The Press-Dispatch
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B-2 Sports Wednesday, Januar y 30, 2019 The Press-Dispatch bounds while out-rebound- ing Pike Central 28 -19 for the game, netted 19 sec- ond-chance points – includ- ing 15 in the first two quar- ters as they took a 35 -28 halftime lead. "They're a bigger team, a more athletic team, so that was a tougher thing," Mc- Cutchan said. "But that's something we have to do better to win games like that." With it being Senior Night, McCutchan's start- ing line-up consisted of all seniors – Becca Crow, Emi- ly Carnahan, Hannah Carna- han, Kenzie Dunn and Hai- ley Marchino – while the team's two other seniors, Kelsey Barrett and Allesha Sisk, were the first players off the bench for the La- dy Chargers, entering the game with 5:03 left in the first quarter and the score tied at 6 -6. "I told the seniors be- fore the game, 'You've got a great crowd here to see us: just leave it all out there; whether you make mistakes or not, just really play hard,' and they did," McCutchan said. "They set the tone for the game. I couldn't be more proud of those girls' effort." Following an exchange of baskets, Heritage Hills took an 11-8 lead on a three-point- er by freshman Hadley Lyt- ton with 2:29 remaining in the opening period. However, back-to-back baskets by Barrett and two free throws by sophomore Mallory Hickey gave the Lady Chargers their big- gest lead of the game – 14- 11 – before Heritage Hills scored four straight points, on a pair of free throws and a basket by Gordon, to re- claim the lead at 15 -14 early in the second quarter. A fter basket by Sisk put Pike Central back into the lead, the Lady Patriots vault- ed to a 19 -16 lead on a basket and a pair of free throws by Gordon. The Lady Chargers would close to within one points twice – at 19 -18 on a bas- ket by junior Jayln Nelson and at 21-20 on a basket by Marchino – before a three- point play by Lytton extend- ed Heritage Hills' lead to 24-20 with 4:42 remaining in the second period. Following an exchange of baskets – by Nelson for Pike Central and by sophomore Nevah Barnett for Heritage Hills – a pair of offensive re- bounds led to a basket by Barnett and a three-point- er by senior Morgan Vaal as the Lady Patriots stretched their lead to 29 -22 with 3:54 left in the first half. Three-pointers by Nelson and junior Lauren Vaughn – sandwiched around a basket by Gordon after grabbing the rebound of a missed shot by senior teammate Claire Heckel – cut the deficit to 31-28 with 3:21 remaining in the second period. The Lady Chargers, how- ever, would fail to score on their final eight possessions of the first half – turning the ball over six times – as Her- itage Hills ended the half with a 4-0 scoring run, on a basket by Gordon and a pair of free throws by Vaal, to take a 35 -28 halftime lead. "That's been our Achilles heel, all year; we just turn the ball over too much," said McCutchan, whose team committed a total of 17 turnovers. "This is our 20th game, and I've said that probably 15 times – you turn the ball over 20 times in a varsity game, you're just not going to win." A fter the two teams trad- ed three-pointers to start the second half – one by Marchino for Pike Central, one by Gordon for Heritage Hills – a back-to-back bas- kets by Marchino pulled the Lady Chargers to within 38 - 35 with 6:17 left in the third period. However, the Lady Patri- ots answered with a 6 -0 scor- ing run – on two baskets and two free throws by Vaal – to extend their lead to 44-36 TURNOVERS Continued from page 1 UPCOMING SCHEDULE THURSDAY, JANUARY 31 High School Boys' Basketball: North Posey at Pike Central – Junior Varsity, 6:30 p.m.; Varsity, 8 p.m. High School Girls' Swimming: Pike Central in Sectional Meet preliminaries at Jasper, 6:30 p.m. Middle School 7th and 8th Grade Boys' Basket- ball: South Gibson Invitational at Fort Branch – Pike Central vs. Tecumseh-Fort Branch winner, 6:35 p.m. Middle School 7th and 8th Grade Girls' Basket- ball: South Gibson Invitational at Fort Branch – Pike Central vs. Tecumseh-Fort Branch winner, 5:30 p.m. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 1 High School Girls' Basketball: Sectional Tour- nament at Vincennes Lincoln – Washington vs. Sulli- van-Vincennes Lincoln winner, 6 p.m.; Princeton vs. Southridge-Pike Central winner, 7:30 p.m. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2 High School Girls' Swimming and Diving: Pike Central in Sectional Meet finals at Jasper – Diving pre- liminaries and semifinals, 10 a.m.; Finals, 2 p.m. High School Boys' Basketball: Washington at Pike Central – Junior Varsity, 1:30 p.m.; Varsity, 3 p.m. High School Girls' Basketball: Sectional Tour- nament at Vincennes Lincoln – Championship game, 7:30 p.m. High School Wrestling: Pike Central in Regional Meet at Bloomington South, 9:30 a.m. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 4 High School C Team Boys' Basketball: Pike Cen- tral at Gibson Southern, 6:30 p.m. Middle School 7th and 8th Grade Boys' Bas- ketball: South Gibson Invitational at Fort Branch – Championship game, 7:45 p.m. Middle School 7th and 8th Grade Girls' Bas- ketball: South Gibson Invitational at Fort Branch – Championship game, 6:30 p.m. Middle School 6th Grade Boys' Basketball: Jas- per at Pike Central (Old Petersburg Gym), 6 p.m. Middle School 6th Grade Girls' Basketball: Pike Central at Barr-Reeve, 6 p.m. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5 High School Boys' Basketball: Tecumseh at Pike Central – Junior Varsity, 6:30 p.m.; Varsity, 8 p.m. High School Girls' Swimming and Diving: Div- ing Regional at Bloomington North, 6 p.m. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6 High School Boys' Swimming and Diving: Tri- meet at Pike Central, 6:30 p.m. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 7 Middle School 6th Grade Girls' Basketball: South Spencer at Pike Central (Old Petersburg Gym), 6:30 p.m. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8 High School Boys' Basketball: Tell City at Pike Central – Junior Varsity, 6:30 p.m.; Varsity, 8 p.m. High School Girls' Swimming and Diving: State Finals at Indiana University Natatorium in Indianapo- lis – Swimming preliminaries, 6 p.m. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9 High School Boys' Basketball: Pike Central at Boonville – Junior Varsity, 6:30 p.m.; Varsity, 8 p.m. High School Girls' Swimming and Diving: State Finals at Indiana University Natatorium in Indianap- olis – Diving preliminaries and semifinals, 9 a.m.; Fi- nals, 1 p.m. High School Wrestling: Semi-State Meet at Ford Center in Evansville, 9 a.m. Saturday, February 2 8am-4pm (CST) Sunday, February 3 8am-2pm (CST) Warrick County 4-H Center 133 E. Degonia Road, Boonville BRING THIS AD AND RECEIVE $ 1 OFF Admission Doors Open at 8am For more information or table rental, contact Tammy at; 812-897-3844 Southern Indiana Gun Collectors Association GUN SHOW Tecumseh rallies for 59-54 victory over Lady Chargers Freshman Kaybree Oxley scored 12 of her game-high 24 points in the fourth quar- ter as Tecumseh – trailing 40 -38 at the end of the third period – rallied for a 59 -54 victory over visiting Pike Central in high school girls' basketball action on Friday, Jan. 25. The Lady Chargers, who ended the regular season 5 - 16 overall and 1-6 in the Pock- et Athletic Conference, led 16 -12 at the end of the third period and 25 -23 at halftime. "We led after every quar- ter except for the final one," Pike Central head coach Kyle McCutchan said. "We played really well. We played hard. We played smart. We shot the ball well. We hit eight three-pointers." "The last week or two, I think we've played how I en- visioned us playing the whole year," McCutchan added. "I think we're playing our best basketball toward the end of the year. We're competing with good teams. We just can't get over that hump yet." Junior Lauren Vaughn hit four three-point shots – including three in the first quarter – to lead the Lady Chargers in scoring with 18 points. Senior Hailey Marchi- no made two three-pointers while adding 10 points. Both senior Becca Crow and junior Jayln Nelson – who each hit one three-point shot – tossed in nine points. Senior Hannah Carnahan and Allesha Sisk and fresh- man Mallory Hunt rounded out the scoring for the La- dy Chargers with two points apiece. Seniors Dalina Meyer and Olivia Rudolphi netted 16 points and 12 points, respec- tively, for Tecumseh, which improved to 16 -5 overall and 6 -2 in the PAC. Freshman Morgan Wilson added four points while senior Kait- lyn Helfert tossed in three points. McCutchan noted that while Pike Central attempt- ed just five free throws – hit- ting four – the Lady Braves took 20 shots from the char- ity stripe, making just five. "That hurts you a little bit in games like that," said Mc- Cutchan, whose Lady Char- gers played Southridge in the opening round of the sectional tournament at Vin- cennes Lincoln on Tuesday, Jan. 29. "We played well. We just didn't get the win. But we can't complain. We've got to get ready to play on Tues- day. I think we're playing some of our best team bas- ketball right now – which is the right time to do it – but we just have to get over that hump, finish out a game." "That senior group last year, most of them had been varsity since their sopho- more year, so everybody had to take on a new role this year, and it's been an ad- justment," McCutchan add- ed. "There's games where we've had kids score 15, 20 points, and the next game they don't score but two or five. We're starting to be a lit- tle bit more consistent. We're having a few more kids step- ping up and scoring. So we're doing some good things." In the junior varsity con- test, Hunt scored a game- high 13 points to lead Pike Central past Tecumseh 40 - 37. Sophomore Kailee Mann and freshmen Sophie Carna- han and Kya Leighty added six points each for the Lady Chargers JV squad, which ended its season with a 12- 7 won-loss record. Above: Pike Central High School seniors Kenzie Dunn (middle, left) and Becca Crow (middle, right) lead the Lady Chargers onto the court prior to their final home basketball game on Thursday, Jan. 24, against Heritage Hills. Ed Cahill photo Left: Pike Central High School junior Lauren Vaughn (with ball) goes up for a shot while Heritage Hills sophomore Rebekah (21) tries to draw a charge during varsity girls' basketball action against visiting Heritage Hills on Thursday, Jan. 24. Vaughn scored a 12 points in a 73-61 loss to the vis- iting Lady Patriots. Ed Cahill photo Above: Pike Cen- tral High School ju- nior Jayln Nelson (20) drives past Heri- tage Hills senior Mor- gan Vaal (right) during varsity girls' basket- ball action on Thurs- day, Jan. 24. Nelson scored 16 points in a 73-61 loss to the vis- iting Lady Patriots. Ed Cahill photo Left: Pike Central High School senior Hailey Marchino looks to pass the ball during varsity girls' basket- ball action against vis- iting Heritage Hills on Thursday, Jan. 24. Marchino scored a team-high 18 points in a 73-61 loss to the Lady Patriots. Ed Ca- hill photo Above: Pike Central High School freshman Kya Leighty puts up a shot over Heritage Hills soph- omore Kylee Appman during junior varsity girls' basketball action on Thursday, Jan. 24. Leighty scored six points in a 44-40 loss to the visiting Lady Patriots. Ed Cahill photo Right: Pike Central High School sophomore Gracie Jones (35) looks to take a shot while being defended by Heritage Hills freshman Grace Man- gan (55) during junior varsity girls' basketball ac- tion on Thursday, Jan. 24. Jones scored 13 points in a 44-40 loss to the visiting Lady Patriots. Ed Cahill photo See LOSS on 5