The Press-Dispatch
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The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, November 15, 2017 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 When the going got tough, the Pike Central High School girls' basketball team finally got going. Trailing host South Knox 29 -16 after being held to zero points in the third quarter on Fri- day, Nov. 10, the Lady Chargers went on an 18 - 5 scoring run to pull into a 34-34 tie with 2:36 left in the fourth period. However, a basket by senior Jarissa Page and a pair of free throws by sophomore Hannah Iv- ers would spur South Knox to a 40 -37 victory. "We didn't score in the third quarter – that was a killer," said Pike Central head coach Kyle McCutchan, whose team fell to 1-2 with its sec- ond straight loss. "You can't win a game playing with your back to the wall in the fourth quarter. I mean, the odds are against you." The Lady Chargers jumped out to a 6 -0 lead – on baskets by junior Becca Crow and seniors Brook Nalley and Erika Hendrixson – before South Knox sophomore Mykayla Couchenour hit a three-pointer with 3:31 left in the first quar- ter. Following an exchange of baskets by Pike Central senior Natalie Burkhart and Page, Hen- drixson scored – off an assist from senior Demi Croak – to extend the Lady Chargers' lead to 10 - 5 with 2:34 remaining in the opening period. However, after Hendrixson missed two free throw attempts with 2:14 left in the first quar- ter, Pike Central turned the ball over on four of its next five possessions. Fortunately, the La- dy Spartans managed to score just one point – a free throw by Ivers – during that span and en- tered the second period trailing 10 -6. Two baskets by Couchenour and another by Ivers sparked a 6 -2 scoring run that pulled South Knox into a 12-12 tie. Following an exchange of baskets – the first by Pike Central senior Audra Stone, the sec- ond by Lady Spartan freshman Lexi Detweiler – South Knox took a 15 -14 lead on a free throw by senior Kristie Williams when McCutchan was assessed a technical foul with 2:48 left in the first half. "I thought the officials let too much go," Mc- Cutchan said afterward. "They tee'd me up ex- tremely fast, and the guy thought it was funny to stare at me while he tee'd me up. I'm not hap- py with that." "We got some calls in the second half, so it evens out sometimes," McCutchan continued. "But I think that we got hammered on a few drives in the first half, to no avail. When you make a good play on offense and aren't reward- ed, that takes your confidence away a little bit." A basket by Ivers extended the Lady Spartans lead to 17-14 with two minutes left in the second period. Then, after Burkhart scored on a put- back of a miss by Crow to pull Pike Central to within 17-16 with 1:25 remaining, a three-point- er by Couchenour and a lay-up by Detweiler gave South Knox a 22-16 halftime advantage. During the third quarter, however, the La- dy Chargers would miss all seven of their free throw attempts – including three from beyond the three-point arc – and go 0 -for-2 from the free throw line while turning the ball over nine times. South Knox, meanwhile, failed to score until Page hit the second of two free throws with 3:46 left in the third period to give the Lady Spar- tans a 23-16 lead. Three straight baskets – two by senior Chase Keller and one by Couchenour – extended South Knox's lead to 29 -16. "They really pressured you," McCutchan said of the Lady Spartans. "The refs let them play physical, which is okay. We just didn't handle it very well. We got nervous, we panicked, and just started rushing. Instead of moving the ball with the pass, we wanted to move everything with the dribble." "South Knox was really physical and they played hard," McCutchan added. "We knew they'd be scrappy. We knew they'd battle. That's just something we have to be better at." Pike Central scored the first four points on the fourth period – on back-to-back baskets by junior Hailey Marchino and sophomore Lauren Vaughn – to pull to within 29 -20. Then, after a three-point play by Lady Spar- tan junior Paige Cavins extended South Knox's lead to 32-20, the Lady Chargers scored eight straight points – on two baskets and two free throws by Nalley, two free throws by Hendrix- By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net The night before she was to sign her na- tional letter of intent to play softball at Lind- sey Wilson College on Friday, Nov. 10, Pike Central High School senior Peyton Sorgi- us was nervous. "My name's kind of hard in cursive, so I was just really wanting to make sure that I spelled it right," Sorgius said. "So, yeah, I practiced." In a brief ceremony held in the school's distance learning classroom, however, Sor- gius – the 18 -year-old daughter of Scott and Teresa Sorgius, of Otwell – had no trouble signing her name. While Sorgius may have been nervous about making sure that she spelled her name correctly – with her pitching coach, Mike Sanders, her twin brother, Tyce, and a roomful of her teammates from both the volleyball and softball teams looking on – she said she was very comfortable with her decision to sign with Lindsey Wilson Col- lege, an NAIA school located in Colum- bia, Ky. Lindsey Wilson is a great school," said By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net Pike Central High School senior Halley Powers signed a national letter of intent to join the women's cross country team at Oak- land City University on Monday, Nov. 13. The 18 -year-old Powers – with her par- ents Jeff and Tammy Powers, her sister Al- yx, Lady Chargers head coach Josh Roach and her teammates looking on – put her name on the proverbial dotted line in a brief cere- mony held in the school's distance learning classroom. Powers, who transferred to Pike Central in 2015 – after winning all-conference honors as a freshman runner at Newton (Ill.) High School – when her father was hired as pas- tor at the Petersburg First Christian Church, said she was pleased with her decision. "They were just very open and honest with me," said Powers, who also considered offers from Cincinnati Christian University, Cedar- ville (Ohio) University and Brescia Universi- ty in Owensboro, Ky. "They have both of my majors and, then, on top of that, with my faith and everything, they go with my faith more- so and, for sure, God was with me the whole Jenna Rhineburger scored a game-high 12 points to lead the North Posey Junior High School eighth grade girls' basket- ball team to a 25 -20 victory over visiting Pike Central on Thursday, Nov. 9. "North Posey started out in a man-to-man pressure defense, and it startled the girls," Lady Chargers head coach Eric Knight said. "We just could not get into our of- fensive sets, which is some- thing we will work on over and over until we can get our confidence back." Kya Sullivan scored four of her team-high eight points in the first quarter while Ashton Catt and Kya Leighty added two points each as Pike Central ral- lied to within 10 -8. Howev- er, North Posey outscored the Lady Chargers 7-2 in the second period to extend its lead to 17-10. Pike Central – which fell behind by double digits in the third quarter – rallied late, pulling to within three points on a three-point shot by Sophie Carnahan with less than a minute remain- ing. However, Rhineburger would hit three of four free throw attempts as the Lady Vikings held on for the vic- tory. "We started fouling to put them on the line," Knight said. "Posey did a very good job of getting the ball in Rhineburger's hands, and she knocked down the free throws to seal the win." "All the girls played hard," Knight added. "That's two games in a row the girls have battled back into the game being down double digits. We had looks at the basket but were just unable to knock them down." Sullivan, Knight noted, made six of 11 tries from the free throw line as Pike Cen- tral, as a team, went 7-for-12 from the charity stripe. "Kya did a really good job of driving and forcing the girls to foul her," said Knight, whose team slipped to 1-2, including 1-1 against Pocket Athletic Conference foes. Carnahan added four points for the Lady Char- gers, while Hailey Barber, Ashton Catt, Mallory Hunt and Kya Leighty pitched in with two points each. In the seventh grade con- test, Liberty Taylor scored a team-high eight points to lead Pike Central to a 19 -17 victory over North Posey. Chloe Williams and Kahle Young added seven points and four points, respective- ly, as the Lady Chargers im- proved to 2-1 overall and 1-1 in the PAC. Pike Central High School senior Demi Croak (left) and South Knox freshman Lexi Detweiler (right) battle for control of the ball during varsity girls' basketball action on Friday, Nov. 10. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School senior Brook Nalley (right) slips past South Knox freshman Lexi Detweiler (11) during varsity girls' basketball action on Friday, Nov. 10. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School senior Peyton Sorgius (seated, center) prepares to sign a national letter of intent to play softball at Lindsey Wilson College during a ceremony held in the school's distance learning classroom on Fri- day, Nov. 10. Pictured with Sorgius are her parents, Scott (seated, left) and Teresa (seated, right) Sorgius; pitching coach Mike Sanders (standing, left) and Lindsey Wilson College assistant coach Sam White (standing, right). Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School senior Halley Powers (seated, center) prepares to sign a national letter of intent to play run cross country at Oakland City University during a ceremony held in the school's distance learning class- room on Monday, Nov. 13. Pictured with Powers are her parents, Jeff (seat- ed, left) and Tammy (seated, right) Powers; her sister, Alyx (standing, left) and Pike Central High School head cross country coach Josh Roach (stand- ing, right). Ed Cahill photo PCMS 8th grade girls basketball team drops 25-20 loss at North Posey See LOSS on 3 See PCMS on 2 See SORGIUS on 3 See POWERS on 3 LADY CHARGERS' FOURTH-QUARTER RALLY FALLS SHORT IN 40-37 LOSS AT SOUTH KNOX Sorgius signs letter of intent to play softball at Lindsey Wilson Powers signs national letter of intent to run cross country at OCU