The Press-Dispatch
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The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, March 11, 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 SECTIONAL on page 2 See DUALS on page 5 See R AIDERS on page 3 See COACH on page 2 www.UebelhorGM.com • Jasper • 1-800-937-8721 CHARGERS PUT UP VALIANT EFFORT AT SECTIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP By Andy Heuring Press-Dispatch Sports sports@pressdispatch.net Pike Central's basketball season ended Friday night at the hands of the eventual Vincennes sectional champi- on Washington. Despite the 76 -35 score, the Chargers put up a valiant effort as they were com- petitive before eventually being overtak- en by the 20 -5 Hatches, who beat Sulli- van 69 -60 on Saturday in the sectional championship. "They are a very talented and good team. There is a reason they have the record they have," said Charger Coach Hunter Elliott. Back on January 25, Pike Central took the worst defeat of their season during an early blowout by the Hatchets. Fast forward five weeks and the Chargers, at least for the first quarter, looked like a much-improved team. "We knew we were better than when we played that game," said Elliott. Pike Central went 2:33 before they fi- nally got on the board with a nifty drive by senior Ethan Scott. Because they had played scrappy enough defense, Scott's first of his team-high 12 points tied the game at 2-2. It was another 90 seconds before ei- ther team scored. Washington's Kiowa Jones dropped the first of four threes on the night to give the Hatchets as 5 - 2 lead. Scott weaved his way through a cou- ple of Hatchet defenders and hit a layup over Washington's 6'5" Trey Reed. Then junior guard Sean Hanselman drilled a three-pointer with 4:10 left in the first quarter to give the Chargers their first and only lead of the game, 7- 5. Jones hit his second three at the 3:58 mark and another 10 -footer at the 3:15 mark, putting Washington up 10 -7. Two more threes by Washington helped push the Hatchet's 15 -2 run that had them leading 20 -9 after one quarter. The one bright spot for Pike Central during the run was a steal by Scott. He picked a driving Hatchet clean, then went the length of the floor for a score. The Chargers were outscored 16 -7 in the second quarter, as Washington was putting intense defensive pressure on Pike Central. Grant Niehaus heated up, scoring nine of his game-high 23 points in the second quarter. He would score 11 more in the third quarter and Jones added eight, including a two threes in the quarter. Washington stretched their lead to 58 -24. In the fourth quarter, Joah Hor- rall came off the bench and hit three three-pointers, as Washington put up the final margin of 76 -35. Senior Hunter DeHaven, playing in his last game for the Chargers, scored 10 points off the bench. Elliott said, "Our record doesn't' re- ally show the direction we are headed." He said they have gotten better as the season went on, with several young- er players stepping in and improving. "Last quarter to third of the season, younger guys had to step up due to in- juries and they played well. We were competitive and played right with most of the teams. I think it bodes very well for next year." "At the beginning of the season, I wouldn't have expected Peyton (How- ald), a freshman, to have played varsity. He had to fill in and he was more than just filling a role. He played well for us," said Elliott. He also said the play of juniors Ethan Gorby and Sean Hanselman improved the second half of the season. He said other young players, like sophomore Al- ex Clark and freshmen Kendric Sorgi- us, getting playing time at the varsity level will be a big help to them. Pike Central grad is a 'work in progress' college coach By James Capozella Press-Dispatch Sports sports@pressdispatch.net Noah Croak has set some im- pressive milestones for both him- self and schools in Kentucky, Kansas and Florida, following a sports management degree from Indiana University. The former 2016 Pike Central boys' basket- ball team member has now com- plied an 89 -36 overall collegiate coaching record, having coached 13 players that have moved on to professional contracts in his four years of coaching at three differ- ent schools. Croak said he spent some years at eight-time Division II national champion Kentucky Wesleyan Col- lege before moving to Dodge City Community College in Kansas. At age 21, he became the youngest salaried coach ever in Dodge City, Kan. He completed his sports man- agement degree from Indiana Uni- versity online this past spring. Croak said, "I now coach ju- nior college at Tallahassee Com- munity College in the state capi- tal of Florida. This junior college is a two-year institution, where of- ten times the most successful bas- ketball programs take Division I bounce backs and have them for a year, graduate with an associate's and then move back to DI. This lets them avoid a year of having to sit out in the NCA A as a redshirts transfer." Croak is the assistant men's bas- ketball coach/recruiting coordina- tor and has since signed seven Di- vision I transfers. Tallahassee CC was ranked pre-season number two in the country and has never dropped lower than number 10 in the country throughout the year. The record this year is 27-6 over- all. They won the Panhandle Con- ference for the first time since 2001. That puts them in the Na- tional Tournament in Hutchinson, Kan., which will air live on CBS Sports Network March 16 through 21, according to Croak. Coach Croak said, "With many Division I coaches coming through our gyms to recruit our players, it is attractive to me to work at the junior college level and make as many connections as possible. Noah Croak is a 2016 Pike Central grad and a member of the sectional championship Char- ger basketball team. He is now a men's assistant coach at Tallahassee CC, having completed his sports management degree through Indiana University. Swimmers score wins over Raiders By James Capozella Press-Dispatch Sports sports@pressdispatch.net Pike Central middle school tankers pocketed PAC wins for both the boys' and girls' teams on Thursday, March 5, with scores of 130 -29 and 90 - 62 respectively. The Charger boys claimed nine first place ribbons, including a sweep of six events. The girls posted three wins and seven seconds in their Pocket Athletic Conference win. Awstyn Luff won the 50 fly (34.89) and 200 free (2:33.07), was a part of the winning 200 medley re- lay ( Wyatt Luff, Ty DeCoursey, Awstyn Luff and PCMS goes 1-3 at Titan Duals Morton and Goins finish 4-0 The Pike Central Middle School Charger wres- tlers finished the Gibson Southern Titan Duals on Saturday with a 1-3 record. Gage Morton, at 85 pounds, and Hayden Goins, at 220, finished the Saturday event undefeated at 4-0. Skylar Shelton and Isaac Shimer each had three wins, and Briar Thomas, Matt Hayes and Aiden McGriffen each had two. Ty DeCoursey took a third in the 50 breast and a fifth in the 100 IM at Tell City. He was a part of the 400 free relay including Max Burkhart, Griffin Correll and Xander Parker. Gage Morton won his 85-pound match against South Spencer and finished the Saturday Titan Duals with a 4-0 record, as did Hayden Goins (220). James Capo- zella photo Charger guard Sean Hanselman goes up for a layup in traffic during Pike Central's game against Washington on Friday night in the section- als. Washington won 76-35.