The Press-Dispatch
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The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, December 11, 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 See GORBY on page 3 See STREAK on page 4 LADY CHARGERS RIDING HIGH WITH THREE-GAME WIN STREAK See REITZ on page 12 Chargers wrestling places fifth at Reitz Tournament By Dennis Marshall Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net The Pike Central wrestling team competed in its first tourna- ment of the season at Evansville F.J. Reitz on Saturday, Dec. 7. The Chargers placed fifth as team and had two individuals place second in their weight classes. "Overall, I thought we did well," Pike Central coach Ryan McCain said. "We still have a lot to work on." Isaiah Greer and Joe Cannon advanced to the championship matches of the 113- and 145 -pound weight classes, respectively, be- fore coming up just short. Each lost by pin fall in the first period of their matches. "They both looked fantastic throughout the day," McCain said. "They both came up short in the finals though against some good kids, but they had some good com- petition through the day, and that's what we need." Wyatt Frasure finished third at 170. He defeated Reitz's Trevor Johnson by a 10 -3 decision in the third-place match. "He ran into a tough guy from Mount Vernon in the semifinals," McCain said. "He gave up a big move early in the match. He had to battle back, but came up short. He looked really good though in his third-place match." Brandon Goeppner was fourth at 132. He came up just short in the third-place match to Mount Ver- non's Matthias Gates by a close 5 - 2 decision. "He's been working hard and seems to get better every week," McCain said. The Chargers had four athletes place sixth, three athletes place seventh and two athletes place eighth. Cody Davis (220), Corey Goep- pner (195), Jager Gladish (160) and Jackson Stuckey (152) were sixth; Dalton Williams (120), Ry- an Gladish (126) and Blake Hen- son (138) were seventh; and Grif- fin Boyd (106) and Kale Speedy (182) were eighth. Mount Vernon won the tourna- ment with 214 total team points. They were followed by Reitz (183.5), Tell City (178) and Jasper (170.5). Pike Central finished ahead of Owensboro (70), McCracken County (64) and Fort Campbell (55). PCHS DEFEATS PRINCETON, WASHINGTON Pike Central traveled to Wash- ington on Wednesday, Dec. 4 to compete in a triangular meet with Princeton and Washington. "Our guys came out ready to wrestle," McCain said. "I didn't see any jitters with it being our first meet. I know we're still a pret- ty young team, so that was nice to see. We've been busting our butts for a month so these guys were ready for some action, and it showed." The Chargers took on the Hatchets first and won 65 -12. The team competed in just five match- es, with Pike Central winning three and Washington winning two. The Chargers' Brandon Goep- pner (132) and Stuckey (152) won by pin fall, while Cannon won by a technical fall. "Jon Cannon started us off and he had an older kid that was a sol- [Isaiah Greer and Joe Cannon] both looked fantastic throughout the day. They both came up short in the finals though against some good kids, but they had some good competition through the day, and that's what we need." -Coach Ryan McCain Above: Pike Central's Brandon Goeppner looks to pin his opponent at Washing- ton on Wednesday, Dec. 4. Right: The Chargers' Wy- att Frasure slams an oppo- nent at Washington. Photos contributed. Gorby emerges as Chargers nearly upset No. 4 Tigers By Dennis Marshall Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net Pike Central junior Ethan Gor- by hasn't just brought a spark to the Chargers' basketball team the last two games, he's brought the whole fire. Gorby played a great game as Pike Central nearly pulled off the upset at Class 3A No. 4 ranked Princeton on Saturday, Dec. 7. He finished with 13 points, five rebounds, three assists and a steal in the 46 -43 loss to the Tigers (3- 0, 0 -0 Big Eight) "I have been on him all year to look to catch and shoot, and to- night he did that very well, going 3- of-4 from 3-point range," Pike Cen- tral coach Hunter Elliott said. "I know he is one of the best shooters in the area and I hope this helped open his eyes to what he is capa- ble of." Not only has Gorby being mak- ing a huge impact on the court, but he is also one of the team's best leaders and sets a great example with his work ethic. "He comes in early almost ev- eryday to work on his game be- fore school," Elliott said. "He runs cross country to make sure he is in the best shape possible come the start of the season, I mean the kid is just a flat out worker and that rubs off on his teammates. I real- ly can't say enough good things By Dennis Marshall Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net The Pike Central girls' basket- ball team extended its winning streak to three games with a 46 - 35 victory over South Spencer (1- 9, 0 -2 PAC) on Monday, Dec. 9. The Lady Chargers (5 -4, 2-0 PAC) have won five of their past six games and appear to be firing on all cylinders. "We struggled a little bit in the first half, missing open shots, but our defense kept us in the game," Pike Central head coach Kyle Mc- Cutchan said. "Second half, we started to be a little more aggres- sive getting to the paint and we hit a couple 3-pointers." The Rebels started off strong and built a 15 -10 lead at the end of the first quarter, but the Char- gers' defense tightened and held South Spencer to just one point in the second quarter to take a 17-16 halftime advantage. "South Spencer packed in a zone and made us hit from out- side," McCutchan said. "We have some good shooters, but we were just off tonight. We made enough plays offensively and played good defense to pull out the win." Lauren Vaughn and Mallory Hickey led Pike Central with 12 and 10 points, respectively. Oth- er Chargers' scorers were Kail- ee Mann (8), Jenna Horrall (5), Kya Leighty (4) and Kenzie Pow- ell (1). PCHS FINISHES STRONG FOR WIN Pike Central trailed Barr- Reeve (0 -7, 0 -0 Blue Chip) by eight points early in the fourth quarter, but the Chargers held the Vikings scoreless the final six minutes of the game to pre- vail 45 -37, on Thursday, Dec. 5. "Our overall defense did a good job keeping them to under 40 points and that is what won us the game," McCutchan said. "Our man-to-man defense was just average in the first half, so we mixed up our zone defenses in the second half and that worked well for us until the last couple minutes of the third quarter. I also thought we were just going through the motions on offense in the second and third quarters, not playing with a purpose and so we struggled to score. The Chargers went to a trap- ping defense in the fourth quar- ter, were more aggressive on of- fense and made some big plays on both ends of the court. Nelson, Horrall and Leighty did a nice job of looking to attack off the dribble. Hunt and Hickey finished well, and Mann and Pow- ell provided a nice spark off the bench. "It was a great team effort and I was proud of the way we have played in crunch time these past two games," McCutchan said. Vaughn led Pike Central with 17 points. "She shot the ball well and she is a big difference maker for us because when she is playing well, we are that much tougher to beat," McCutchan said. "She is our main ball handler and also is the point of our zone defenses and does a good job of getting in- to the passing lanes." Hickey added eight, Hunt had seven, Nelson chipped in six, Leighty finished with three, and Horrall and Mann each added two. LADY CHARGERS GROUND THUNDERBIRDS Pike Central started its current winning-streak with a 49 -33 win against Eastern Greene (2-7, 0 -1 Southwestern Indiana) on Tues- day, Dec. 3. The Chargers jumped out to a 20 -11 lead at halftime, but the Thunderbirds came out of half- time and made three straight shots, and narrowed the score to 24-23. "Defensively, we started mak- Above: Jayln Nelson dribbles past a Barr-Reeve defender in Pike Central's 45-37 win at home on Wednesday, Dec. 4. Below: The Chargers' Jenna Horrall drives to the basket during Pike Central's 46-35 win against South Spencer at PCHS on Monday, Dec. 9. Pike Central's Ethan Gor- by goes up for a shot against Southridge at PCHS on Tuesday, Dec. 3.