The Press-Dispatch
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B-4 Sports Wednesday, December 11, 2019 The Press-Dispatch ing stops and getting in the passing lanes, and out- scored them 26 -10 to finish the game off," McCutchan said. "Lauren Vaughn hit a big 3-pointer at the very end of the third to put us up 10 and we never looked back. I was proud of our defense and the last 12 minutes, we played really well." Nelson led the Chargers with 13 points. She was fol- lowed by Vaughn (10), Hunt (7), Powell (7), Leighty (4), Horrall (4), Hickey (3) and Mann (2). Pike Central will be on the road at Southridge (5 -5, 1-1 PAC) on Thursday, Dec. 12, and will host Evansville Bosse (0 -7, 0 -1 SIAC) on Sat- urday, Dec. 14. STREAK Continued from page 1 Pike Central junior forward Kailee Mann drives past a Barr-Reeve defender on Wednesday, Dec. 4. Pike Central junior forward Mallory Hickey finishes strong at the basket against Barr-Reeve on Wednesday, Dec. 4. Pike Central junior guard Kenzie Powell shoots a free throw against Barr-Reeve on Wednesday, Dec. 4. Pike Central freshman guard Jasmine Leighty drives past a South Spencer defender on Monday, Dec. 9 in a junior varsity contest. Pike Central freshman guard Kahle Young competes during the Chargers' junior varsity game against South Spencer on Monday, Dec. 9. Rebels snap JV Lady Chargers' winning streak By Dennis Marshall Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net The Pike Central ju- nior varsity girls' basket- ball team's two-game win- ning streak came to end at the hands of South Spencer, 43-33, on Monday, Dec. 9 at PCHS. "We came out slow in the South Spencer game," Pike Central coach Eric Knight said. "Just could not get any momentum going with Chloe Williams' injury com- ing back up. I was down to five girls for this game." The Rebels started out in a 1-3-1 zone, which gave the Chargers some good looks, but the shoots just wouldn't go down. "Defensively, we were not our normal selves," Knight said. "A fter three quarters of play, we were down 15 and started getting it together. We started playing a little harder on defense, but fell short late in the game. We will continue to work on play- ing hard for four quarters." Liberty Taylor led Pike Central with 16 points. She was followed by Hailey Park- er with six, Delaney Welch with four, Kahle Young with four and Tiffany Artega with three. The team defeated Barr- Reeve, 40 -37, in overtime at PCHS on Thursday, Dec. 5. It was the Lady Chargers' first home game of season. "In my eyes, as a coach, it was their best game this year," Knight said. "They played very good team ball, played their hearts out on de- fense and never quit fight- ing. We were down late in the fourth. The girls kept attacking and never slowed down to give them a shot to win the game in regulation." Score was tied 37-37 at the end of the regulation, with Pike Central holding Barr- Reeve scoreless in overtime. Parker had her best game of the season. She knocked down three 3-pointers and finished with 11 points. "The girls had a chance to hit the game winner in the fourth, but couldn't get the ball to fall," Knight said. "As we went in overtime, the girls kept up the inten- sity and this gave them the win on their first home game of the year against a really good Barr-Reeve JV team." The Lady Chargers' guards were able to find Tay- lor and Williams down low and the Lady Vikings had no answer. Taylor finished with 16, Young had eight, Williams chipped in three, and Artega and Welch each scored two. Pike Central also won against Eastern Greene, 36 - 33, on Tuesday, Dec. 3 at PCHS. "The girls took home their first win of the season with the help of team work and de- fense," Knight said. It was Williams' first game back in the rotation. She led the team with 13. "This really helped us out underneath and also able to sub in a kid now," Knight said. "The girls are improv- ing every game and confi- dence is building up." Young also had a big game playing point guard and fin- ished with eight. "She took care of the ball and also got the girls going into the offense," Knight said. "Liberty Taylor was a factor down low. This young lady plays her heart out ev- ery game. She battled for everything underneath and was able to get to the foul line throughout the whole game. I was glad to see them get this first win and see how we can build on that." Other scorers were Taylor with eight, Parker with six and Artega with one. The team has two more games before the holiday break. They play at South- ridge on Thursday, Dec. 12, and host Evansville Bosse on Saturday, Dec. 14. Pike Central Middle School Basketball Roundup By Dennis Marshall Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net The Pike Central eighth- grade boys' basketball team improved to 7-0 with three wins during the past week. The team defeated Tecum- seh, 43-26, at home on Mon- day, Dec. 9. "We didn't come out sharp and didn't play our best bas- ketball in the first half," Pike Central coach JJ Howald said. "We always talk about how the toughest team wins and we weren't in the first half. Got back to our brand of ball in the second and finished out a great win." The Chargers were led by the dynamic duo of Quade Morton and Julian Gish. Morton had 19 points and Gish had 14. They were fol- lowed by Zane Gehlhausen (5), Ethan Meadors (4) and Chase Ridao (1). Pike Central also defeated Barr-Reeve, 37-33, in over- time at home on Saturday, Dec. 7. "It was the best defen- sive game we have played all year," Howald said. "Barr Reeve is always a really well- coached team that will throw a ton of sets at you. Kids did a really good job of talking and taking them out of what they wanted to do. They ran a 1- 3-1 trap the whole game de- fensively and we did a really good job of attacking it smart and aggressively. We only had six turnovers the whole game. They hit a despera- tion 3-pointer at the buzzer to send it to overtime and I am really proud of the kids for not putting their heads down. They took advantage of the free basketball and fin- ished the game." Morton finished with 19, Gish had 10, Meadors chipped in four, and Ridao and Gehlhausen scored two each. The team won at home against Princeton, 42-34, on Thursday, Dec. 5. "It was an all-around, great team win," Howald said. "It was a two-point game at half- time and we came out and played our best quarter of the year in the third. Zane Gehl- hausen made the biggest play of the game in the third, tak- ing a charge that really gave us momentum and we fin- ished the game strong." Gish led the Chargers with 17. He was followed by Mor- ton (14), Meadors (6) and Ridao (5). 7TH GRADE RESULTS Things didn't go quite as well for the seventh-grade team. They beat Tecumseh, 43- 15, at home on Monday, Dec. 9. It was the team's first win of the season. Their record is now 1-6. "Defense won this game," Jake Robinette said. "We started full court press at halftime and absolutely shut down Tecumseh. We got sev- eral steals and a lot of points in transition in the second half. We held them to just two points in the entire sec- ond half. These kids deserve a win like this. They were do- ing things right, that makes a good team. We were break- ing their 1-2-1-1 pressure. We shot the ball. We were ag- gressive on defense. We ex- ecuted the offense." Noah Meece led the team with 11 points. "Noah Meece knocked down three 3-pointers on four attempts," Robinette said. "He was feeling it from outside. In the beginning of the season, I would have to tell him to take those shots. It's starting to become au- tomatic for him to be more offensive minded when it comes to being open." Drew Dawson added nine points. "He has provided a huge spark lately," Robinette said. "He's playing aggressive. He had to have at least six or more steals. I challenged him to drive inside the lane more often and attack the rim. We saw that, as Drew got to the free throw line six times." They were followed by Brenton Fryrear (8), Bar- rett Cooper (4), Jake Pauw (4), Arie O'Neal (3), Mat- thew Meadows (2) and Kole Besing (2). "This is a huge team ef- fort tonight," Robinette said. "We gave it 110 percent all four quarters. Even some guys that got in late, got in the scoring column." The B Team won 6 -4. Kole Besing scored four and Conner Loveless had two. "The B Team got us start- ed off with a win and the A Team finished off the night," Robinette said. "Kole Besing handled the point for us and led the team in scoring. Conner Loveless pulled in several rebounds and had a put back off an offensive re- bound. It was fun watching these boys compete. I saw a lot of good things. Jakob Newkirk continues to im- press me. He showed a lot of leadership and took charge when he was on the court." The Chargers' A Team lost, 34-12, at home to Barr- Reeve on Saturday, Dec. 7. "Barr-Reeve was another undefeated team with some good talent," Robinette said. "We got into some foul trou- ble late in the first half and Barr-Reeve got a big chunk of their lead in that time." The B Team lost 7-6. "When practices started this season, we didn't have any B games scheduled," Robinette said. "I'm thank- ful that varsity head coach Hunter Elliott and Athlet- ic Director Dustin Powell were able to contact some of the schools on our schedule and get these B games set- up." Pike Central also lost to Princeton, 24-8, at home on Thursday, Dec. 5. "It was another game that we put together almost three quarters of competitive bas- ketball," Robinette said. "The last minute of the third quarter and into the fourth, we stopped being able to han- dle the pressure and forced a lot of bad passes, causing turnovers and quick points for Princeton. We took a lot of great shots tonight, but noth- ing was falling for us." The seventh- and eighth- grade team will travel to Jasper on Thursday, Dec. 12. The eighth-grade only will play at North Daviess on Monday, Dec. 16. Both teams will be back in action on Tuesday, Dec. 17 at For- est Park.