The Press-Dispatch
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The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, Januar y 2, 2019 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 continued to plague the Chargers during the ONB Holiday Basketball Classic. Entering the three-day tournament having made just 24 of 106 three-point attempts – a 22.6 percent average – during its first six games, Pike Central shot a combined 9 -for-52 from beyond the three-point line against Clay City, South Knox and Loogootee – a 17.3 percent average. "I've said all year that we might be the best three-point team shooting the absolute worst three-point shooting per- centage," Elliott said. "Hopefully, that means we're going to have a heck of a second half of the year here." "We've got to make sure when we're working on our shots, that they're at game speed, that we're not rushing ourselves," Elliott added. "Because when I see us shoot in practice, I'd put us up against just about anybody. It's one of those things we have to have confidence in it, and mak- ing sure we're going at game speed in everything we do." But, Elliott noted, he was encouraged about his team's effort on the defensive end, after having given up an aver- age of just under 50 points per game in the losses to Clay City, South Knox and Loogootee. "I think, defensively, we've done a nice job for the better part of the year, as far as keeping teams right around that 50 -point mark," Elliott said. "We have to shoot the ball a lit- tle better. We've got to make sure we're working on shots at game speed and then making sure we're being aggres- sive and attacking." "Your offense always makes your defense a little better," Elliott added. "When you're hitting shots, you're feeling a little bit more active on that end. But I think, defensively, we're really doing not too bad of a job, especially being a little bit undersized pretty much everywhere." Following is a game-by-game summary: Clay City 46, Pike Central 31 A three-pointer and a lay-up by 6 -foot junior guard Ethan Scott snapped a 5 -5 first-quarter tie as the Chargers took a 10 -5 lead. However, Clay City scored nine straight points – on a three-pointer and a pair of free throws by junior Ethan Rog- ers and back-to-back baskets by junior Jacob LaFary and senior Corbin Crosby – to take a 14-10 advantage heading into the second period. The Eels would extend their lead to as many as seven points – at 20 -13 with 2:11 left in the first half – before a lay-in by Scott pulled Pike Central to within 20 -15 at the intermission. A fter the injured Whann left the game early in the sec- ond half, the Chargers scored five straight points – on a three-pointer by 5 -foot-11 guard/forward Judah Leathco and a lay-in by Scott – to pull even at 20 -20 with 6:15 re- maining in the third quarter. However, Pike Central would go six straight possessions without scoring – turning the ball over four times and miss- ing three-point shots twice – as the Eels scored 10 straight points to take a 30 -20 lead with 3:16 left in the third period. Trailing 35 -26 entering the fourth period, Pike Central pulled to within 35 -29 on a three-pointer by 5 -foot-11 senior guard Christian Benson. The Chargers, however, would turn the ball over on their next two possessions. Clay City took advantage of the reprieve, scoring sev- Pike Central High School sophomore Ethan Gorby (11) battles Clay City juniors Bryce Patterson (left) and Jacob La Fary (right) for a rebound during first-round action in the Old National Bank Holiday Bas- ketball Classic at North Daviess on Thursday, Dec. 27. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School junior Noah Whann (34) drives toward the basket during first- round action against Clay City in the Old Na- tional Bank Holiday Basketball Classic at North Daviess on Thursday, Dec. 27. Ed Cahill photo CHARGERS PLACE 8TH IN ONB HOLIDAY BASKETBALL CLASSIC See ONB on 2 WE ARE PROFFESIONAL GRADE uebelhorgm.com 1-800-937-8721 Jasper, IN Chargers seventh in chase for PAC all-sports trophy By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net The Heritage Hills High School girls' athletics pro- gram is off to a good start in its chase for its second straight Pocket Athletic Conference all-sports tro- phy. Heritage Hills is current- ly in first place with 355 points after finishing first in tennis (100 points), third in cross country (70), second in soccer (85) and first in football (100) this past fall. At the same point last year, the Patriots were in second place with 315 points after finishing first in tennis (100), third in cross country (70), second in soc- cer (85) and fourth in foot- ball (60). Pike Central is current- ly in seventh place with 180 points after finishing seventh in tennis (30) and third in soccer (70) while tying Forest Park for fourth in cross country (55) and tying for eighth with For- est Park in football (25) this past fall. At the same point last year, the Chargers were in third place with 220 points after finishing seventh in tennis (30), fourth in cross country (60), first in soccer (100) and tying for sixth in football (30). Gibson Southern is cur- rently second with 330 points while North Posey is third with 215 points. Southridge is fourth with 210 points, Forest Park is fifth with 200 points, and Tell City is sixth with 185 points. South Spencer is eighth with 85 points. Te- cumseh is ninth with 70 points. During the 2017-18 school year, Heritage Hills won PAC titles in soccer and golf while scoring a total of 726.7 points. Gibson South- ern won the PAC title in wrestling to finish second with 612.5 points. North Posey finished third with 547.5 points. Tell City won PAC titles in cross country and track and field to fin- ish fourth with 510 points. Pike Central, which won the PAC title in swimming and diving, placed fifth with 495 points. Forest Park won the PAC title in tennis while placing sixth with 496.7 points. Southridge, which won the PAC title in wres- tling, placed seventh with 461.7 points. South Spen- cer, which won the PAC title in baseball, placed eighth with 365 points. Te- cumseh placed ninth with 205 points. Lady Chargers fourth in chase for PAC all-sports trophy By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net The Gibson Southern High School girls' athlet- ics program is off to a good start in its chase for its sev- enth straight Pocket Ath- letic Conference all-sports trophy. Gibson Southern is cur- rently in first place with 325 points after finishing first in golf (100 points), third in cross country (70), third in soccer (70) and second in volleyball (85) this past fall. At the same point last year, the Lady Titans were in first place with 355 points after finishing first in golf (100), second in cross country (85), first in soc- cer (100) and third in vol- leyball (70). Pike Central is current- ly in fourth place with 195 points after finishing third in golf (70), fourth in cross country (60), ninth in vol- leyball (10) and tying for fourth with North Posey in soccer (55) this past fall. At the same point last year, the Lady Chargers were in fourth place with 195 points after finishing fourth in golf (60 points), fourth in cross country (60 points), sixth in soccer (40 points) and tying for sixth with South Spencer in vol- leyball (35 points). Forest Park is current- ly second with 255 points while Heritage Hills is third with 250 points. South Spen- cer is fifth with 170 points, North Posey is sixth with 165 points, Tecumseh and Tell City are tied for seventh with 150 points each, and Southridge is ninth with 120 points. During the 2017-18 school year, Gibson South- ern won PAC titles in golf, soccer, basketball, tennis and softball while scoring a total of 680 points to claim its ninth PAC all-sports tro- phy in 10 years. Heritage Hills won PAC titles in swimming and diving and track and field while plac- ing a distant second with 580 points. Pike Central finished third with 462.5 points. Forest Park won the PAC title in cross country while placing fourth with 460 points, while South- ridge finished fifth with 445 points. South Spencer was sixth with 425 points. Tecumseh, which won the PAC title in volleyball, fin- ished eighth with 337.5 points. Tell City placed ninth with 270 points. By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net The Pike Central High School boys' basketball team suf- fered three losses in three days to place eighth in the 2018 Old National Bank Holiday Basketball Classic held Thurs- day, Dec. 27, through Saturday, Dec. 29, at North Daviess. The Chargers opened the eight-team tournament with a 46 -31 first-round loss to Clay City, before dropping a 49 -34 loss to South Knox in the consolation bracket's semifinals. Pike Central then lost a 54-38 decision to Loogootee in the seventh-place game to fall to 1-8 with its sixth straight loss. "I think the scores don't really indicate how close some of those games were," said Chargers head coach Hunter El- liott, whose team trailed Clay City by six points – at 35 -29 – with 7:12 left in the fourth quarter, South Knox by eight points – at 38 -30 – with 6:01 left in the fourth quarter, and Loogootee by four points – at 33-29 – with 1:07 left in the third quarter. "That can be misleading a little bit, but it's one of those things, I'd rather go try to win." "Doing that, sometimes you give up a few more points," Elliott added. "But a loss is a loss, in my opinion." With 6 -foot senior guard Austin Holder (concussion) and 6 -foot-2 junior center Colin Craig (pancreatitis) already sidelined and 6 -foot-1 junior forward Mario Fields absent, Pike Central lost 5 -foot-11 junior forward Noah Whann ear- ly in the second half against Clay City, when Whann suf- fered a dislocated knee cap that could keep him out of ac- tion for a month or more. "It was three games in three days with kind of a short- ened bench as it is, and then losing Whann there that first game, it just really made it tough on us," Elliott said. "But we'll be getting Holder back here soon, and Colin Craig, so, hopefully, that will help us out." Replacing Whann was 6 -foot sophomore forward Ethan Gorby, who – after scoring four of his five points and grab- bing three of his four rebounds in the second half against Clay City – netted nine points, and grabbed a team-high six rebounds against South Knox, and then scored six points and grabbed four rebounds against Loogootee. "We're playing three starters down, and that's tough for any team to do, especially with a team that's kind of young and inexperienced like we are," Elliott said. "Gorby came in, and he's one we've talked about that we were going to be playing him a lot the second half of the season anyway. These injuries kind of just sped that up a little bit. But it's one of those things where he's stepping up and getting a lot of good experience right now." However, poor shooting from beyond the three-point line