The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/232947
B-2 Wednesday, December 25, 2013 HRivet Continued from page B-1 7 lead with 1:41 left in the opening quarter. Following an exchange of baskets, Patriot sophomore Tanner Thomas scored on a lay-up to send the game into the second period tied at 11-11. Vincennes Rivet vaulted to a 1411 lead when senior Alex Halter hit a three-pointer with 7:37 left in the second quarter, but, less than a minute later, back-to-back baskets by Bailey White and Aldridge gave Pike Central a 14-13 lead. After senior Collin Wirth scored to give the Patriots a 16-15 lead, Toopes scored on back-to-back baskets as the Chargers surged back into the lead, 19-16. However, Vincennes Rivet answered with a three-pointer by senior Zach Templin and, following a steal by Wirth, a basket by junior John Anderson to take a 21-19 lead. The lead proved short-lived, however, as Garrett Elliott hit a threepointer, giving Pike Central a 2221 lead with just under five minutes left in the first half. After Wirth missed a pair of free throws, Garrett Elliott scored off an assist by Colton White to extend the Chargers' lead to 24-21. Following a basket by Templin that slashed the deficit to 24-23, a three-point play by Aldridge gave Pike Central its biggest lead of the first half, 27-23, with 2:02 left in the second period. The Patriots, however, would rally on a pair of free throws by Templin and a basket by Thomas to tie the game at 27-27 as the Chargers missed their last four shots of the first half while turning the ball over once. "We had a few silly errors," Mokris said. "We made a sling pass that wasn't very smart, and then we had a kid take a quick shot with about 36 seconds left when we needed to hold the ball for one shot. So we could have been up six points at halftime, but we were tied." The two teams traded baskets to start the second half until, with the score tied at 33-33, a three-pointer by Toopes gave the Chargers a 36-33 lead with 2:57 left in the third period. After Wirth hit a pair of free throws to pull Vincennes Rivet to HPower Continued from page B-1 ey and a jumper by sophomore Holly Bittner to extend its lead to 123 before Lady Charger freshman guard/forward Jolene Whitehead scored on a put-back of a missed try by sophomore guard Alyx Abbott with 1:23 remaining in the first quarter. Back-to-back baskets by Raley, both off assists by Smith, gave the Lady Titans a 16-5 lead at the end of the first period. After Cosby scored off an assist by sophomore Lora Barton early in the second quarter, Howes sank her second three-pointer, pulling Pike Central to within 18-8 with 5:28 remaining in the first half. Gibson Southern then scored nine straight points, with Johnson scoring five points and Cosby and Smith adding two apiece, to stretch its lead to 27-8 at halftime. Eberhard opened the second half by hitting a three-pointer to give the Lady Titans a 30-8 lead. The Press-Dispatch within 36-35, back-to-back baskets by Aldridge and Toopes extended Pike Central's lead to 40-35 with 2:25 remaining in the third quarter. A basket by Anderson pulled the Patriots to within 40-37, but the Chargers answered with eight straight points on a pair of baskets and two free throws by Toopes and a basket by Gabe Elliott to take a 48-37 lead with 6:39 remaining in the fourth period. During that stretch, Vincennes Rivet committed five turnovers, including two on steals by Gabe Elliott and Toopes, while missing its only shot attempt. "We did a nice job," Mokris said. "That really helped us extend that lead." The Patriots, though, refused to give up, rallying to within 56-52 with 2:26 left in the game. However, Pike Central outscored Vincennes Rivet 13-6 – on a basket by Gabe Elliott and 11 free throws (out of 18 attempts) in the final two minutes of the game to seal the win. "I thought we did a nice job holding on to the lead, keeping our composure," Mokris said. "We've got to work on a couple of things in our halfcourt with holding the ball, but we did a nice job knocking down free throws at the end." For the game, Pike Central made 25 of 48 field goal attempts, a 52.1 percent average, and hit 17 of 24 tries from the free throw line while turning the ball over nine times. Templin led Vincennes Rivet in scoring with 15 points while Thomas and Wirth, who had six rebounds and three steals, added 14 points each. Anderson had a game-high seven rebounds and a team-high three assists. For the game, the Patriots made 21 of 47 field goal attempts, a 44.7 percent average, and hit 14 of 16 tries from the free throw line while turning the ball over 17 times. "We're just going to get better," Mokris said. "Hopefully, we can look at the game film and break it down a little bit because there's always room for improvement for a young team like this." "I think it's a big win because those guys have been playing together for two years and this is a brand-new starting five," Mokris added. "Kegan played a little bit last year, and Toopes did, but, together as a whole, we did a nice job tonight. It was a good win for us." After Pike Central junior guard Kimberly McCammon scored on a layup, Gibson Southern rolled off eight consecutive points on a basket by Bittner and three by Cosby to extend the Lady Titans' lead to 38-10 with 4:27 left in the third period. A pair of free throws by Lady Charger sophomore forward/ center Samantha Halbrader with 3:43 left in the third period was followed by a 14-2 scoring run that stretched Gibson Southern's lead to 52-14 midway through the fourth quarter. After Howes hit a pair of free throws with 3:03 left, the Lady Titans scored the game's final three points, on a basket and a free throw by junior Alyssa Bright. Cosby netted 10 points in the winning effort while Johnson and Bright came off the bench to score seven and five points, respectively. Monroe said afterward that he was pleased with the play of his seven non-starters, who combined to score 16 points while grabbing 11 rebounds and 11 steals. "Everybody came in and gave Pike Central High School senior Colton White (10) goes airborne before dishing the ball off to a teammate while Vincennes Rivet senior Collin Wirth (32) tries to draw the charge. Ed Cahill photo. Pike Central High School freshman Gabe Elliott (23) and Vincennes Rivet junior John Anderson (left) battle for a rebound during game action on Friday, Dec. 20. Ed Cahill photo. Left: Pike Central High School sophomore Tyler Toopes (11) looks at the basket while being defended by Vincennes Rivet senior Collin Wirth (left.)Ed Cahill photo. Above: Pike Central High School junior Garrett Elliott (32) dribbles around Vincennes Rivet senior Zach Templin. Ed Cahill photo. something," Monroe said. "Really, if you look at it, I don't know that there were any letdowns no matter who I had in there tonight. Everybody picked it up and just kept right on going with it." Howes paced the Lady Chargers with 10 points and four rebounds while Halbrader, McCammon and Whitehead netted two points each. For the game, Pike Central made just five of 36 field goal attempts, a 13.9 percent average, and hit four of six tries from the free throw line while turning the ball over 18 times. "We're disappointed with the outcome but we're pleased with our effort," Graham said. "I felt like the kids played harder. First half, we had 15 turnovers; second half, we had three. That was something we talked about at halftime, so we showed some improvement in that area." "Unfortunately, our shooting never got any better," Graham added. "We had some good open looks, I thought, throughout the night. We just couldn't hit the basket." The Lady Chargers, who have already lost one player, junior forward Lindsay Catt, to a season-ending knee injury, played without senior guard Stephanie Richardson, who, earlier the same day, had an MRI on her knee that was injured during a 47-22 loss at Southridge on Saturday, Dec. 12. "We're waiting on the results from all that," Graham said. "We've just tried to take it easy with her all week and held her out. We want to make sure that she's okay. We care about her health more than anything." In the junior varsity game, sophomore Taylor Rogers scored a game-high 13 points while freshman Amy Niehaus added eight as Gibson Southern defeated Pike Central 50-15. Freshman guard/ forwards Kiersten Gish and Cheyanna Padgett scored four and three points, respectively, to lead the Lady Chargers. Gibson Southern will open pool play in the Gibson County Classic on Monday, Dec. 23, against South Central (Elizabeth) at 5:30 p.m., Central time, then will take on Evansville Reitz on Thursday, Dec. 26, at 5:30 p.m., Central time, and Mount Carmel (Ill.) on Friday, Dec. 27, at 7:15 p.m., Central time. The tournament's finals will be played on Saturday, Dec. 28. Pike Central, meanwhile, will resume play at 1 p.m., Eastern time, on Friday, Dec. 27, when it will take on Heritage Christian in the opening round of the Nieuhaus Home Center Classic hosted by Vincennes Rivet at Vincennes University's Physical Education Complex. "We spent a lot of this week just working on us and we're going to continue to do that," Graham said. "The girls are just getting to the point now where, I think, they're starting to see what we're doing and what we're not doing. We've had a couple of film sessions, pointing things out." "First thing is just for them to recognize what we're doing and seeing it and I think that's helping them," Graham added. "So we're just going to have to take care of one thing at a time until we get to where we want to go." Gibson Southern freshman Presley Johnson (25) goes up for a shot while Pike Central senior Emily Howes (4) tries for the block during game action on Thursday, Dec. 19. Ed Cahill photo. Pike Central High School freshman Jolene Whitehead (25) battles Gibson Southern freshman Presley Johnson (right) for a rebound during game action on Thursday, Dec. 19. Ed Cahill photo. Pike Central High School sophomore Samantha Halbrader (right, with ball) looks toward the basket while being defended by Gibson Southern junior Hannah Cosby (left) during game action on Thursday, Dec. 19. Ed Cahill photo. Gibson Southern junior Hannah Cosby (left) and Pike Central junior Lindsey Nixon (right) fight for the ball during game action on Thursday, Dec. 19. Ed Cahill photo.