The Press-Dispatch
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The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, December 19, 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 PATOKA VALLEY OUTDOORS By Sam Whiteleather Looking out from the cab- in, the river looks like a rib- bon of crystal green running through a sea of white. The snow that fell the night be- fore sparkles from the ris- ing sun. "The sky will be blue this morning," I say to myself. Inside, the cabin is aglow with Christmas lights. The lights run across the wood- en mantle, over the stone fireplace, and up and around the beams of the open ceil- ing. In the wood stove, blue flames flicker over glowing red coals. Long wisps of steam hit my face as I take a sip of cof- fee, welcomed refreshment after an early rise from a warm bed. Under the tree, presents are piled in a heap, spilling out onto the floor. From the stereo, Nat King Cole softly sings Christmas songs. I remember the soft tone of his voice, from the days when my Dad was the coffee drinker waiting for wee-ones to wake on Christ- mas morning. The shuffling of feet reach- es my ears as Eva and Esther slowly make their way down the stairs from the loft. Al- though still half asleep and still in their Christmas paja- mas, their eyes light up when they see the tree. "Good morning girls, Merry Christ- mas," I say. They make no re- ply but look at each other and smile. Next up is Eli, who shuf- fles down the hall to join his sisters. Now they all three sit on the couch, eyes fixed on the tree. Last up is Rena. She has her Christmas pajamas on, too. "Merry Christmas," I tell her. "You ready for the kids to open the presents? " "Yes," she replied sleepily. "Let me get my camera first, though." Soon we give the kids the green light and wrapping paper begins to fly. The mo- ment they have been impa- tiently waiting for, losing sleep over and pestering Re- na and I about for weeks is fi- nally here. When the presents are all unwrapped and the kids are busy playing with new toys, I turn my attention to Christ- mas dinner, and, of course, in our house that means a main dish of wild game. Incorporating wild game into your Christmas dinner is a rewarding experience and adds an element of outdoor tradition to the holidays. Not only is wild game deli- cious, but because it's low in fat and rich in protein, it's al- so healthy. One of my favor- ite Christmas dishes is rab- bit with noodles. To start, I stew the rabbit for several hours until the meat falls from the bone. Then I pour off the broth, add a couple of chicken bouil- lon cubes and set the pot on the stove to boil. Once the broth boils, I add noodles (scratch noodles are best but dried store bought will work too) and cook until the noodles are done. Next, I add the meat back to the mix and put it on the stove to simmer. Rabbit and noodles are best paired with mashed po- tatoes. Rena is the mashed potatoes expert at our house, as my cooking skills start and end with meat. For a bread choice, I prefer Ger- man rye bread. I like to warm the bread on the wood stove until its warm enough for a slab of butter to melt and drizzle down the sides. The icing on the cake (for me anyway; Rena and the kids turn their nose up) is sauerkraut. For beverage pairing, I like a dry red wine or a stout glass of ale. Rabbit and noodles shared with three bright-eyed kids and a beautiful wife on Christmas day; it's about as good as it gets. Merry Christmas! By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net Pike Central High School senior Natalie Bohnert set yet another school record during a home meet against Evansville North on Wednes- day, Dec. 12. Natalie Bohnert – who has signed a national letter of intent to swim and play golf at South- west Minnesota State University – placed first in the 100 -yard breaststroke with a time of 1:14.30, breaking the previous school record of 1:16.50 set by Missy Barnes in 1984. Completing the first 50 yards with a time of 35.62 seconds, Natalie Bohnert swam the final 50 yards in 38.68 seconds to win the event by more than seven seconds ahead of Evansville North's Grace Talley, who placed second with a time of 1:21.86. "I figured she would probably be right there at it, and when she went out on a 35, I figured it was really a good possibility that she'd have it," said Pike Central head coach Mike Bohnert, Na- talie's father. "She'd been working pretty hard at it. She's been putting in 2,000 yards in the morn- ing and another 5,000 -plus in the evenings, so she'd really been putting in the yards." "We've put in a lot more yardage this year with the breaststroke, and just all around, and it just kind of came together," Natalie Bohnert said. "I felt pretty good throughout it all, but I really wasn't for sure, because, normally, whenever I feel really good during a race, it doesn't turn out very well. But once I saw the scoreboard, then it kind of all became real." Previously, Natalie Bohnert had swam the 100 -yard breaststroke only once in her high Julian Gish scored a game-high 15 points as the Pike Central Middle School seventh grade boys' basketball team dropped its first loss of the sea- son, a 42-23 decision to visiting Forest Park on Tuesday, Dec. 11. Quade Morton (6 points) and Chase Ridao (2 points) rounded out the scoring for the Chargers, who had won nine straight games to open the season. On Thursday, Dec. 13, Pike Central returned to its winning ways with a 46 -24 victory over vis- iting Owensville. Gish scored a game-high 18 points while Mor- ton tossed in 11 points. Zane Gehlhausen (9 points), Ethan Meadors (5 points) and Shane Woodhull (1 point) rounded out the scoring for the Chargers. By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net The Pike Central High School girls' basketball team slipped to 4-8 with its fifth straight loss, a 64-35 setback at North Knox on Saturday, Dec. 15. Senior guard Makinzi Maurer scored 28 points, grabbed nine rebounds, dished out three assists and had four steals – all game- high totals – to lead the La- dy Warriors, who improved to 10 -3. Maurer scored 11 of her points in the first quarter, in- cluding seven during a 12-0 scoring run following a lay- up by Pike Central junior Lauren Vaughn that gave the Lady Chargers a 2-0 lead with 7:47 left in the opening period. A fter one free throw by junior Jayln Nelson and two more by senior Hailey Marchino pulled Pike Cen- tral to within 12-5, North Knox scored five straight points – four by Maurer and one by senior forward/ guard Katie Kixmiller – to extend its lead to 17-5. A basket by junior Jen- na Horrall cut the Lady Warriors' lead to 17-7 at the end of the first quar- ter, but North Knox scored eight straight points – on a three-pointer by freshman guard Abigail McKinley, a three-point play by Maur- er and a basket by fresh- man guard Graycie Poe – to stretch its lead to 25 -7 with 3:43 left in the first half. A fter a three-pointer by Marchino cut the deficit to 25 -10, the Lady Warriors went on a 10 -0 scoring run to open up a 35 -10 lead. An exchange of free throws – two by Pike Cen- tral sophomore Mallory Christmas cooking, the wild way BOHNERT BREAKS SCHOOL RECORD IN 100-YARD BREASTSTROKE Pike Central High School senior Natalie Bohnert swims the breaststroke leg of the girls' 200-yard individual medley during a home swimming and diving meet against Evansville North on Wednesday, Dec. 12. Bohnert would later break the school record in the 100-yard breaststroke. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School sophomore Jenna Meyer swims the butterfly leg of the girls' 200-yard medley relay during a home swimming and diving meet against Evansville North on Wednesday, Dec. 12. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School sophomore Mallo- ry Hickey (left) dribbles toward the basket while being pursued by North Knox junior Ruthanne Nuckels (right) during varsity girls' high school basketball action on Saturday, Dec. 15. Hickey scored two points in the visiting Lady Chargers' 64-35 loss. Ed Cahill photo Left: Pike Central Middle School seventh grader Quade Morton (13) takes a shot at the goal during boys' basketball game ac- tion against visiting Forest Park on Tues- day, Dec. 11. Morton scored six points in a 42-23 loss to the Rangers. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central Middle School seventh grader Zane Gehlhausen (5) tries to drive past a Forest Park defender during boys' basketball game action on Tuesday, Dec. 11. Ed Cahill photo Chargers' wrestling team goes 1-8 in Evansville Harrison Invitational The Pike Central High School wrestling team won one of nine dual matches during the two- day Evansville Harrison Invitational on Friday, Dec. 14, and Saturday, Dec. 15. The Chargers lost to Evansville Reitz 78 -6, lost to Boonville 70 -12, lost to Southridge 70 -9, lost to Evansville Harrison 34- 30, lost to Evansville Me- morial 60 -16, lost to Vin- cennes Lincoln 31-30, lost to Union County (Ky.) 78 - 0, and lost to Evansville North 51-24, while defeat- ing South Spencer 44-36. "It was a long, long weekend," Pike Central head coach Ryan Mc- Cain said. "We had some bright spots and wrestled some really tough teams. We may not have had a lot of success, but, over- all, we came out tougher and better." Leading the Char- gers was freshman Wy- att Frasure, who won six of eight bouts. At 160 pounds, Frasure went 6 - 2 with three wins by pin, one win by major deci- sion and two wins by for- feit. Frasure also went 0 - 1 at 152 pounds. Sophomore Isaiah Greer, wrestling at 113 pounds, went 5 -4 with two wins by pin and three wins by forfeit. Junior Brandon Goep- pner won four of eight bouts. At 152 pounds, Goeppner went 3-4 with one win by decision and two wins by forfeit. Goep- pner also went 1-0 at 145 pounds with one win by forfeit. Sophomore Lane Miller, wrestling at 126 pounds, went 4-5 with three wins by pin and one win by forfeit. Junior Ian Allen won four of nine bouts. At 170 pounds, Allen went 4-4 with one win by pin and three wins by forfeit. Al- len also went 0 -1 at 182 pounds. Junior Blake Henson, wrestling at 138 pounds, went 2-7 with two wins PCMS 7th grade Chargers drop 42-23 loss to Forest Park Lady Chargers fall to 4-8 with 64-35 loss at North Knox See BOHNERT on 2 See FALL on 3 See CHARGERS on 5 See LOSS on 2