The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1338229
The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, Feburar y 10, 2021 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 Head football coach resigns By James Capozella Third year Charger grid iron head coach Dave Stephens has officially resigned as of January 18. Stephens said, "I resigned due to getting married to my fi- ancée, Kate Waters, and building a new house in Ellettsville. Leav- ing Pike County was a family de- cision. I loved my time as a coor- dinator and head coach at Pike Central High School. I was able to develop lifelong relationships with players and coaches. "I am very appreciative of the support of the community and it was the greatest honor of my life to be the head coach at Pike Cen- tral. Pike will always hold a spe- cial place in my thoughts. Foot- ball-wise, I have accepted a posi- tion at Owen Valley High School as the assistant head coach and offensive coordinator. Owen Val- ley is located 10 miles from my new house that I am building." MEYER REPEATS AS SECTIONAL DIVING CHAMP Lady Chargers place eighth By James Capozella Senior Jenna Meyer had a great day in diving, putting herself in good position early by taking the lead and never looking back during the sec- tional championship at Castle on Saturday, according to coach Jason McKinney. He added, "She was con- sistent with every dive and held the lead to the end. Jenna went to sec- tional knowing she had to have a great day on the board because the competition was very strong." Jen- na scored 313.60, bettering Jasper's Taylor Bachman and Lady Raider Ana Hewitt. Lady Charger coach Travis Co- chren commented, "The girls did great at the sectionals and as a whole this season. To no surprise, it was a difficult season with ma- ny unknowns and obstacles. This group of girls shined through it all though. They had fun, and swam hard no matter what we asked them to swim. Everyone on the team made progress with their events as the sea- Chargers fall to Rebels 65-40 By Mike Sandifar "We just cannot continue to play really well for minutes, but not for a complete game," sighed Pike Central Basketball Coach Hunter Elliott in a post-game in- terview, after watching his team fall to Pocket Athletic Conference (PAC) opponent South Spencer, 65 -40 in boys' high school bas- ketball action Thursday evening. "They have to understand that they have to play hard on every possession, hard on every cut, block out hard on every shot, and work hard to get the shot we want each time we have the basketball. "We play really well at times in every game; but we have only put it all together once or twice all year for the 32 minutes, but against good teams, you must fo- cus on both ends of the floor ev- ery possession." And, without question, South Spencer is a very good basketball team, going into Thursday's con- ference encounter with a 10 -2 sea- son record that included a perfect 5 -0 PAC mark. South Spencer put 25 field goals through the basket, seven of which were of the three-point variety, against the Pike Central defense, while the Chargers man- aged to put just 11 shots home, including four three-point field goals against the Rebel defend- ers. The Chargers fell behind 15 -7 at the end of the first quarter of play, then found themselves down by 13 points at the half intermis- sion, as the host Rebels outscored the visitors 18 -11 over the sec- ond eight-minute period to take a 33-18 advantage to the dressing room after 16 minutes. Pike Central scored only one basket in the third stanza, that hoop being a three-pointer by 5'9" freshman Quade Morton from deep in the corner in front of the PCHS bench; however, the aggressive attacking basket- ball play by the young Chargers forced the Rebels to commit foul after foul to send the visitors to the charity stripe 12 times in the eight-minute segment of the bat- tle—They put nine of those 12 op- portunities through the iron. The Pike Central defense held South Spencer shooters to just 14 counters in the third quarter, al- lowing the Rebels only six bas- kets in 17 attempts at the basket, to go along with two free throws, but the Chargers took just five shots in the eight minutes, hit- ting only the three-pointer by Morton and the nine of 12 made shots from the unguarded stripe, giving the eventual winners a nar- row 14-12 scoring edge in the pe- riod to give the Rebels a 47-30 lead after 24 minutes of play. "I really believe we can play with most teams in southern In- diana, and I've told our players that," frowned Elliott, "but, we cannot beat any team just play- ing well in parts of a game. Baseball and softball sign-ups Petersburg Little League base- ball and softball sign-ups are at the Little League concession stand on Monday, February 22 through Friday, February 26, from 6 to 8 p.m. (EST) and Sat- urday, February 27, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Lady Chargers fall to Washington in sectional By James Capozella For three quarters of post-sea- son basketball, the Pike Central La- dy Chargers were one hoop away from number two Washington in Fri- day night's sectional pairing at Vin- cennes. A disastrous six minutes in the second quarter kept the girls down by double figures for the rest of the 55 -39 loss. Kya Leighty, Mallory Hickey and Mallory Hunt got the girls to a 9 -8 advantage at the first stop, and La- dy Charger Kenzie Powell hooped a second-quarter opening basket for her team's 11-8 edge. However, the Lady Washington Hatchets came roaring back in the second, gun- ning for a repeat sectional champi- onship. Washington's defense forced 10 Pike Central turnovers in the first half and their offense cashed in for 24 second-quarter points, including 14 points from Kencia Levasseur. Senior forward Mallory Hickey and freshman starting guard Brailey Mills, along with senior guard Ken- zie Powell, accounted for six sec- ond-quarter points to go into the locker room at halftime down 32-15. The girls opened the third quarter with baskets by junior guard Mallo- ry Hunt, Mallory Hickey and a pair of threes from Brailey Mills, nearly matching the 13 markers registered by Washington's Kencia Levasseur, Alaina Thorne, Jesse Ledgerwood and Jade Browning. The Lady Chargers outscored the Lady Hatchets 13-10 in the fourth, mostly from the arc, with sopho- mores Tiffany Arteaga and Kah- le Young, and senior Kenzie Pow- ell doing the honors. Mills added a fourth-quarter basket and Hickey was two of two from the line. Washington was 15 of 18 from the charity stripe and the Lady Chargers made four of seven. Both teams hit three-point shots in every quarter. Lady Charger coach Kyle Mc- Cutchan said, "I was very pleased overall with our effort. We played hard and rebounded pretty well against a very good offensive re- bounding team. I thought our ball movement was good, but we had a bad six-minute stretch in the second quarter and that was the difference in the game. "I'm really proud of the team this year. Great group of kids who I en- joyed coaching and I am looking forward to seeing all the returning players continue to improve their games." Asked about stat leaders, coach said, "We had no stats that stood out other than a more collective ef- Kelby Leighty battles Washington's Kencia Levasseur during sectional action at Vincennes. Lady Charger Brailey Mills looks for an opening against Wash- ington. Mills had 10 points, including a pair of three pointers. Charlotte Dudenhoeffer swam the 100 free style. See REBELS on page 2 See WASHINGTON on page 3 See SWIM on page 3 www.UebelhorGM.com Jasper • 1-800-937-8721 CHEVROLET Pike Central senior Sean Hanselman (13) splits two South Spencer defenders for two of his seven points in last Thursday's Pocket Athletic Conference (PAC) loss to the host Rebels.