The Press-Dispatch
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The Press-Dispatch Sports Wednesday, December 19, 2018 B- 3 FALL Continued from page 1 HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS' BASKETBALL Pocket Athletic Conference Standings PAC Overall Team W-L W-L Tecumseh ........................................ 4-0 ...........11-1 Gibson Southern ............................. 3-0 ............ 8 -3 Southridge ........................................3-2 ............ 3-9 Heritage Hills ...................................2-2 .......... 10 -3 Tell City .............................................2-3 ............ 8 -7 Forest Park .......................................2-3 ............ 5 -6 South Spencer ..................................1-2 ............ 6 -7 North Posey .....................................0 -1 ...........1-10 Pike Central .................................... 0 -4 ............ 4-8 Results of December 11 Forest Park 61, Evansville Central 48 Gibson Southern 70, South Spencer 50 Results of December 13 Gibson Southern 84, Pike Central 39 Evansville Mater Dei 79, North Posey 33 Forest Park 46, Paoli 39 Heritage Hills 52, Southridge 32 Tecumseh 44, Tell City 27 Results of December 15 North Knox 64, Pike Central 35 Evansville Bosse 83, North Posey 41 Perry-Spencer Tournament Heritage Hills 47, South Spencer 41 Tell City 62, Perry Central 29 South Spencer 60, Perry Central 38 Heritage Hills 47, Tell City 28 Result of December 17 South Knox 47, Tecumseh 31 Games of December 18 Pike Central at Jasper 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 Game of December 27 Washington at Heritage Hills Games of December 28 Toby Yoho Classic at Eastern Greene Forest Park vs. Brownstown Central Forest Park vs. Cloverdale Games of December 29 South Spencer at Hancock County (Ky.) Southridge at Washington Forest Park in Toby Yoho Classic at Eastern Greene Hickey, two by Maurer – left North Knox holding a 37-12 halftime lead. During the first half, the Lady Chargers made three of 23 field goal attempts – in- cluding just one of 14 tries from beyond the three- point line – and turned the ball over nine times, which North Knox converted into a total of 15 points on the of- fensive end. "At the varsity level, you can't beat teams turning the ball over," Pike Central head coach Kyle McCutchan said. "You especially can't beat good teams, the upper ech- elon teams that are contend- ers in their given section- al. When you turn the ball over and they lead to easy baskets the other way, it's tough to compete." The Lady Chargers, how- ever, would start the second half with a bang. A fter Horrall rebounded a missed shot by Poe, Vaughn nailed a three-point shot – off of an assist by senior Allesha Sisk – to cut North Knox's lead to 37-15. Then, after Vaughn rebounded a missed three-pointer by McKinley, she sank two free throws, narrowing the deficit to 37- 17 with 6:58 left in the third period. Following another re- bound by Horrall of a missed trey by Poe, a basket by Marchino pulled Pike Cen- tral to within 37-19 with 6:04 remaining in the third quar- ter. The Lady Chargers' 7- 0 scoring run, however, proved to be too little, too late, as North Knox scored nine straight points – five by Maurer, two by Poe and two by junior center Grace Yochum – to stretch its lead to 46 -19 with 2:45 left in the third period. Pike Central would get no closer than 23 points the rest of the contest. "It was an emotional half- time," McCutchan said. "I let them know we're just not playing up to the standard that we should, and they re- sponded. But you can't re- spond for three minutes. If we could play four quarters like that, we'd be fine." Vaughn led Pike Central with 12 points and three steals, while Marchino add- ed seven points. Sopho- more Kenzie Powell netted five points. Hickey, Horrall, senior Becca Crow – who grabbed a team-high six re- bounds – and senior Ken- zie Dunn tallied two points each while Nelson rounded out the scoring for the Lady Chargers with one point. For the game, Pike Cen- tral made 12 of 45 field goal attempts – a 26.7 percent av- erage – and hit eight of 15 tries from the free throw line while turning the ball over 18 times. From beyond the three- point line, the Lady Char- gers – who missed all seven of their trey attempts in an 84-39 loss to Gibson South- ern two days earlier – were 3-for-20. "I'll be honest – I thought that was going to be one of our strengths, because we have kids that can do it," McCutchan said. "They just have to relax and do it, and I've got to do a better job of getting them mentally pre- pared." "There's a mental tough- ness we've got to get bet- ter at if we want to compete against these good teams," McCutchan added. "I be- lieve in them. I believe the next game we're going to come out and play better. So we've just got to be ready to be confident as a team our- selves and we'll get the job done." Poe added 12 points and seven rebounds for North Knox while McKinley tossed in 11 points. Yochum had seven points and seven rebounds. For the game, the Lady Warriors made 19 of 49 field goal attempts – a 38.8 per- cent average – and hit 22 of 36 tries from the free throw line while turning the ball over 13 times. North Knox also out-re- bounded the Lady Char- gers 41-26. "We've just got to do things better, fundamental- ly," McCutchan said. "We've got to compete. North Knox is a nice team. They're 10 -3 now for a reason. But we've got to step up to the chal- lenge. If we want to be a good, solid team, we've got to battle teams." In order to be success- ful, McCutchan noted, Pike Central needs to play better defensively. A fter allowing just 40 points per game last season, the Lady Chargers have given up an average of 53.7 points this season while their offensive output has fallen from 45.4 points per game last season to 44.2 points per game this season. "The only way you're go- ing to win is by playing de- fense," McCutchan said. "The only reason we won last year was because we played defense. When you don't have an outstanding of- fensive team, you've got to get stops. That's something that we've definitely got to get better at." In the junior varsity con- test, Powell scored 17 points and freshman Mallory Hunt added 14 points to lead Pike Central to a 45 -33 victory over North Knox. Freshmen Sophie Carnahan and Kya Leighty tossed in four points each while sophomore Kail- ee Mann and freshman Hai- ley Parker tallied two points apiece. Junior Britney Rig- gle paced the Lady Warriors with nine points. Pike Central, which played at Jasper on Tues- day, Dec. 18, will return to action on Thursday, Jan. 3, when the Lady Chargers will travel to Washington before returning home to host For- est Park on Saturday, Jan. 5. Pike Central High School junior Jenna Hor- rall (left) and North Knox junior Grace Yochum (14) go after a loose ball during varsity girls' high school basketball action on Saturday, Dec. 15. Horrall scored two points in the visiting Lady Chargers' 64-35 loss. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School sopho- more Kenzie Powell (3) gets set to shoot a three-pointer during varsi- ty girls' high school basketball ac- tion at North Knox on Saturday, Dec. 15. Horrall scored five points in the Lady Chargers' 64-35 loss. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School ju- nior Lauren Vaughn (23) prepares to shoot a free throw during varsity girls' high school basketball action at North Knox on Saturday, Dec. 15. Vaughn scored 12 points in the Lady Chargers' 64-35 loss. Ed Cahill photo Above: Pike Central High School senior Hai- ley Marchino (24) goes up for a shot over Gib- son Southern junior Shay Whitten (left) during varsity girls' high school basketball action on Thursday, Dec. 13. Marchino scored 10 points in the host Lady Chargers' 84-39 loss. Ed Ca- hill photo Below right: Pike Central High School fresh- man Kya Leighty looks to pass the ball during junior varsity girls' high school basketball ac- tion against visiting Gibson Southern on Thurs- day, Dec. 13. Leighty scored nine points in the Lady Chargers' 45-41 loss. Ed Cahill photo Klem, Raley lead Gibson Southern past Lady Chargers, 84-39 By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net Gibson Southern senior Tabby Klem scored a game- high 28 points to lead the La- dy Titans to an 84-39 victo- ry over host Pike Central in high school girls' basketball action on Thursday, Dec. 13. Klem, a 5 -foot-9 wing, made nine of 13 field goal attempts – including five of nine tries from beyond the three-point line – and hit five of six free throws. She also grabbed a game-high eight rebounds. Meredith Raley, a 6 -foot junior wing/post, was 6 -for-9 from the floor and 8 -for-11 from the free throw line to add 20 points for Gibson Southern, which improved to 8 -3 overall and 3-0 in the Pocket Athletic Conference. For the game, the Lady Ti- tans made 27 of 55 field goal attempts – including 10 of 23 tries from beyond the three- point line – and hit 20 of 26 free throws while turning the ball over only nine times. "Gibson Southern is a very good team, and when they shoot the ball that well, they are tough to beat," said Pike Central head coach Kyle McCutchan, whose team slipped to 4-7 overall and 0 - 4 in the PAC with its fourth straight loss. "They have a good combination of size and athleticism, and if we made a mistake on defense, then they took advantage." The Lady Chargers took an early 2-0 lead on a basket by senior Hailey Marchi- no before Gibson Southern scored 10 straight points – five by sophomore guard/ wing Kami Miller, three by Klem and two by Raley – to take a 10 -2 lead with 5:01 left in the opening period. The Lady Titans would stretch their lead to as ma- ny as 12 points twice – at 18 - 6 and 20 -8 – before a basket by junior Lauren Vaughn and a pair of free throws by ju- nior Jenna Horrall pulled Pike Central to within 20 -12 with just under a minute left in the first quarter. However, a basket by Ra- ley, a three-pointer by Klem and two free throws by Ra- ley extended Gibson South- ern's lead to 27-12 with 7:03 remaining in the second pe- riod. A fter a basket by Horrall cut the Lady Titans' lead to 27-14, Gibson Southern scored six straight points – on a basket and a three-point- er by Klem and a free throw by Raley – to widen its lead to 33-14 with 3:55 left in the first half. Back-to-back baskets by Pike Central senior Allesha Sisk would narrow the Lady Chargers' deficit to 33-18 be- fore a free throw by sopho- more guard Shay Whitten and a basket by junior guard Maci Foster stretched Gib- son Southern's lead to 36 -18 with 2:07 remaining in the second quarter. Pike Central would pull to within 16 points twice – at 36 -20 on a basket by Sisk and at 38 -22 on a basket by Marchino – before back-to- back baskets by Klem gave the Lady Titans a 42-22 half- time lead. The Lady Chargers would get no closer than 19 points during the second half. Marchino led Pike Central with 10 points and five re- bounds while Sisk, who was 4-for-4 from the field, added eight points. Horrall pitched in six points. For the game, Pike Cen- tral made 16 of 43 field goal attempts – a 37.2 percent av- erage – and hit seven of 13 tries from the free throw line while turning the ball over 19 times. The Lady Chargers, who were 0 -for-7 on three-point shot attempts, were out-re- bounded by Gibson South- ern 37-18. "We have areas that we have to improve upon on the defensive end so we will con- tinue to work on that," Mc- Cutchan said. "We did some good things on the offen- sive end and got a lot of good looks out of it, and we have to build off of that and improve our defensive intensity. But I also give Gibson Southern a lot of credit because they moved it well and shot it ex- tremely well and made it a long night for us." Miller added 14 points and a game-high three assists for Gibson Southern while ju- nior wing Claire Jones add- ed 13 points. Senior Jordyn Graham had a game-high three steals. In the junior varsity con- test, sophomore Kenzie Powell scored 10 points and freshman Kya Leighty add- ed nine points as Pike Cen- tral dropped a 45 -41 loss to Gibson Southern. Trailing 39 -23 at the end of the third quarter, Pike Cen- tral – despite making just six of 17 free throw attempts – outscored the Lady Titans 18 -6 during the final period. Leighty led both teams with eight rebounds and five steals while dishing out a team-high three assists. Powell had four steals. Sophomore Laynie Gra- ham led Gibson Southern with 10 points while junior Hallie Fleetwood – who dished out a game-high five assists – and freshman Lo- ren Stoll added nine points each. Above: Pike Central High School freshman Sophie Carnahan (33) finds herself closely guarded by Gib- son Southern sophomore Kyra Menke (right) during junior varsity girls' high school basketball action on Thursday, Dec. 13. Carnahan scored two points in the host Lady Chargers' 45-41 loss. Ed Cahill photo Below right: Pike Central High School senior Kelsey Barrett (2) gets set to shoot a free throw during varsi- ty girls' high school basketball action against visiting Gibson Southern on Thursday, Dec. 13. Barrett scored one point in the Lady Chargers' 84-39 loss. Ed Cahill photo