The Press-Dispatch
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The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, December 23, 2015 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 By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net The Pike Central High School boys' swimming team placed first in eight out of 12 events while defeating visit- ing Evansville Reitz 107-73 on Thursday, Dec. 17. Junior Chaney McKin- ney and sophomore Lukas Hill each won two individu- al events as the Chargers re- mained unbeaten at 11-0. Chaney McKinney placed first in the 50 -yard freestyle with a time of 23.23 seconds and first in the 100 -yard free- style with a personal record time of 51.83 seconds, best- ing his previous PR time of 52.45 seconds. Hill placed first in the 200 -yard individual medley with a time of 2:13.66 and first in the 100 -yard breaststroke with a time of 1:10.62. In addition, Chaney McKin- ney and Hill teamed up with junior Evan Marchino and sophomore Jacob Bohnert to place first in the 200 -yard medley relay with a season- best time of 1:51.69 and first in the 200 -yard freestyle relay with a time of 1:38.05. Also placing first in indi- vidual events for the Char- gers were Bohnert in the 100 -yard backstroke with a time of 1:03.48; and sopho- By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net A fter suffering a 62-19 loss at South- ridge on Thursday, Dec. 10, the Pike Cen- tral High School girls' basketball team didn't touch a ball during the first hour of its practice the following day. "They knew it going into Friday we were going to have a really bad practice," Warner said. "We did a lot of running." "And then, you know, from that point on, we said, 'All right, it's time to move on, we can't dwell on the past,'" the sec- ond-year head coach added. "The con- cern's been defense. We can't give up 62 points and just not communicate and not have proper positioning. That's been the focal point." On Tuesday, Dec. 15, Warner's team appeared to take his message to heart as the Lady Chargers scored the game's first seven points while rolling to a 48 - 29 victory over visiting North Daviess. Sophomore Erika Hendrixson scored a game-high 18 points while sophomore Brook Nalley added 12 points as Pike Central – which improved to 5 -4 – out- rebounded the Lady Cougars 33-22. "Overall, really, they executed," War- ner said. "The gym was kind of dead to- night. It was kind of bring-your-own-en- ergy night for them. I didn't understand that one. Maybe it was because it's fi- nals week and everyone's a little tired. But they bounced back well from South- ridge, I felt like." The statistic that Warner said he was By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net Every basketball player dreams about hitting a last-second shot to win a big game, often counting down – mentally, if not verbally – the final three seconds before firing the ball toward the basket. On Friday, Dec. 18, that dream became a reality for Pike Central High School junior Trey Wornica. Catching a pass from senior Tyler Toopes with less than two seconds remaining, a wide-open Wor- nica launched a three-point shot from the corner that swished through the basket as the final buzz- er sounded, lifting the Chargers to a 56 -55 victory over visiting Vincennes Rivet. "I kind of panicked for a little bit," said Worni- ca, whose three-pointer – on his only field goal at- tempt of the game – kept Pike Central undefeated at 4-0. "I passed it to Toopes and he made a great pump fake and he made a great pass." "It was just magic after that," Wornica added. According to Chargers head coach Jason Roach, however, there was very little that was mystical about Wornica's game-winning shot. "Our kids see Trey as one of the hardest work- ers on the team," Roach said. "He's in here at 6 o'clock in the morning – 5 o'clock, I think – and he's shooting and shooting and shooting and shooting. There's rarely a day you won't see him in here." "Our kids know that," Roach continued. "That was mentioned up in the locker room, that that's what hours and hours and hours of being in the gym can do for you. He doesn't shoot a lot, but he knocked that one down." Pike Central scored seven straight points – on a basket by junior Gabe Elliott, a three-point play by junior Colton White and a pair of free throws by Toopes – to snap an early 2-2 tie before extending its lead to 17-9 on a three-pointer by White with 1:21 left in the first quarter. Trailing 19 -11, Vincennes Rivet (3-5) outscored the Chargers 5 -1 to close to within 20 -16 with 5:40 remaining in the second quarter. A fter White scored to give Pike Central a 22-16 lead, back-to- back baskets by senior Jackson Nieuhaus pulled the Patriots to within 22-20 with 5:04 left in the first half. A basket by Toopes extended the Chargers' lead to 24-20 before senior Tanner Thomas hit a three- pointer, slashing the deficit to 24-23 with 3:42 re- maining in the second period. Then, with Pike Central ahead 28 -27, the Char- gers scored four straight points – on back-to-back baskets by sophomore Brent Nalley and Levi Try- on – to open up a 32-27 lead before senior Cody Steffey hit a three-pointer to pull Vincennes Rivet to within 32-30 at the intermission. While hitting eight of 11 tries from the free throw line and turning the ball over just three times dur- ing the first half, the Chargers made 10 of 27 field goal attempts – including just two of 11 from beyond the three-point arc – during the first half. "It felt like we couldn't take advantage of the turn- overs and things," Roach said. "We'd have a real- ly good defensive stand and we'd come back down and we'd miss a bunny or we'd throw it away. We couldn't get clicking like we needed to." "We had plenty of opportunities," Roach added. "We found the right guys. We missed some out- side shots. We missed some lay-ups. We missed some dump-offs. We just couldn't get going like we wanted." WORNICA'S LAST-SECOND TREY LIFTS CHARGERS OVER RIVET, 56-55 Chargers swim past Evansville North to remain unbeaten Lady Chargers bounce back with 48-29 win over North Daviess See PAST on page 4 See BOUNCE on page 2 ELEMENTARY BASKETBALL Pike Central High School junior Trey Wornica (5) is fouled by Vincennes Rivet senior Lance Lane (14) as he goes up for a shot during varsity game action on Friday, Dec. 18. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School se- nior Alyx Abbott (13) goes air- borne while taking a shot at the basket after getting shoved from behind by North Daviess senior Abby Holstine (30) during var- sity game action on Tuesday, Dec. 15. Ed Cahill photo Otwell Elementary School fifth grader Shelby Keeker (24) tries to drib- ble past Petersburg El- ementary School's Ariel Moade (right) during game action on Thursday, Dec. 17. The visiting Lady Mill- ers won, 25-6. Ed Cahill photo Otwell Elementary School fifth grader Gabe Jones (with ball) looks to shoot over Petersburg El- ementary School's Peyton Howald (3) during game action on Thursday, Dec. 17. The host Indians won, 26-6. Ed Cahill photo Otwell Elementary School fifth grader Chloe Williams (center) grabs a rebound away from Peters- burg Elementary School's Delaney Welch (32) and Ashlyn Shoultz (44) dur- ing game action on Thurs- day, Dec. 17. The visiting Lady Millers won, 25-6. Ed Cahill photo Petersburg Elemen- tary School fifth grad- er Braden Howald (13) drives past Otwell Elemen- tary School's Chance Wolfe (25) during game action on Thursday, Dec. 17. The host Indians won, 26-6. Ed Cahill photo Otwell Elementary School fifth grader Jay- lynn Capehart (left) bat- tles Petersburg Elemen- tary School's Chloe Willis (right) for the ball during game action on Thursday, Dec. 17. The visiting Lady Millers won, 25-6. Ed Ca- hill photo Petersburg Elementary School cheerleader Alaina Hambrick does a dance rou- tine during a break in the ac- tion. Ed Cahill photo Otwell Elementary School fifth grader Gabe Jones (right) drives past Petersburg Elementa- ry School's Peyton How- ald (3) during game action on Thursday, Dec. 17. The host Indians won, 26-6. Ed Cahill photo Petersburg Elementa- ry School fifth grader Jag- ar Dent (10) pulls up for a jump shot during game action against visiting Ot- well Elementary School on Thursday, Dec. 17. The host Indians won, 26-6. Ed Cahill photo Petersburg Elementary School fifth grader Kenne- dy Willis (42) and Otwell Elementary School's Daley Mason (center) reach for the ball during game ac- tion on Thursday, Dec. 17. The visiting Lady Millers won, 25-6. Ed Cahill photo Petersburg Elementary School fifth grader Kendric Sorgius (with ball) stumbles with the ball as Otwell Ele- mentary School's Gabe Jones (left) looks on during game action on Thursday, Dec. 17. The host Indians won, 26-6. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School sophomore Jackson Keepes swims the backstroke leg of the boys' 200-yard in- dividual medley during a home meet against Evansville North on Thursday, Dec. 17. Ed Cahill photo See TREY on page 3