The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1463185
A-6 Wednesday, March 30, 2022 The Press-Dispatch SPORTS Submit sports items: Call: 812-354-8500 Email: sports@pressdispatch.net or bring in a hard copy: 820 E. Poplar Street, Petersburg Share thoughts on fisheries with DNR on angler survey Anglers can share their opinions on Indiana DNR's fisheries management using a survey that will be emailed the week of April 11. The DNR will email sur- veys to everyone who has a current email address with- in its electronic licensing system. Anglers can ensure their email on file is correct, update their address, or en- ter a new one at IN.gov/ac- cess. Survey questions cover broad topics on angler par- ticipation, fishing locations, fish stocking, access to fish- ing spots, and legal fish- ing equipment. Information gathered will provide valu- able feedback to help the DNR develop programs to better serve Indiana's an- glers. The link each angler is emailed will be unique to that angler. Because it will allow only one survey completion, it should not be shared with other anglers. For questions about the survey, please contact An- glerSurvey@dnr.IN.gov. More information about the project is at wildlife.IN- .gov/fishing/licensed-an- gler-survey. North Daviess claims Class A State Championship By Mike Sandifar For the third time in the past 30 days, a southwest Indiana high school basket- ball team claimed a state championship in Gainbridge Fieldhouse when North Da- viess slipped past favorite Lafayette Cen- tral Catholic, 48 -46 in two overtimes Sat- urday morning in the Class A title event. On February 27, Tecumseh took out the Lafayette Central Catholic Girls' Basket- ball Team by a 60 -53 score in the Class A Tournament Championship, and two hours later on the same day, Forest Park won the Class 2A title by beating Frank- ton High School, 52-44. Those in attendance at the February 27th games did not know how the games could get better, but one must remember, New York Yankee catcher Yogi Berra once said, "It ain't over til it's over. It was that and more in the Class A bat- tle in Indianapolis Saturday, with the score knotted at 34-34, North Daviess' Jaylen Mullen missed an off-balance "floater" in the lane as time expired to send the fray into overtime. North Daviess nearly won in the first overtime as North Daviess' Devin Collins got a steal at mid-court, took two dribbles and fired up a long-range jump shot that rolled off the rim to send the contest into the second overtime. In the second overtime, North Daviess jumped out to a 47-45 lead with 19.1 sec- onds left when Catholic Central got a three-point shot off, but it rimmed out. Logan Wilson grabbed the rebound for North Daviess and was fouled with 10.1 seconds left. He hit one of two free-throws, giving the Cougars and 48 -45 lead. Lafayette got a shot off at the buzzer, but missed, giving North Daviess their first state championship. "I am proud of our kids, and I am hap- py for our team and our community," said Cougar Coach Brent Dalrymple during the post-game celebration on the court at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Lady Chargers fall to Jasper in season opener By Andy Heuring Pike Central's softball team had a tough start as they dropped their sea- son opener 7-3 to Jasper last Thursday. Pike Central had their chances, but a red hot Megan Matheis blasted three home runs against the Chargers and drove in six of the Wildcats seven runs. Jasper got off to a fast start, scoring two in the bottom of the first inning. Pike Central threatened in the top of the sec- ond, loading the bases. Pitcher and clean- up batter Chloe Williams led off with a single to left field. Alyna Sharp hit a fly to center field for the first out. Then Sophie Carnahan got on with a fielder's choice. Delanie Welch hit a single to move Carnahan over. Avery Hunt walked to load the bases with two outs, setting the stage for Madelyn Fiscus. She hit the ball sharply, but right at the shortstop, who made an easy play at third for the force out. Jasper tacked on three more runs, as their leadoff hitter, Kaitlynn Mendel sin- gled to start the third. Adrienne Simmers reached on a Charger fielding error, and Matheis made them pay. She pounded her second home run of the game, driv- ing in three runs to make it 5 -0. Pike Central's defense held in the third and fourth innings and the offense came to life in the fifth inning. Brailey Mills led off the inning with a walk and stole second base. Karley Ka- vanaugh then singled. She and Mills worked a double steal to put runners on second and third with no outs. Lexi Onyett hit a hard single to right field, scoring Mills and Kavanaugh. Wil- liams, who was 2 for 4 on the night, struck out as did Alyna Sharp. Sophie Carnahan then singled, driv- ing in Onyett for the Chargers' third run in the inning. "We scored three in the fifth inning and I thought we were going to turn the game around. Then coming out of the bottom of fifth, Jasper got two more runs on home runs and it just killed our momentum," said Titan Head Coach Dustin Traylor about his first game as head coach. Jasper's Matheis hit her third home run of the game, and then Hillary Spring- er followed up to make it back-to-back homers for a 7-3 lead. Pike Central threatened again in the sixth inning, as Madelyn Fiscus made it to third base,but couldn't get home. "We were really overly aggressive. We were out on front foot swinging at the first pitch. We weren't watching the ball hit the bat. We were just too anxious. As the game went on, we settled down," said Traylor. He attributed that to it being Pike Cen- tral's first game of the season. The orig- inal season opener was cancelled due to rain on Tuesday. "It is a tough game to go into ( Jasper) and play right off the bat to get the sea- son started. We look for tough challeng- es, but that is a tough way to start. It is just one game in the season. Take the good out of it and move on to the next game, ready to play," said Traylor. "I thought Chloe Williams pitched well. Giving up three home runs to one batter wasn't good, but other than that, she pitched pretty well. Our defense was pretty good; we let a couple drop," said Traylor. "I really think the fifth inning is more indicative of what we will play this sea- son," said Traylor of the Chargers sea- son opener. Spring Sports in full swing By Andy Heuring Pike Central Spring Sports season gets in full swing this week. The Lady Chargers softball team started their season last week, but most Spring Sports teams will kick off their seasons this week. The boys and girls track teams opened with their on- ly home meet of the season Tuesday night against Princ- eton. Softball played South Knox after deadline on Tues- day and will host Bedford North Lawrence on Friday at 5:30 p.m. The boys baseball team travels to Loogootee to start their season at 5 p.m. Friday. Girls tennis will go to Mt. Vernon for their season open- er at 6 p.m. Friday. Boys golf opens at Prince- ton in a triangle match with Princeton and Evansville Christian on Tuesday, April 5. You can read about each of these teams in The Press-Dis- patch's Spring Sports Pre- view in this issue. Morton named to All-Southwest Indiana Boys Basketball Team By Andy Heuring Pike Central sophomore guard Quade Morton was named to the 2022 Evansville Courier and Press All-Southwest Indiana Boys Basket- ball Team. "Very proud of Quade and the ac- complishment. I said prior to the sea- son that Quade was one of the best guards in Southern Indiana and he was going to open a lot of people's eyes. He did just that. He had a great year and I'm glad he is being ac- knowledged for it. This is just the be- ginning for him. I know he is locked in and ready to have a big summer, working to continue improving his game," said Pike Central Basketball Coach Hunter Elliott. Morton led Pike Central in scoring this past season, averaging 16 points a game. He also averaged three as- sists, two steals and five rebounds for the resurgent Chargers. Pike Central started their season 2-8 with only one senior on the ros- ter. They turned their season around beginning in January when they beat Vincennes Lincoln, Heritage Hills and Wood Memorial in a four-day pe- riod and went on to win six of their next seven games. They finished the season beat- ing Princeton and Vincennes in the Princeton sectional, advancing to the final game where they fell to Sullivan in overtime. Sullivan went on to win the Washington Regional. Pike Central finished 11-13 on the season.