The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1076601
The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, Januar y 30, 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 PCMS 8th grade basketball teams open South Gibson Invite with wins over Princeton By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net Keena Young scored a game-high nine points while Liberty Taylor and Chloe Williams added six points each to lead the Pike Cen- tral Middle School eighth grade girls' basketball team to a 23-17 victory over Princ- eton in the first round of the South Gibson Invitational Tourney on Monday, Jan. 28, at Fort Branch. Taylor, who grabbed five rebounds, also led both teams in steals with four. "Liberty Taylor came to play tonight," Lady Char- gers head coach Eric Knight said. "She battled and worked her tail off the whole game." Taylor, Knight noted, had to come out of the game af- ter cutting the bridge of her nose when she fell, face first, onto the floor while trying to keep the ball in- bounds during the second half. Bloodied, but not beaten, Taylor wasted no time re- turning to the game. "Once the blood was cleaned up, she went right back in the game and took two game-changing charges," Knight said. "She was pumped up and that al- so got the rest of the team pumped up. Liberty is that type of girl that will give you everything she has on the floor." Pike Central, after falling behind 2-0 in the first quar- ter, scored eight straight points – four by Keena Young, three by Delaney Welch and one by Kennedy Willis – to take an 8 -2 lead with 2:37 left in the second period. Princeton, however, would rally, scoring six straight points to tie the score at 8 -8 going into half- time. During the first half, the Lady Chargers struggled to score, making just three of 23 field goal attempts – a 13.0 percent average – while Second-chance points, turnovers prove costly in Lady Chargers' 73-61 loss to Heritage Hills Sophomore Kobe Bart- lett scored 23 points while junior Matthew Smith add- ed 22 more as South Spen- cer defeated visiting Pike Central 67-49 in boys' high school basketball action on Friday, Jan. 25. With the win, the Rebels improved to 6 -8 overall and 2-4 in the Pocket Athletic Conference, while Pike Cen- tral fell to 2-11 overall and 0 - 3 in the PAC. South Spencer jumped out to an early 8 -4 lead before back-to-back bas- kets by junior Ethan Scott pulled the Chargers even at 8 -8 with 3:43 left in the first quarter. However, the Rebels would score 12 straight points – five by Bartlett, four by Smith and three by sophomore Michael Dono- ho – to take a 20 -8 lead with 1:07 remaining in the open- ing period. A fter baskets by se- nior Draven Huff and Ju- dah Leathco – sandwiched around a three-pointer by Bartlett – pulled Pike Cen- tral to within 23-12, South By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net Four members of the Pike Central High School wrestling team qualified to advance to the regional tournament for the first time during the Southridge Sectional Meet on Saturday, Jan. 26. Sophomore Isaiah Greer placed sec- ond in the 113-pound weight class, ju- niors Tyler Kirby (160) and Ian Allen (170) both placed third while sopho- more Brandon Goeppner (132) placed fourth. The top four wrestlers from each weight class qualified to advance to the regional meet that will be held at Bloomington South on Saturday, Feb. 2. Sophomore Lane Miller (120) and freshman Jon Cannon (145) both placed fifth while sophomore Cody Davis (220) placed sixth. Three Pike Central wrestlers – ju- nior Dalton Williams (126), senior Jayden Gordon (138) and freshman Adon Sanchez (285) – did not place. "I was pleased with everyone's ef- fort," Chargers head coach Ryan Mc- Cain said. "I hoped to get six guys through. We ended up with four, but I'm still extremely proud of every- one. We had some injuries and fami- ly commitments that kept a few guys from wrestling that would have prob- ably advanced, but those guys will be back next year, so we can hopefully build from this and get even more out in 2020." Seeded third in the 113-pound weight class, Greer, after receiving a first-round bye, defeated Jasper fresh- man Carson Mehringer, the No. 11 seed, by a 10 -2 major decision during the quarterfinals. Greer then won by pin over Mitchell sophomore Wy- att Woolston, the No. 2 seed, in 3:55 during the semifinals. During the championship bout, Greer lost by pin to Floyd Central sophomore Gavinn Alstott, the No. 1 seed, in 5:04, ending the day with an overall won-loss record of 29 -15 for the season. Seeded third in the 160 -pound weight class, Kirby, after receiving a first-round bye, won by pin over Jasper sophomore Luke Ruckriegel, the No. Iowa Lakes Community College men's swimmers named to CSCAA Scholar All-America Team FOUR CHARGER GRAPPLERS EARN FIRST-EVER BERTHS IN REGIONAL MEET Pike Central Middle School freshman Isaiah Greer (bottom) grapples with Floyd Central sophomore Gavinn Alstott (top) during the Southridge Wrestling Sectional Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 26, at the Huntingburg Memorial Gymnasium. Greer lost by pin to finish second in the 113-pound weight class. Ed Cahill photo Left: Pike Central High School sophomore Ethan Gorby (11) goes airborne while putting up a shot during varsity boys' basketball action at South Spencer on Friday, Jan. 25. Gorby – who was called for travelling on the play – scored four points in a 67-49 loss to the host Rebels. Ed Ca- hill photo Pike Central High School sophomore Mallo- ry Hickey (left) tries to dribble past Heritage Hills senior Morgan Vaal (right) during varsity girls' basketball action on Thursday, Jan. 24. Hickey scored two points in a 73-61 loss to the visiting Lady Patriots. Ed Cahill photo The Iowa Lakes Community College men's swimming and diving team was one of 713 teams from 460 institutions selected to the Scholar All-America Team for the Fall 2018 se- mester. The Lakers topped the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCA A) with a combined 3.58 grade point average. Pictured are, from left to right, sophomore Gabriel Car- mona, freshman Jacob Bohnert, freshman Garrett Nielson and freshman Juan Briseno. Bohnert graduated from Pike Central High School in 2018. Photo courtesy of Iowa Lakes Com- munity College The Iowa Lakes Commu- nity College men's swim- ming and diving team was among 713 teams from 460 institutions selected by the College Swimming and Div- ing Coaches Association of America (CSCA A) to the Scholar All-Amercan Team for the Fall 2018 semester. Jacob Bohnert, who grad- uated from Pike Central High School in 2018, is one of the team's four members, who topped the National Ju- nior College Athletic Asso- ciation (NJCA A) with a combined 3.58 grade point average. To earn the hon- or, teams were required to post a GPA of 3.0 or higher for the Fall 2018 semester. The Lakers were one of 33 teams that achieved Scholar All-America sta- tus for the first time, which, according to CSCA A ex- ecutive director Greg Ear- hart, reflects the continued growth of swimming and diving. "The narrative is that swimming and diving is on the decline, but, in reality, colleges and universities have added 100 teams since 2015," Earhart said. "Pres- idents and athletic direc- tors recognize that swim- mers and divers are excel- lent students and ambassa- dors for their institutions." Founded in 1922, the CSCA A – the oldest orga- nization of college coach- es in America – is a profes- sional organization of col- lege swimming and diving coaches dedicated to serv- ing and providing leader- ship for the advancement of the sport at the collegiate level. Bohnert is the son of Mike and Beth Bohnert, of Petersburg. By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net Sophomore Rebekah Gordon scored 23 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead Heritage Hills to a 73-61 victory over host Pike Central in girls' high school basketball action on Thursday, Jan. 24. With the win, the La- dy Patriots improved to 17-5 overall and 5 -3 in the Pocket Athletic Confer- ence, while Pike Central slipped to 5 -15 overall and 1-5 in the PAC. "Heritage Hills is a good team," Lady Char- gers head coach Kyle Mc- Cutchan said. "We knew that going in. We battled from the beginning, but the one thing we just didn't do really well tonight was block out." The Lady Patriots, who grabbed 13 offensive re- Chargers drop 67-49 loss to South Spencer See FIRST on 6 See CHARGERS on 3 See TURNOVERS on 2 See PCMS on 4