The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1198314
The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, Januar y 8, 2020 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 CHARGER WRESTLING WINS SALEM TOURNAMENT See SALEM on page 2 See LOSS on page 3 www.UebelhorGM.com Jasper • 1-800-937-8721 CHEVROLET Cannon named most outstanding wrestler By Dennis Marshall Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net The Pike Central wrestling team had a speculator weekend at the Salem Super Six Tournament. The Chargers went 5 -0 by de- feating North Knox, Silver Creek, Borden, Salem and Crawford County, and had the tournament's most outstanding wrestler in Jon Cannon. "This was a great tournament for us," Pike Central head coach Ryan McCain said. "I'm very proud of all these guys and the work they put in to bring home that trophy. I thought we wrestled really good at Harrison and were coming off that with some good momentum. We took a little break over the hol- idays to get rested up, so I had to make sure I had these guys ready. I stressed over and over again that we could win this tournament and that this would also set us up nice- ly to make this last push for a win- ning record this season." Pike Central improved its over- all team record to 14-12, with sev- en regular season matches re- maining this season. "We have to keep that momen- tum going," McCain said. In addition to receiving the award for the most outstanding wrestler, Cannon also earned an award for recording the fastest pin of the tournament. "Jon Cannon looked great," Mc- Cain said. "We were told in the coaches meeting they were award- ing a fastest pin award. Jon was the very first match of the tourney and went out there and recorded an 11-second pin [against Silver Creek]. It's hard to beat that. He wrestled solid all day against some petty good opponents." The Chargers finished the tournament with eight undefeat- ed wrestlers in Isaiah Greer, Dal- ton Williams, Blake Henson, Can- non, Jackson Stuckey, Hayden Mc- Dowell, Jagar Gladish and Corey Goeppner. "Our younger guys really stepped up this weekend as well," McCain said. "Jackson Stuck- ey and Corey Goeppner are both freshmen, they wrestled some good matches and went undefeat- ed on the day. So did Hayden Mc- Dowell. He's a first-year wrestler, but an extremely hard worker who keeps getting better." Pike Central is back in action on Saturday, Jan. 11 at the Forest Park Invite. "We got to work hard this week Jon Cannon poses with his most outstanding wrestler tro- phy after competing in the Salem Super Six Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 4. Cannon also earned the award for the fast- est pin. Photo contributed. Wildcats zone defense stifles Lady Chargers By Dennis Marshall Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net The Pike Central girls' bas- ketball team led Jasper by four points at halftime, but the Wild- cats switched to a match-up zone defense to start the second half and were able to muzzle the Lady Chargers (6 -8, 2-2 PAC). Jasper (7-8, 0 -2 Big Eight) end- ed up winning 47-33 at PCHS on Monday, Dec. 30. "I thought that we played well in the first half of the game and the score did not quite indicate how we kind of controlled the game," Pike Central head coach Kyle Mc- Cutchan said. "They extended their zone out and played a little unconventional, having [Brooke] Nottingham almost chase the ball up top and we got a little too pas- sive against it, only looking to pass the ball than attack the gaps of the zone." The Wildcats were led by the trio of Brooke Nottingham (15 points), Kendyl Ruhe (11) and As- pen Sermersheim (10). "We missed several free throws and also had a couple of costly turnovers that lead to layups for them," McCutchan said. "We got some great looks early, but could not convert and they got a little more aggressive on offense and got to the free throw line. I did not do a good enough job of conveying how to attack it and that is some- thing that we will have to spend extra time on. "It's frustrating to lose a game where we did a lot of good things in the first half, but I think our ef- fort has been very good this past month and that is something that we can build off of going forward the rest of the season." Kenzie Powell scored six of her seven points late in the game on two clutch 3-pointers while try- ing to will Pike Central back in the game, but Jasper's offense was too strong. The Lady Chargers were led in scoring by Kya Leighty with nine. Other scorers for Pike Cen- tral were Lauren Vaughn (6), Jen- na Horrall (5), Mallory Hickey (4) and Mallory Hunt (2). The team will be back in ac- tion on Thursday, Jan. 9, when they host Washington (9 -3, 2-1 Big Eight). They will also be on the road at Forest Park (10 -6, 2-3 PAC) on Saturday, Jan. 11, and at Loogootee (13-1, 3-0 Blue Chip) on Tuesday, Jan. 14. Lady Chargers JV takes tough loss By Dennis Marshall Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net The Pike Central junior var- sity girls' basketball team suf- fered a tough loss to Jasper, 35 - 19 on Monday, Dec. 30. The Lady Chargers start- ed the game off hot with Kah- le Young knocking down three consecutive shots and the team working hard on defense to build a 12-10 lead at the end of the first quarter. But Pike Cen- tral hit a brick wall in the sec- ond quarter and were held to just one point. "Jasper responded and out- worked us on the floor the rest of the game," Pike Central JV coach Eric Knight said. "We, as a team, need to compete and play with hustle and heart for four quarters. Turnovers were a big factor tonight. Jasper gave us some fits defensively and we had too many turnovers." Jasper was led by Kennedy Mathies, who scored a game- high 12 points. Knight said he liked how Delany Welch played for the Lady Chargers. "She worked hard on trying to get open," he said. "She used the backdoor cuts and basket cuts well. She looked to drive and score. We will need more of this out of her as we contin- ue through the year." Liberty Taylor also had a sol- id game playing underneath in the post. "She battled for rebounds and does a good job of posting up and fighting for position, and working her way around people," Knight said. "Liberty picked up early fouls that forced me to sit her in the second." Kahle Young led the team with nine points. She was fol- lowed by Taylor (6), Chloe Wil- liams (3) and Keena Young (1). The Lady Chargers JV team is undersized and inexperi- enced this year, but there is a lot the team can learn from each game. "We know we have to out- work and outhustle our oppo- nent to compete in most of the games," Knight said. "I like that we are playing tougher teams so we can build and learn from it. We just need to really work hard on trying to outhustle teams, battle harder and play tougher. These are things we can work on in practice and Mallory Hickey pushes the ball up the court for Pike Central against Jasper on Monday, Dec. 30. The Pike Central wrestling team stands for a photo after going 5-0 at the Salem Super Six Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 4. Photo contributed.