The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1071678
The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, Januar y 16, 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 PATRIOTS ROUT CHARGERS, 71-31 See PATRIOTS on 2 See RECORD on 5 See GR APPLERS on 4 See LOOGOOTEE on 3 By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net Murray Becher scored a game-high 20 points to lead Heritage Hills to a 71-31 rout of visiting Pike Central in high school boys' basketball action on Monday, Jan. 14. Becher, a 6 -foot-4 junior, made seven of 10 field goal at- tempts – including one of two tries from beyond the three- point line – and hit five of sev- en free throws as the Patriots, ranked No. 8 in Class 3A, im- proved to 13-1 overall and 4-0 in the Pocket Athletic Confer- ence. Blake Sisley, a 6 -foot-8 soph- omore, added 14 points and a team-high six rebounds in the winning effort, while 6 -foot-2 junior Simon Scherry tossed in 11 points and led both teams in steals (6) and assists (4). "Heritage Hills is very tal- ented," said Pike Central head coach Hunter Elliott, whose team slipped to 2-9 overall and 0 -2 in the PAC. "They have a lot of good basketball players, and have got a lot of kids who have played a lot of basketball, so we knew we had our hands full." Pike Central, playing for the first time since a 60 -55 win at Wood Memorial on Friday, Jan. 4, fell behind 6 -0 – on a pair of free throws by Sisley and back-to-back baskets by Be- cher – before Chargers senior Hayden Kabrick scored, off an assist by sophomore Ethan Gorby, with 4:57 left in the first quarter. Heritage Hills would score the next eight points – four by Sisley and two each by Bech- er and Scherry – to extend its lead to 14-2 with 3:14 remain- ing in the opening period. A fter Pike Central senior Christian Benson scored off an assist by junior Ethan Scott to pull the Chargers to within 14-4, back-to-back baskets by senior Carson Leibering and Scherry stretched the Patriots' lead to 18 -4 head- ing into the second quarter. During the first quarter, Pike Central made just two of eight field goal attempts while turning the ball over nine times – four of which Heritage Hills converted into a total of eight points on the offen- sive end. "We want to stay below 10 for the game, so nine in the first quarter's real- ly pushing it," Elliott said. "We knew that they applied a lot of pressure, and it was one of those things that we were going to have to handle. It was something a lot of our kids haven't seen, with it just being a lot of their first experience with that. We have to do a better job of coming and meeting passes and using pass fakes. It's just a learning experience for us." Scott, after having been held scoreless during the opening period, opened the second quarter with a three-pointer, off an assist by sophomore Stephen Krieg, to cut the deficit to 18 -7. A fter a three-point play by Leibering pushed Heritage Hills' lead to 21-7, Scott nailed another trey, this time off an assist by Benson, to pull the Chargers to within 21-10 with 6:49 left in the first half. Following an exchange of baskets – one by Leibering for the Patriots, one by Scott for the Chargers – a three-point play by Becher extended Heritage Hills' lead to 26 -12. A basket by Scott narrowed the Patri- ots' lead to 26 -14 with 4:51 left in the sec- ond period before Heritage Hills scored six straight points – four by Becher and two by senior Cade Jones – to stretch its Pike Central High School senior Hayden Kabrick (32) dribbles the ball during varsity boys' basketball action on Monday, Jan. 14, at Heritage Hills. The Patriots won the contest, 71-31. Ed Cahill photo Bohnert breaks own record in 50-yard freestyle By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net Senior Natalie Bohnert broke another one of her school records while leading the Pike Central High School girls' swimming and diving team to a first-place finish in a three- team meet hosted by the Lady Chargers on Wednesday, Jan. 9. Bohnert, competing in the 50 -yard free- style for the first time this season, finished first with a time of 25.61 seconds, besting the school record time of 26.05 seconds she set as a sophomore in 2017. Evansville Christian's Moriah Dunham placed a distant second in the event with a time of 30.83 seconds. Bohnert also placed first in the 100 -yard backstroke with a season-best time of 59.52 seconds, beating her previous season-best time of 1:00.20. Pike Central freshman Madison Riley was second in the event with a season-best time of 1:17.99, beating her previous season-best time of 1:18.89. In addition, Bohnert teamed up with soph- omores Charlotte Dudenhoeffer and Jenna Meyer and freshman Emma McKinney to place first in the 200 -yard medley relay with a time of 2:14.07. Bohnert, Dudenhoeffer, Mey- er and Riley, meanwhile, placed first in the 400 -yard freestyle relay with a time of 4:28.00. By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net The Pike Central High School wres- tling team scored six wins by pin and one by forfeit while defeating host Evansville Central 42-34 on Thursday, Jan. 10. Chargers junior Brandon Goeppner, wrestling at 132 pounds, opened the dual meet with a loss by pin to Evansville Cen- tral senior Cameron Amento with 1:27 left in the first period, giving the Bears a 6 -0 lead that proved short-lived. A fter Pike Central senior Jaydon Gor- don, wrestling at 138 pounds, pinned Evansville Central sophomore William Osborne with 55 seconds left in the first period to tie the score at 6 -6, Chargers freshman Jon Cannon, wrestling at 145 pounds, took a 9 -1 lead before pinning Bears freshman Gavin Pounds with 45 seconds left in the third period to give Pike Central a 12-6 lead. Chargers freshman Wyatt Frasure, wrestling at 152 pounds, then pinned Evansville Central freshman Isaac An- gel with 1:13 left in the first period, ex- tending Pike Central's lead to 18 -6. Chargers junior Tyler Kirby, wrestling at 160 pounds, upped Pike Central's lead to 24-6 with a win by pin over Bears fresh- man Aaron Garris with 1:18 left in the first period. Pike Central junior Ian Allen, wrestling at 170 pounds, pinned Evansville Central sophomore Peyton Dix with four seconds remaining in the first period to stretch the Chargers' lead to 30 -6. PCHS grapplers hold off host Evansville Central for 42-34 win Pike Central High School senior Jaydon Gordon (right) throws Evans- ville Central sophomore William Osborne (left) down onto the mat during a dual meet hosted by the Bears on Thursday, Jan. 10. Ed Cahill photo Graber scores 30 points to lead Loogootee past Lady Chargers Senior Tyanna Graber scored a game-high 30 points to lead Loogootee to a 53-41 victory over host Pike Central in high school girls' basket- ball action on Tuesday, Jan. 8. Graber netted 11 first-quar- ter points – on three three-pointers and one two- point basket – as the Lady Li- ons took a 15 -3 lead. Sparked by three-point- ers by seniors Becca Crow and Hailey Marchino and ju- nior Lauren Vaughn, the Lady Chargers rallied in the sec- ond period, outscoring Loo- gootee 17-10 to pull to within 25 -20 at halftime. However, Graber scored seven points, senior Sydney Davis added five points and junior Chelsie Sutton hit a pair of free throws as the La- dy Lions outscored Pike Cen- tral 14-6 in the third quarter to extend their lead to 39 -26. The Lady Chargers, who slipped to 5 -11, could get no closer than 12 points in the final period. Sophomore Mallory Hick- ey came off the bench to score a team-high 10 points, while Vaughn added nine points. Marchino netted six points and Crow tossed in five points apiece. Senior Kenzie Dunn, sophomore Kenzie Powell and freshman Mallo- ry Hunt tallied three points each. Junior Jayln Nelson rounded out the scoring for the Lady Chargers with two points. Sophomores Brooklyn Jones and Kalea Fleming added six points each for Loogootee while Davis tal- lied five points. Sutton and sophomores Makenzie Van- Hoy and Isabelle Waggner tossed in two points each as the Lady Lions – ranked No. 6 in Class A – improved to 16 -1. In the junior varsity contest, sophomore Adie Nolley scored a game-high 16 points to lead Loogootee to a 39 -27 victory over Pike Central. Sophomore Kailee Mann and freshman Kya Leighty led the Lady Char- gers with nine and eight points, respec- Pike Central High School junior Jayln Nel- son (20) goes up for a shot during varsity girls' basketball action against visiting Loogootee on Tuesday, Jan. 8. Nelson scored two points in a 53-41 loss to the Lady Lions. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School senior Natalie Bohnert broke her own re- cord in the 50-yard freestyle during a three-team swimming and diving meet hosted by the Lady Chargers on Wednesday, Jan. 9. She broke the re- cord again in a three-team meet at Jasper on Thursday, Jan. 10. See re- lated story, Page B-5. File photo