the floor, and that's just stuff that you love to watch, you love to coach. They really competed." "It stinks to lose, but I can't be more proud of a group for what they gave, and we had every oppor- tunity to win," McCutchan added. "So I'm awful proud of their effort." In the junior varsity con- test, freshman Mallory Hunt scored a game-high 17 points as Pike Central defeated Southridge 39 -11. Sophomore Gracie Jones added nine points while sophomore Kailee Mann netted six points. Freshman Emma Marley paced the La- dy Raiders with six points. OVERTIME Continued from page 1 SPORTS BRIEFS Red Ryder BB gun shoot set for Dec. 15 A Red Ryder BB Gun Shoot, sponsored by the Sons of the American Le- gion, will be held on Satur- day, Dec. 15, starting at 1 p.m., at American Legion Post 256 in Oakland City. The shoot – which will be held indoors – features meat rounds, a youth BB gun giveaway round and a $50 round (if all posts are filled). The entry fee is $2 per round. All ages are wel- come – adult and youth. No pellet or better qual- ity guns will be permitted. Loaner guns will be avail- able for use. Admission is free for spectators. Concessions will be provided on site by the Ladies Auxiliary. HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS' BASKETBALL Pocket Athletic Conference Standings PAC Overall Team W-L W-L Tecumseh ........................................ 3-0 .......... 10 -0 Gibson Southern ..............................1-0 ............ 6 -3 Southridge ........................................3-1 ............ 3-8 Tell City .............................................2-2 ............ 7-5 Forest Park .......................................2-3 ............ 3-6 South Spencer .................................. 1-1 ............ 5 -5 Heritage Hills ...................................1-2 ............ 7-3 North Posey .....................................0 -1 ............ 1-8 Pike Central .................................... 0 -3 ............ 4-6 Results of December 4 Evansville Memorial 64, Gibson Southern 51 Jasper 63, Heritage Hills 49 Southridge 59, North Posey 43 Tecumseh 64, Forest Park 54 Results of December 6 Southridge 54, Pike Central 50 (OT) Gibson Southern 65, Mount Vernon (Posey) 26 Heritage Hills 45, Forest Park 36 Tecumseh 71, Perry Central 52 Tell City 49, Northeast Dubois 34 Washington 60, North Posey 18 Wood Memorial 45, South Spencer 42 Result of December 8 Evansville Bosse 53, Pike Central 42 Results of December 10 Evansville Bosse 53, Southridge 51 Evansville Reitz 67, North Posey 38 South Spencer 63, Daviess County (Ky.) 60 (OT) Games of December 11 Evansville Central at Forest Park Gibson Southern at South Spencer Games of December 13 Gibson Southern at Pike Central: Junior Varsity, 6:30 p.m.; Varsity, 8 p.m. Forest Park at Paoli Heritage Hills at Southridge North Posey vs. Evansville Mater Dei at Evansville Bosse Tell City at Tecumseh Games of December 15 Pike Central at North Knox: Junior Varsity, 10 a.m.; Varsity, 11:30 a.m. Heritage Hills, South Spencer and Tell City in Per- ry-Spencer Tournament North Posey at Evansville Bosse Game of December 17 Tecumseh at South Knox Games of December 18 Pike Central at Jasper: Junior Varsity, 6 p.m.; Var- sity, 7:30 a.m. Crawford County at Forest Park Toyota Teamwork Classic Mount Carmel (Ill.) at Gibson Southern Game of December 19 South Spencer at Cannelton Games of December 20 Northeast Dubois at Forest Park Tecumseh at Loogootee Tell City at Lanesville Toyota Teamwork Classic Mount Vernon (Posey) at North Posey Games of December 21 Toyota Teamwork Classic North Posey at Wood Memorial Princeton at Gibson Southern Games of December 22 Gibson Southern and North Posey in Toyota Team- work Classic Pike Central High School sophomore Mallory Hickey (31) has her shot blocked by Southridge freshman Myah Montgomery (23) as Lady Raiders senior Mady Neukam (15) looks on during varsity girls' high school basketball action on Thursday, Dec. 8. Hickey scored 12 points in the host La- dy Chargers' 54-50 overtime loss. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School junior Jayln Nel- son tries to dribble past a Southridge defender during varsity girls' high school basketball action on Thursday, Dec. 8. Nelson scored three points in the host Lady Chargers' 54-50 overtime loss. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School senior Hailey Marchi- no (24) goes up for a shot as Southridge fresh- man Myah Montgomery (23) defends during var- sity girls' high school basketball action on Thurs- day, Dec. 8. Marchino scored 12 points in the host Lady Chargers' 54-50 overtime loss. Ed Ca- hill photo Pike Central High School sophomore Gracie Jones (35) drives toward the basket during ju- nior varsity girls' high school basketball action against visiting Southridge on Thursday, Dec. 8. Jones scored nine points in the Lady Chargers' 39-11 victory. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School sophomore Kailee Mann (with ball) goes up for a shot during ju- nior varsity girls' high school basketball action against visiting Southridge on Thursday, Dec. 8. Mann scored six points in the Lady Chargers' 39- 11 victory. Ed Cahill photo