The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1458183
B-6 Wednesday, March 9, 2022 The Press-Dispatch www.UebelhorGM.com Jasper • 1-800-937-8721 CHEVROLET We invite you to share in a very special time of praise and worship, at 10:30 a.m., followed by a wonderful time of fellowship and No. 423 Smokehouse barbecue lunch. FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCH 1400 E. Main St., Petersburg Dennis P. Randall, minister SUNDAY, MARCH 13, 2022 Chargers lose heart-breaker in sectional finals By Andy Heuring Pike Central lost a heart- breaker in overtime of the sectional championship to Sullivan 55 -53, despite a furi- ous comeback. It was a classic game, and an example of why the Indiana state tournament is so special. "I'm very proud of our guys effort. They laid it all out there on the court. It can hurt when you do that and it did hurt," said Pike Central Coach Hunt- er Elliott of the overtime loss. The Chargers may not have won the game, but as a team they grew up Saturday night. So far this season, the Char- gers have given glimpses of the team they can be. "I think we have played in spurts like this. The Jasper game we played like that for most of the game. Last night they played like it the whole game," said Elliott. Pike Central made play af- ter play when they absolutely had to make plays. The didn't just get good looks, they made shots over and over. It was the Chargers best performance of the year, and needed to be against the 23-2 Sullivan Gold- en Arrows. Pike Central started with hot shooting. Kendric Sorgi- us, Peyton Howald and Julian Gish all hit threes in the first quarter to counter Sullivan's, 6'6,' Jackson Hills eight points in the paint. Hills was a load Pike Central's bigs couldn't handle one on one. The first quarter ended 16 -15. Gish hit a three from the corner, that put the Charger up 18 -16 at the 7:10 mark of the second quarter. Gish led the Chargers with 18 points, including three-threes and pulled down seven rebounds. Peyton Howald tied it up at 20 -20 with 3:29 left in the half. Pike Central would not score again in the half, but their de- fense only allowed Sullivan three points over the next three minutes. In the third quarter Sullivan started to pull away, as Pike Central's hot shooting cooled. John Roshel's three pointer at 5:40 made it 28 -22; Ridge- way's turnaround in the paint stretched to 30 -22 with 4:30 left in the third. "We just kept telling the guys to keep fighting," said Elliott. They complied. Peyton was fouled on a drive and hit both free-throws, and on the next possession, Gish hit a pull up from 15 feet mak- ing it 30 -26 with 3:35. Pike Central had several missed opportunities over the next three minutes, including a three by Sorgius that was in and out, that Peyton rebound- ed and put back, but it rolled off the rim. The quarter ended with Sorgius missing a five footer over Hills with just seconds left. Sullivan rebounded and threw a long pass to Luke Ad- ams, who hit a layup and was fouled at the buzzer. He hit the free-throw making it 33-26, in- stead of 30 -28. Peyton cut the Arrow's lead to 33-28 with a layup. Sullivan began the fourth quarter holding the ball for a minute on each possession be- fore shooting. Adams hit a three, after the Arrows held the ball to the six minute mark for a 36 -28 lead. But Gish closed the gap to 31- 36 with his third three of the night. Sullivan used up anoth- er minute of the clock before Kelly, who led Sullivan with 18 points including 8 of 12, from the free-throw line hit one of two free-throws making it 37- 31 with 4:45 left. This back and forth contin- ued with Sullivan burning the clock for a minute each pos- session, until 1:55 they found Hills in the paint for his eighth basket with 1:55 left in the game, and Pike Central trail- ing 44-36. Then the tide turned. Quade Morton drove the lane, did a spin move, got his defender in the air, and hit an acrobatic shot, hitting the free-throw getting Pike Cen- tral to 44-39 with 1:26. Pike Central went to half- court trap and managed to trap Sullivan's Adams be- tween the center and sideline forcing a timeout. Sullivan got the ball inbounds, and found John Roshel on the baseline and he was found on a drive. Roshel hit both free-throws making if 46 -39 with 1:04 left. Morton again hit from in the paint while being fouled and converted the three-point play, bringing the Chargers to 46 -42 with 54 seconds. Sullivan's Kelley was fouled just three seconds later and he hit both free-throws to stretch the lead back to eight. Charger Julian Gish took the inbounds pass, beat his man, then went the length of the floor for layup against full-court pressure, cutting it to 44-48 with 43 seconds left. Pike Central went to full court pressure and during a trap knocked the ball loose. Peyton Howald dove on it, and a jump ball gave Pike Central the ball with 37.6 seconds left. A fter a Charger miss, Sor- gius grabbed the rebound and put it in and was fouled. He hit the free-throw making it 47- 48. Sorgius had 16 points and six rebounds on the night. Again Pike Central got a stop and Gish scored quickly giving Pike Central the lead at 49 -48 with 25.6 seconds left. "We were able to trade some threes and ones with them making one or two free- throws. Then we started with half-court pressure and got some traps, but then we went to full court pressure and were able to get some turnovers. We just kept fighting and mak- ing plays," said Elliott of the comeback. Sullivan was able to get the ball down the court. Kelley drove and missed a jumper, Sorgius pulled down the re- bound and was fouled by Hills, his fifth with 7.6 seconds left. Pike Central was in double bo- nus, so Sorgius got two shots. He hit the first to put the Chargers up 50 -48. Sullivan called timeout. When they returned to the floor Sorgius' free throw was inside the rim, but bounced out. Sullivan grabbed the re- bound, hit Kelley who sprint- ed down the court, and went to the rim hitting the layup with 0.7 left to tie the game. Overtime. Pike Central scored first in the overtime, as Gish was fouled on a drive. He hit one of the two free-throws for a 51- 50 lead. Kelly hit a field goal over a defender. He scored all five of Sullivan's overtime points. Morton answered with a drive and pull-up shot over Kelley for a 53-52 lead with 2:34 left. Kelley was fouled on a drive with 2:28 left. He hit one of two free-throws to tie it at 53- 53. Pike Central had a turnover giving the ball back with 1:44 left. They held the ball until 41.4 when they called timeout. They returned to the floor put the ball in Kelley's hands. Just inside 10 seconds he drove and pulled up for a 10 footer to give Sullivan a 53-55 lead with 7.5 seconds left. Pike Central got the ball in and got it across mid-court facing full court pressure. They got the ball to Gish on the right side he had a shot at the buzzer, with a defender in his face. It was off the mark and Sullivan was sectional champions. "I'm very proud of our ef- fort," said Elliott. Pike Central finishes the season at 11-13 after starting 2-8 in their first 10 games. SCORING SUMMARY Pike Central (53) Kendric Sorgius 5 4-5 4 16, Peyton Howald 3 0 -0 3 7, Bra- den Howald 1 0 -0 1 2, Quade Morton 4 2-4 2 10, Julian Gish 4 2-3 2 18. Totals 20 7-11 11 53. 3 pt goals 6 (Sorgius 2, P. Howald, Gish 3) Sullivan (55) Randy Kelley 5 8 -12 1 18, Luke Adams 2 1-1 4 6, John Ro- shel IV 3 2-2 0 9, Ned Ridgway 2 0 -0 2 4, Elija Gettinger 1 0 - 0 2 2, Jackson Hills 8 0 -0 5 16. Totals 21 11-15 14 55. 3 pt goals 2 (Adams, Rose- hl) Chargers' crowd cheers wildly after one of many big plays in the Championship game of the Sullivan Sectional. Pike Central's Julian Gish goes by a Sullivan player for a basket. He had 18 points the final game. Charger Peyton Howald is fired up after chest bumping a teammate following a late score by the Chargers in the Championship game on Saturday.