The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1316377
The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, December 9, 2020 B-3 Tigers nip Chargers 53-42 By James Capozella Zinging the nets with five threes, including a pair from Kendric Sorgius and a last second basket courtesy of Ju- lian Gish, proved to be the right medicine in the 17-14 first quarter against the vis- iting Princeton Tigers Satur- day night. However, the Tigers bol- stered their defense in the follow-up minutes, as Julian Gish was the only one to hit a three-bagger in the second quarter. Sean Hanselman add- ed a pair of baskets in the sec- ond after his opening quarter three bagger, but the Tigers hit from the arc, inside and charity stripe to get back into it at 26 -25 by halftime. Ethan Gorby got the Char- gers even at 28 apiece with his second three of the night, but was soon on the bench with a fourth foul in the third. Hanselman later got the as- sist to Morton, who got one to go for the lead. The Tigers responded, but for each ad- vance, Chargers Howald and Sorgius, with his third three, grabbed the lead back. The Ti- gers got one to go at the wire for a 37 all tie going into the fourth. It was Sorgius hitting his fourth trey that secured a 40 - 39 edge at the beginning of the fourth, but from there, it was all downhill for the Char- gers, as the Tigers made a nine-point run, save a pair of free throws from Chargers Gish and Morton. Tiger Jurrian Ballard, Dom- inic Hardiman and Drew Mor- ris all had multiple fourth quarter baskets, while Rhett Thompson canned a three pointer, helping to outscore the Chargers 16 -5 in the final stanza. Gorby was the rebound leader with two offensive and six defensive, and shot two of four from the arc. Hanselman made four assists and was four of eight from the floor with one steal. Morton had two deflections, a steal and three rebounds. Sorgius was four of six from the three-point range, lead in scoring with 12 points, and made three assists and five defensive rebounds. Howald was two of four from the floor, grabbed three re- bounds, had one deflection and one assist. Gish was one of two from the arc, made two offensive rebounds and two as- sists. Charger head coach Hunt- er Elliott commented, "I was very proud with how hard we played and battled in this game. It was a very close game the whole way and I re- ally thought the boys left it all out there on the floor. They played only seniors and we played several underclass- men, so stepping up to that level of physicality and hold- ing our own was great to see. We also finally showed how well we can shoot the basket- ball. I have been saying all year how well this team can shoot and they finally showed that. "We did a much better job on the glass as well. I thought Gorby really battled inside and led us with 10 rebounds. Sean Hanselman really played a heck of a game. He handled the ball a lot for us and had hands on him all night. I was very proud of the way our kids handled themselves, even when it got a little chippy. "That is something that we are very, very big on and I was proud of the way they re- sponded. Gorby fouling out at the beginning of the fourth quarter hurt us. We still had some opportunities, but were unable to capitalize on them. It was great to see that first three by Kendric go in to start the game. "I felt like that was a weight lifted off his shoulders. I know he had been frustrated on how he had been shooting the ball. I was very happy to see him be able to show what he can do. It was a very hard-fought game, just like it was last year. I know this is a team our boys would really like to have an- other shot at in sectional this year." The Charger junior varsity had a good first quarter out- ing, with Jagar Dent, Zane Gehlhausen, Chase Ridao and Ethan Meadors all get- ting on the scoreboard, but a goose egg second quarter sent them to the locker room down 18 -12. It took all of the third quarter and all but the last minute to make it up for an even steven 39 -all on Ash- ton Evans' basket with 49 sec- onds remaining. Princeton got to the line for two of two, cour- tesy Matthew McDaniel with 29 seconds to go. Jeremiah Johnson was forced to send Tanner Engelbrecht to the line, hitting the bonus for a 42-39 advantage. Meadors, Gehlhausen, Rid- ao and Evans teamed for 19 fourth-quarter markers, and Meadors got the last chance with a beyond the arc hurry up shot that rimmed out at the buzzer. Meadors finished with 12, Ridao 11 and Gelhau- sen 10. Dent had two baskets before fouling out and Evans had one basket in the fourth. Chargers: 17 25 37 42 Tigers: 14 30 37 53 Pike Central: Sorgius: 0 4 0 -0 3 12, Brown: 0 0 0 -0 0 0, Boyd: 0 0 0 -0 0 0, Gorby: 0 2 0 -0 5 7, Traylor: 0 0 0 -0 0 0, Hanselman: 3 1 0 -0 0 9, Clark: 0 0 0 -0 1 0, Young: 0 0 0 -0 0 0, Morton: 1 0 2-1 0 3, Howald: 1 1 0 -0 4 5, Gish: 1 1 2-1 0 6. To- tals: 6 9 4-2 13 42. 17 8 12 5 -42 Princeton: Ballard: 6 2 2- 2 0 20, Hardiman: 3 0 2-1 2 7, Huey: 3 0 0 -0 1 6, Hurt: 1 0 2- 1 1 3, Thompson: 1 2 4-2 2 10, Morris: 3 0 3-1 2 7, Cochren: 0 0 0 -0 1 0, Richeson: 0 0 1-0 0 0, Heldt: 0 0 0 -0 0 0. Totals: 17 4 14-7 9 53. 14 12 11 16 -53 Charger JV: 12 12 20 39 Tiger JV: 10 18 33 42 Pike Central: Howald: 0 0 0 -0 0 0, Evans: 1 0 0 -0 4 2, Meadors: 2 2 3-2 0 12, Ridao: 2 2 2-1 1 11, Dent: 2 0 0 -0 5 4, Gelhausen: 2 2 1-0 3 10, Sale: 0 0 0 -0 0 0, MIller: 0 0 0 -0 1 0, Johnson: 0 0 0 -0 0 0, Taylor: 0 0 0 -0 0 0. Totals: 9 6 6 -3 14 39. 12 0 8 19 -39 Princeton: Engelbrecht: 2 0 5 -2 1 6, Coomer: 2 0 4-3 3 7, Regg McIntyre: 2 1 0 -0 3 7, Wethington: 1 0 2-2 0 4, Regi McIntyre: 2 0 0 -0 4 4,Kieg: 0 0 0 -0 0 0, Durham: 0 0 0 -0 0 0, McDaniel: 0 0 2-2 2 2, McCa- rty: 0 0 0 -0 0 0, Hale: 5 0 3-2 1 12. Totals: 14 1 16 -11 14 42. 10 8 15 9 -42 Forest Park Rangers surge in fourth for 72-47 win PC freshmen combine for 26 markers By James Capozella The Pike Central Chargers got behind 16 -6 in the opening period with the visiting For- est Park Rangers and played fairly even for the next two quarters, until Rangers Drew Howard and Blake Hagedorn lead a 26 -point fourth-quarter scoring spree that tipped the scales much further than the first-quarter deficit. Charger freshmen Quade Morton and Julian Gish were good for 13 and 10 points re- spectively and senior Aden Brown hit the mark for a pair of threes and a basket totaling eight points. Down 16 -6 at the start, How- ald saved the day in that first quarter with a three bagger and a basket offsetting eight baskets shared by Rangers Drew Howard, Wade Leonard, Blake Haedorn and Landon Nalley. Morton, Howald, Gish and Brown combined for 11 points for the 29 -17 halftime. Gish, Brown, Ethan Gorby, Sean Hanselman and Howald combined for 16 third quar- ter markers, but five Rang- ers got to the hoop for a 17- 16 edge in the third. In the fourth, there was no stopping Hagedorn, Howard and Leon- ard as they accounted for 19 of their team's 26 fourth-quar- ter points. The three ball was good for 18 points, with Quade Morton and Kendric Sorgius leading the way with two each; how- ever, it was the second half where Julian Gish, Quade Morton and Aden Brown shined with a combined 22 points. Sophomore Peyton Howald contributed seven markers out of the 17-point Charger first half. Morton and Peyton Howard got first- half threes to go and baskets by Howald, Quade Morton and Julian Gish made up the rest. Julian Gish and Aden Brown got the Chargers to a 12-point halftime deficit as the Rang- ers matched the hoops in the third to maintain a lead at 46 - 33 edge going into the fourth. Charger junior Alex Clark got to the line for two, mak- ing it a 60 -42 contest and a Morton trey brought it to 60 - 45, but the Rangers respond- ed with 12 unanswered points to put even more distance be- tween the two teams. Morton was five of seven from the floor, made two as- sists and had one steal. Ken- dric Sorgius made three de- fensive rebounds, Ethan Gor- by had three total, and Se- an Hanselman and Howald grabbed two. Hanselman made three assists, and Mor- ton and Gish each accounted for two. Gish had two steals, and Morton and Aden Brown each had one. Pike Central head coach Hunter Elliott said, "For- est Park was a game that I thought we might struggle to play against their physicality and I believe that was the big- gest difference in the game. They were much stronger physically than we were and that limited us on offense and also made it tough to get the stops and rebounds on the other side. If this game does not show all of our young kids the importance of the weight room I am not sure what will. That is an area that we must really focus on moving for- ward in the season and out of season. I know we are young but we have to really dedicate ourselves to getting stronger. "The final score did not in- dicate the game that it was whatsoever. It was a 4-8 point game for three quarters. We still need to do a better job of understanding situations and when to shoot and when to be more patient. We had some Charger Ashton Evans goes up against the Prince- ton JV in Saturday's 42-39 loss. James Capozella photos Charger freshman Quade Morton got by a group of Tiger defenders on his way to the basket in the third quarter of Saturday's contest. Charger Julian Gish hooped 10 points going to the basket against the Forest Park Rangers last Friday night. James Capozella photos Charger Jeremiah Johnson goes up to defend with a block in the junior varsity contest with Forest Park on Friday. See SURGRE on page 6