The Press-Dispatch
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B-8 Sports Wednesday, December 23, 2015 The Press-Dispatch By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net Pike Central High School girls' basketball coach Shawn Warner thought trailing visiting North Knox by six points at halftime on Saturday, Dec. 19, wasn't that bad, all things considered. Having begun the game with- out one starter ( junior forward Jo Whitehead, who was en route, with her family, to Europe), soph- omore center Erika Hendrixson picked up her second personal foul with 4:52 left in the opening quarter, forcing her to sit out the remainder of the first half. Senior point guard Alyx Abbott then joined Hendrixson on the bench when she was whistled for her second personal foul with 3:25 remaining in the second quarter. "Down six at halftime, I didn't think it was that bad, because we were in a lot of foul trouble," Warner said. "You'd think, com- ing out, with everyone out of foul trouble, that we'd be good to go." However, after committing 15 turnovers in the first half – nine of which North Knox converted into a total of 18 points – the Lady Chargers began the second half by turning the ball over three times in its first four possessions, with Abbott being called for an of- fensive foul on the other. Meanwhile, North Knox – on a pair of baskets by sophomore Ad- dison McKinley and one by senior Alexis Vieck – doubled its lead to 37-25 as the Lady Warriors rolled to a 57-36 victory. "The first three minutes of the second half are so key for any basketball game," Warner said. "When we're down, we've got to come out of the locker room ready to go, make a little run, get back into the game. Being down by six, you can't come out that first three minutes of the second half like we did and turn it over and let them capitalize and extend that six-point lead into a 12-point lead." Trailing 6 -2, Pike Central scored 11 straight points – on a three-pointer by sophomore Au- dra Stone, back-to-back three- point plays by sophomore Brook Nalley and Demi Croak followed by a steal and a lay-up by Nalley – to take a 13-6 lead with 3:20 left in the opening period. A basket by junior Bailey Jones and a basket and a pair of free throws by senior Madison Meurer pulled North Knox to within 13-12 with 7:25 remaining in the second quarter before a three-point play by Stone extended the Lady Char- gers' lead to 16 -12. North Knox rallied, however, on baskets by sophomore Reeva Hammelman, freshman Makinzi Meurer and sophomore Macy Dil- lon to take an 18 -16 lead with 5:23 left in the first half. Following a three-pointer by Croak that gave Pike Central a 19 -18 lead, a free throw by Reeva Hammelman knotted the score at 19 -19 with 4:29 remaining in the second period. The Lady Chargers subse- quently regained the lead on a basket by senior Cheyanna Padgett, but it would prove to be fleeting as the Lady Warriors – on a three-pointer and a three-point play, both by Madison Meurer – shot ahead 25 -21. A fter Nalley hit the second of two free throw attempts to pull Pike Central to within 25 -22, Croak – fouled after rebounding the missed front end of a one-and- one by sophomore Natalie Bur- khart – made the first of two tries from the charity stripe, cutting North Knox's lead to 25 -23 with 2:21 left in the first half. Missing her second free throw attempt, Croak grabbed the offen- sive rebound, but the Lady Char- gers were unable to capitalize. A fter a basket by Dillon ex- tended the Lady Warriors' lead to 27-23, Padgett – fouled after rebounding another missed front end of one-and-one by Burkhart – hit two free throws to pull Pike Central to within 27-25 with 1:55 remaining in the second period. However, Pike Central would turn the ball over twice in its last four possessions of the first half while going 0 -for-2 from the field as North Knox – on back-to-back baskets by Vieck and Dillon – to take a 31-25 halftime lead. A fter the Lady Warriors ex- tended their lead to 37-25 with 5:33 left in the third period, Hen- drixson – fouled on three consec- utive possessions – hit three of six free throw attempts to pull the La- dy Chargers to within 37-28 with 4:41 remaining in the quarter. Following an exchange of three- pointers by Vieck and Croak, North Knox outscored Pike Cen- tral 8 -1 to push its lead to 48 -32 with 5:26 left in the fourth period. During that stretch, the Lady Chargers attempted – and missed – six field goal attempts, hit one of four tries from the free throw line and turned the ball over twice. "That second half, we had a chance to cut into the lead a lit- tle bit and we kept going to the line," said Warner, whose team hit just four of 10 tries from the free throw line in the second half. "It was hovering right around 10 points there for a long time and we'd go to the free throw line and miss free throws, and then they'd come down and get a bucket." "That's just a chance for us to crawl a little closer by knocking them down," Warner added. "We weren't able to step up and knock down free throws." In addition, Hendrixson – who was whistled for an offensive foul late in the third period – left the game with Pike Central trailing 46 -32 after injuring her right an- kle while going after a rebound with 6:23 remaining. "She stepped on a foot, so it's just a roll," Warner said. A fter a basket by Burkhart pulled Pike Central to within 48 - 34 with 5:07 left, North Knox scored nine straight points to ex- tend its lead to 57-31 before Lady Charger freshman Hailey Marchi- no scored – off an assist from ju- nior Alexis McDowell – with 12 seconds remaining to end the scoring. Croak, who grabbed a game- high 10 rebounds, paced Pike Central with 10 points. Nalley, who had eight rebounds and three steals, added seven points while Stone had six points and five re- bounds. For the game, the Chargers made 11 of 36 field goal attempts – a 30.6 percent average – and hit 11 of 21 tries from the free throw line while turning the ball over 25 times. "Offensively, the second half, we were just kind of stagnant," said Warner, whose team made just three of 14 second-half field goal attempts. "We weren't able to hit shots and we started dribbling way too much, against a team that pressures you and denies the bas- ketball and plays good help-side defense like that do. You just can't beat stuff like that off the drive." "You've got to move the basket- ball," Warner continued. "You've got to set screens. You've got to move. And we didn't do a very good job of that." Pike Central outrebounded North Knox 27-22, which includ- ed 16 offensive rebounds that the Lady Chargers were able to con- vert into a total of nine points. The Lady Warriors – who con- verted 14 of Pike Central's turn- overs into a total of 28 points – had eight offensive rebounds, which they were able to convert into sev- en points. "We didn't do a very good job, defensively, rebounding the bas- ketball but, offensively, I thought we did a great job rebounding," Warner said. "A whole lot of missed free throws, we got re- bounds, put them back." Madison Meurer and Vieck paced North Knox with 13 points each. Vieck also led the Lady War- riors in rebounds with five while Revel Hammelman dished out three assists. McKinley, Madison Meurer and Vieck all had three steals. For the game, North Knox made 23 of 48 field goal attempts – a 47.9 percent average – and hit nine of 11 tries from the free throw line while turning the ball over 14 times. North Knox improved to 12-2 with its eighth straight win. "As a program in general, we've got to learn how to win again," Warner said. "It's been a while since the program's been in games and been able to compete and be think- ing, walking out on the floor, 'All right, we're go- ing to win this basketball game.' As a program, we just have to learn how to compete with the really good teams." "So far this year, in my opinion, we've beat the teams that we thought we should beat, and then the 50 -50 games, we haven't done a very good job of cap- italizing on those," Warner added. "We've got to have that will, that desire, and step on the floor and do the right things to beat really good teams. That'll even- tually come, I think. It's just a learning process for the entire program." • In junior varsity action, freshman Becca Crow scored 13 points and fresh- man Allesha Sisk added 10 as Pike Central defeated North Knox 44-35. Marchi- no and freshman Emily Carnahan tossed in eight and seven points, respec- tively. Sophomore Rylee Hammelman paced the La- dy Warriors with 11 points. North Knox rolls past Lady Chargers, 57-36 Lady Titans top Pike Central, 53-33 Pike Central High School senior Cheyanna Padgett (22) takes a shot at the basket during varsity game action against visiting North Knox on Saturday, Dec. 19. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School sophomore Audra Stone (15) goes up for a shot over North Knox senior Madison Meurer (10) during varsity game action on Saturday, Dec. 19. Ed Ca- hill photo By James Capozella In the first three minutes of action against the visiting Pike Central High School La- dy Chargers on Thursday, Dec. 17, Gibson Southern senior Maddie Raley was good for four points and five rebounds in a quarter that hinted of a Lady Titan runaway win. Instead, the Lady Chargers stiffened against what could have been a blowout af- ter a 32-16 halftime, finishing with 17 points in the second half while holding the Lady Titans to 21 markers. Lady Titan leading scorer Raley and sophomores Amy Niehaus and Presley Johnson had nearly equal shares of the 13-point first quarter that saw the Lady Chargers netting just four-of-four from the line. However, a foursome of Pike Central sophomores – Natalie Burkhart, Brook Nal- ley, Audra Stone and Erika Hendrixson – picked it up for the visitors to the tune of a dozen points in the second quarter. Raley, Niehaus and Johnson continued contributing as well as sophomore Aubree Lankford and seniors Skylar Boes and Holly Bittner, who countered the Charger second quarter offensive push. Lady Titan freshman Tabby Klem stepped into the fray for a basket and contributed to the 19 -point quarter and 32-16 half. The third quarter was a near break even for the two teams as Nalley knocked in a pair of baskets and senior Demi Croak add- ed her first of two three-point baskets. Four missed free throws for Pike Central and three-for-three from the stripe by Niehaus tipped the balance scale further to the Ti- tan side as Raley, Niehaus and Boes com- bined for four baskets as well. Down 41-23 going into the fourth was more difference than the eight minutes would allow for the Lady Chargers. Raley finished with 20 points, Niehaus 14, Johnson seven and four each for Boes and Klem. Lankford and Bittner each had two points in the win. Nalley was the leading Charger with 13 points followed by teammates Burkhart, Hendrixson and Croak with six each and Stone with two. The Pike Central Lady Chargers have a 66 -48 PAC win over South Spencer and a 62-19 loss to the Lady Southridge Raiders. The Chargers travel to Forest Park on Jan. 8 and then hit the road on Jan. 16 to North Posey. The Titans look to add PAC wins, hosting Tell City Jan. 9 and then travel to Tecumseh on Jan. 14. "I consider them and Southridge being the best two teams in the conference," Pike Central head coach Shawn Warner said. "Defensively, I thought it was probably our best effort of the year as far as stepping on the floor. Offensively, we didn't make many shots – I think we shot like 20 percent from the field – but, defensively, we did enough to win. They are a good basketball team offen- sively. I think we did enough to win as far as playing defense, but we just didn't capi- talize on offense at all." "Giving up 53 points to them, I told the girls, that's a nice job defensively, because they've got some nice players," Warner add- ed. "It was a 16 -point game at halftime and the second half, they ended up beating us by four, so you know that's a moral victory as far as the second half goes. But it was one of those losses where you look at it on paper and you think, 'Man, they got drilled,' but, as a coach, it's one of those you can take things away, when you break down film, and show them these things are good, be- cause, really, for three-fourths of the game, we did a very good job with defensive po- sitioning." Lady Titan head coach Mark Monroe said, "I thought Pike Central scrapped pretty hard and played good defense to- night. We made a few turnovers. We've been through a rough stretch. The girls have been up late nights studying for fi- nals and I think we are a little tired. We were off a few days but I think we're a little tired. They'll get through the finals tomor- row (and Central 65 -31) and have the week- end to bounce back for Toyota next week. "I'm still pretty happy with how we did things overall. The play was up and down a little bit, but I think we are okay at that. We have to turn right around and play Prince- ton again right off the bat and our debate is to try and do something different this time or keep trying the same. It's just one of those situations where you're playing some- body like Jackie ( Young) there is only so much you can do. "We're going to go out there and battle. We played them a really good half last time and I expect to do the same again and of course the way it is set up the three best teams are in the same bracket. You got Wood Memorial and that won't be easy at home. Now South Central (Elizabeth) I don't know anything about them this year. It's going to be a really busy week. I believe the first game is at Princeton which makes it tougher. It's a tough way to go. Right now we're looking at the Toyota and after that take a little bit of a rest for a while before the PAC. That's the first thing coming up. If we get that win tomorrow (Friday night with South Spencer) we're still undefeated heading into January. Maddie (Raley) got 20 tonight so she is zeroing in, probably got 60 or so to go. But she is a little under the weather. We're concerned. It's that time of year with colds going around." Three-point shooting by Lady Titan Jor- dyn Graham and four baskets from Ken- zie Whitten and a pair by Jesika Mahoney led the Titan junior varsity in a 63-28 win. Grace Bammer added a trio of free throws, helping set in motion a 20 -7 first quarter that was not altered by the Lady Charger defense, leading to the 63-28 romp for the homestanding Titans. Pike Central had difficulty at the line, hitting just seven of 15 in the first half and then one of four in the third. In the fourth, the Chargers were shut out. Lady Titans Kaleigh Johnson, Klem and Sophie Toth contributed to the 33-point bulge in the second and third quarters and Jordan, Ellie Kiesel, Colby Rogers and Si- enna Samuel combined for the eight-point fourth quarter. Chargers Becca Crow and Alyssa Sisk had the only baskets in the first quarter and Emily Carnahan knocked in both team bas- kets in the second. Sisk stepped up with three baskets in the third while Hannah Carnahan and Halley Powers added one each. Ten Lady Titans scored with Klem the game's leading scorer with 13. Toth added 11, Graham next with 10 and Whit- ten had eight. Sisk was the leading scorer for the Char- gers with 11 points followed by Emily Car- nahan with six and Crow with five. The Chargers go to 5 -5 with a Pocket Athletic Conference record of 1-2. Lady Titan junior varsity coach Ron Kah- le said. "We thought the girls were very ef- ficient tonight on offense. They did a nice job executing and taking the ball to the bas- ket. All the way across from top to bottom we did a good job. Defensively, we did a much better job in the second half of keep- ing them from the basket and getting to the free throw line like Pike did in the first half. I thought everybody played well. That was our 10th win before Christmas and look to the new year." The Titan junior varsity improved to 10 - 2. Pike Central Middle School freshman Hailey Marchino (center) protects the ball during junior varsity game action at Gibson Southern on Thursday, Dec. 17. Ed Cahill photo