The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1202802
The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, Januar y 22, 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 See VIKINGS on page 6 See BEARS on page 2 See RUNYAN on page 2 LADY CHARGERS SNAP 5-GAME LOSING STREAK WITH 53-41 WIN OVER VIKINGS Friday, February 7, 2020 6 AM - 9:30 AM Schedule your screening today! Call (812) 385-9437, email jjones@gibsongeneral.com, or schedule online at gibsongeneral.com/go-red. Pike Central and USI great selected to IBHOF Silver Anniversary Team By Dennis Marshall Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net The Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame recently announced former Pike Central High School and Uni- versity of Southern Indiana stand- out Adrienne Runyan, formerly Seitz, has been selected as a mem- ber of the 2020 Women's Silver An- niversary Team. "I feel very honored and sur- prised to be selected to the Silver Anniversary Team," Runyan said. "Without the support of my family, coaches, teammates, school sys- tem and fans, I wouldn't have ex- perienced the success that I was blessed to have throughout my basketball career." Runyan racked up a melody of accomplishments at Pike Central from 1992 through 1995, includ- ing AP high honorable mention all- state in 1993, 1994 and 1995; 1995 ICGSA second team all-state; 1995 North/South All-Star and HBCA East-West All-Star, after averag- ing 18.4 points and 6.7 rebounds per game her senior year. "I have a lot of great memories of playing high school basketball at Pike Central," she said. "I was fortunate to have the opportuni- ty to play for coach Steve Barrett all four years. He was very knowl- edgeable of the game and always pushed us to play harder and get better. I played with many of my teammates since the sixth grade and we had a lot of fun together, and were a very close group. Our teams were well balanced, and we played well together. You never knew from game to game who our leading scorer would be. If one of us would have a rough night or if a team was focused on shutting one of us down, someone else would step up and have a big night." Runyan finished her high school career with 1,480 points, 447 re- bounds, 264 assists and 268 steals for teams that went a combined 67- 26 and won four sectionals, four re- gionals and a Pocket Athletic Con- ference championship. She was chosen as all-sectional four times, and all-regional and all-semi-state once each. "The fan support at Pike Cen- tral during my high school career was amazing," Runyan said. "It was a great feeling to come out of the locker room for warm-ups and have an awesome crowd there to cheer us on. The sectional and re- gional championships were prob- ably my favorite memories. I re- call the fans coming down to the floor after the game to congratu- late us as we'd cut down the nets. We'd then head back to the high school gym for a pep rally and the support was just amazing." She said she also will never for- got the fun times with teammates during bud rides, locker room con- servations, challenging each oth- er in practice and supporting each other through the ups and downs. Runyan didn't play organized basketball until her fourth-grade year at Otwell, but she said she can remember shooting hoops at the gym on Sunday afternoons while her parents played volleyball with family and friends. "I have two siblings and all three of us played basketball, so I have a lot of memories of playing ball in the driveway or in the barn loft during the winter months," she said. "Our father played basket- ball in high school and he spent a lot of time working with us on fundamentals and rebounding for us. Having siblings that shared the love for the game was great as you usually had someone to practice with. The downside was that oc- casionally we were compared to each other. I always told people that I never really had a name. I was first known as Tracy's little sister, so when she graduated, I thought I'd finally have my own name. But I forgot I had a young- er brother who was really starting to get attention for his skills, so at that point, I went from being Tra- cy's little sister to now being Ad- am's sister. I was very proud to be their sister, so that didn't bother me one bit." Adam went on to play at the University of Evansville, where he introduced Runyan to one of Adrienne Runyan, formerly Seitz, helps cut down the nets after winning one of her many championships while playing for the Pike Central Lady Chargers basketball team in the mid-1990s. Bears make late comeback to take down Chargers By Dennis Marshall Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net The Pike Central wrestling team lost an exciting, tightly-contested dual meet to Evansville Central, 40 -33, at PCHS on Thursday, Jan. 16. The meet included six total lead chang- es, with the Chargers extending their lead up to seven points at one point. "This was a hard loss," Pike Central coach Ryan McCain said. "We had lots of missed opportunities, lots of close matches. We just didn't capitalize where we needed to. I knew it would be close. I had been looking over some of their wins and losses and on paper, we were pretty evenly matched." The Bears won the first two match- es to build an 11-0 lead, but the Char- gers received forfeits in the following two matches to a take a 12-11 lead. Mack Kemper secured a pin in the fi- By Dennis Marshall Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net The Pike Central girls' basketball team picked up a much needed win at North Posey (2-13, 0 -4 PAC) on Satur- day, Jan. 18. The Lady Chargers (7-11, 3-3 PAC) won 53-41 after trailing by one point at halftime. They outscored the Lady Vi- kings 32-19 in the second half. "It was a good win to pick up no doubt," Pike Central head coach Kyle McCutchan said. "We have played some very good teams and we have played well in stretches in those games, but could not get the victory, so it was nice to pick up a victory here." The win snapped a 5 -game skid for Pike Central. However, it wasn't like the Lady Chargers were losing to anyone. Their five opponents during the skid had a combined record of 65 -28. North Posey came out of halftime strong and built a six-point lead, with five minutes remaining in the third quarter, but Pike Central finished the quarter on an 11-2 run to take a three-point advan- tage heading into the fourth quarter. "We changed up defenses and we did a solid job in the second half of keeping them out of the paint, especially in the fourth quarter," McCutchan said. "We tried a 2-3 zone half court trap and man- to-man in the first half and we were not able to create enough pressure, and tried to trap a little more in the second half, but we finished in man-to-man and we were able to get stops. I'm proud of the girls for finding a way to win." Jayln Nelson played a great game of- fensively and scored a game-high 20 points. Kenzie Powell also made some big shots, including a three-point play to extend the Lady Chargers' lead to four points early in the fourth quarter. Mallo- ry Hickey also played a huge role in the win. She knocked down some clutch free throws late in the game. "She is a gamer and she did make big free throws down the stretch," Mc- Cutchan said. "I was happy for her be- cause she put in a lot of time working on her shot." Hickey finished with 13 points. Pike Central's Brandon Goep- pner attempts a single leg take- down against Evansville North on Thursday, Jan. 16. Pike Central's Mallory Hunt puts up a shot in the Lady Chargers win over North Posey on Saturday, Jan. 18.