The Press-Dispatch
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The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, March 6, 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 PATOKA VALLEY OUTDOORS By Sam Whiteleather By Andy Heuring Press-Dispatch Sports sports@pressdispatch.net Pike Central's Graham Mullins set a new school re- cord in the 50 -yard back- stroke and won three other events to lead the boys to a 115 to 45 win over Tell City in middle school swimming last Tuesday. Mullins, a seventh grad- er, swam a 30.32 to win the 50 -yard backstroke by 21 seconds over second place. His time broke Jacob Bohnert's school record of 30.63. Bohnert was a peren- nial qualifier for the state fi- nals in the event. Mullins also won the 100 individual medley in a time of 1:06.83. Second place was Pike Central's Cobey McKin- ney in a time of 1:35.41. Mullins was also a member of the winning 200 medley relay team of himself, Isaac Burdette, Michael Murkhart and Draven Reade. They won with a time of 2:17.43. They beat Tell City's team, which placed second in a time of 2:51.47. The same four boys also won the 400 freestyle relay in a time of 4:42.76. Pike Cen- tral's second team of Grif- fin Correll, Xander Parker, Ty DeCourosey and Ethan Mann placed second. Burdette, Readle and Park- er also had individual wins for the Chargers. Burdette won the 50 free in a time of 30.39. Readle won the 200 free in a time of 2:38.6. Bur- khart was second in 2:54.73. Parker led a Pike Central sweep of the diving. He won with 60.04 points. Jayden Bolin was second with 53.6 and Wyatt Luff was third with 49.05. In the girls' meet, Tell City won 105 to 62 over the Char- gers. Reagan Craig had the girls' lone win in diving. She posted a score of 61.30, beating second place by five points. Kayleigh Byrd was third with a score of 45.30. Jillian Bailey recorded two individual second places that were just inches from being firsts. In the 100 individual med- ley, she lost to Emma Hol- linden, of Tell City, by 0.21 of a second, with a time of 1:21.59. Then in the 50 yard fly, she lost to Hollinden by 0.79 seconds, in a time of 35.72. "I don't know what I'm going to do this afternoon while you guys are gone," I say to Rena as she packs the car, getting ready to take the kids on an overnight trip to visit an old friend. "I think I might take the canoe out on the river." Down the hill, be- low the cabin, the river runs swift and brown, doable in a canoe, but a tad on the dan- gerous side. "That's probably not a good idea" Rena says and gives me one of those "real- ly, how could you even con- sider that" looks. "Why don't you go take a walk at the park and take Annie (our short hair pointer) with you, you'll feel better if you do? " A little later, I kiss them all goodbye and wave as they pull out of the driveway. As a married father of three, I've had moments where I would've given anything for an afternoon to myself, free to fish or hunt where and when I please. But on this gray winter afternoon, I wish they weren't leaving. I want them to stay, help me cut firewood, eat with me, take a walk with me. I'm not sure if it's because I'm getting old- er or that my love for them has grown over the years; ei- ther way, I don't like it when they're gone. I look down at the river; it's still just as brown and swift as before. "It's just you and me, Annie. Why don't we go for a walk girl? " Annie, lying on a rug next to the wood stove, lifts her head and looks at me. It takes a little prodding to get her out of her spot, but soon she's loaded in the car and we are heading towards the park. We set out on a paved trail that runs along the banks of the White River. The sky is low and gray, and there is a chilly mist in the air. The win- ter woods along the trail of- fer no hint of color other than gray and brown, not helping much to lift my mood. But Annie seems happy to be out, and once I've been hiking for a few minutes, the fresh air and rise in heartbeat do me some good. As I walk, I'm startled by a strong beating of wings. I look up to see an immature bald eagle taking flight from a branch over my head. Its heavy body is brownish gray and its large yellow beak stands out against the sky. "That's cool," I say aloud, watching the big bird soar up river. Walking on, I notice a line of ducks on the river. Their white sides and blue bills stand out against the brown waters. The ducks are great- er scaup, likely on their way to the Arctic Tundra (way up north), where they will spend warmer months nesting and raising young. By now, I'm feeling real- ly good about my decision to follow Rena's advice and take a walk. My heart is beat- ing good, supplying enough blood to my brain to put thoughts back in the positive. Later that night, when I'm back home and Annie is back in her spot by the wood stove, I call Rena. "So how'd it go this afternoon? " she asks. "Not bad, I guess." I tell her, "Annie and I took a walk." "Feel better, don't you? " she asks. By Andy Heuring Press-Dispatch Sports sports@pressdispatch.net Two long dry spells by Pike Cen- tral in the first half led to a loss against a strong Washington team in the first round of the sectional. Pike Central fell 75 -36 last Tuesday night. Senior Christian Benson led the Chargers with 13 points, that included six of seven from the free- throw line in the fourth quarter. A slow start against the Hatch- ets, who were on fire as they hit their first six three-point shots of the game, doomed the Chargers' chances. Hayden Kabrick opened the scor- ing for the Chargers with a free- throw at 5:56. He missed the second and the Chargers trailed 2-1. Washington had pushed that lead to 10 -1 before Kabrick hit a three, with 3:19 left, to make it 10 -4. Washington went on another run. This time, a 13-0 run over the next two minutes pushed their lead to 23- 4 with 1:15 left. Pike Central Ethan Gorby scored as the Chargers broke Washington's press for two with 1:01 left in the quarter. The quarter would end with Pike Central trail- ing 23-4. "I really thought we had a great game plan coming in and defensive- ly, we had been playing really well the past couple games. We were just not hitting shots. Unfortunate- ly, they came out and really shot the ball well, hitting their first six threes and put us in a hole. We did a much better job of breaking the pressure and getting an advantage in transi- tion. We were just not aggressive go- ing to the basket and did not con- vert a lot of good opportunities from breaking the press," said Charger coach Hunter Elliott. Pike Central had a brief streak in the second quarter as they opened with an Ethan Scott basket, then Ju- dah Leathco hit a three on an assist from Benson to make it 25 -11. Washington would push the lead to 32-11 on a Grant Niehaus jumper midway through the second quarter. Niehaus had a game-high 19 points on five field goals and two three pointers, as well as going three of three from the line. Benson hit a three pointer on an inbound play to make it 32-14 with 2:44 left. Washington's Austin Gere hit a three at the buzzer and the half ended with the Hatchets up 37-14. In the first three minutes of the third quarter, the Hatchets would push that lead to 31 points at 49 -16. They never looked back. "We did a great job against their bigs both defensively and attack- ing them. We got both of them in foul trouble and they were non-fac- tors. However, we did not do as well against Niehaus and Wright and they really shot the ball well. Wash- ington was a very solid basketball team with a lot of experience and they played really well," said Elliott. Pike Central finished the year 3- 21. "We really faced a lot of adversity this season, losing several key play- ers for a multitude of reasons before and throughout the season. I really thought our kids did a nice job of bat- tling through that adversity. That is PCMS Charger swimmers split with Tell City An afternoon to myself CHARGERS' SEASON ENDS WITH LOSS TO HATCHETS See END on page 3 WE ARE PROFFESIONAL GRADE uebelhorgm.com 1-800-937-8721 Jasper, IN Christian Benson backs his way into the paint against a Washington defender. Benson led the Chargers with 13 points in the first-round loss. Austin Holder pulls up as he drives along the baseline. Holder had two points against Washington in the 75-36 loss in the first round of the sectional. Chargers wrestle to a 2-2 record at Titan Duals The Pike Central middle school wrestling team fin- ished with a 2-2 record at the annual Gibson Southern Titan Duals on Saturday. The Chargers defeated host Gibson Southern 54-42 and South Spencer 84-12. They were defeated by Washing- ton 52-48 and tourney cham- pions Tell City 73-21. Konner Simmons wres- tled to a 3-0 record at 220 lbs, while Gage Morton (80 lbs), Ryan Gladish (117), Aiden McGiffen (125), Sky- ler Shelton (140), Isaac Shim- er (175), and Corey Goep- pner (195) all finished with a 3-1 record. Billy Like (75), Brayden Blount (150), Jack- son Stuckey (160), and Isaac Marchino (HWT) all went 2- 2. The Chargers finish out their season with the PAC championships at Gibson Southern on Saturday. Wres- tling begins at 10 a.m.