The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/901024
The Press-Dispatch Sports Wednesday, November 15, 2017 B- 3 son and two free throws by Vaughn – to narrow the defi- cit to 32-30 with 4:40 left in the game. Ivers and Cavins would both miss the front ends of one-and-ones before a pair of free throws by Keller stretched South Knox's lead to 34-30 with 3:56 re- maining. However, after a basket by Nalley pulled Pike Central to within 34-32, Hendrix- son and Nalley both hit one of two free throw attempts, tying the score at 34-34 with 2:36 remaining. "We just didn't quit," Mc- Cutchan said. "We got a cou- ple of quick steals, and when you get a few steals that lead to layups, everybody's ener- gy picks up. We picked up our energy. That was the only difference." The Lady Chargers had an opportunity to regain the lead as South Knox turned the ball over on each of its next two possessions – including one on a steal by Burkhart. However, a missed three- point shot by Croak and a turnover gave the Lady Spartans the reprieve they needed to pull away in the game's final two minutes. Pike Central, however, re- fused to quit, scoring three straight points – on a free throw by Vaughn and a bas- ket by Nalley – to close back to within 38 -37 with 41 sec- onds remaining. However, after Couche- nour made the second of two free throw attempts to stretch South Knox's lead to 39 -37 with 20.8 seconds left, a missed layup by Hendrix- son was rebounded by Ivers. Couchenour subsequently made one of two free throws to give the Lady Spartans a 40 -37 lead with 10.4 seconds left. That's how the game would end as a three-point shot by Nalley from the top of the key missed to the left as time expired. In the fourth quarter, Pike Central made six of 12 field goal attempts and nine of 13 tries from the free throw line and turned the ball over just four times. However, during the first three quarters, the Lady Chargers hit just eight of 30 field goal attempts and were 0 -for-4 from the free throw line and turned the ball over 20 times. "We played, I thought, hard the first three quar- ters," McCutchan said. "The fourth quarter, we played unreal. I mean, just extremely hard. Our backs were against the wall. We had to go make plays, and we did." But, the issue is, you've got to play four (quarters)," McCutchan added. "Six- teen points in three quarters and then 21 the fourth, that doesn't get the job done." Nalley, who was 5 -for-6 from the field and 3-for-4 from the free throw line during the fourth quar- ter, scored a game-high 15 points. "She thrives on getting down the floor," McCutchan said of Nalley. "She's very athletic, she's strong, she's physical, and games where we can make the game kind of up and down, out of con- trol, those are her type of games. She stepped up when we needed some points." Hendrixson, meanwhile, added seven points and a team-high seven rebounds. Vaughn came off the bench to toss in five points. Burkhart, Hendrixson and Croak – who dished out a game-high three assists – had three steals each. For the game, Pike Cen- tral made 14 of 42 field goal attempts - a 33.3 percent av- erage – and hit nine of 17 tries from the free throw line while turning the ball over 24 times. "We're not confident in our shooting right now," said McCutchan, whose La- dy Chargers have made 46 of of 141 field goal attempts – a 32.6 percent average – and 30 of 52 tries from the free throw line so far this season. "We struggled on offense until the fourth, but we're not a great offensive team. That's just something we've got to get better at. We've got to utilize the pass bet- ter. We want to dribble the ball too much." "I told them, I said, 'We're going to get it, we're going to get it figured out,'" Mc- Cutchan added. "These kids are good kids. They work. Once we can get a consistent work every sin- gle day, whether it's game or practice, we're going to get them better. Once we final- ly get a few things clicking, when we start hitting some shots, I think we're going to be tough." Despite having lost two of their first three games, Pike Central is averaging 43.7 points per game while allowing its opponents 39.3 points per game. "Defense is not our prob- lem," McCutchan said. "We're getting better, and we compete down there. We've just got to get better on offense." Couchenour paced South Knox with 14 points while tallying a game-high four steals. Ivers and Keller add- ed seven and six points, re- spectively. Cavins and Ivers both grabbed a game-high eight rebounds for the Lady Spar- tans, who out-rebounded Pike Central 34-27. For the game, South Knox made 14 of 47 field goal at- tempts – a 29.8 percent av- erage – and hit 10 of 20 tries from the free throw line while turning the ball over 27 times. The game featured a to- tal of 16 jump balls, includ- ing seven in the second pe- riod alone. Eight resulted in turnovers – five by South Knox, three by Pike Central. In the junior varsity con- test, freshmen Mallory Hickey and Gracie Jones scored 16 points each to lead Pike Central to a 43-25 vic- tory over South Knox. Ken- zie Dunn added six points in the winning effort. Soph- omore Jillian Reeves paced the Lady Spartans with eight points. Pike Central, which host- ed Vincennes Lincoln on Tuesday, Nov. 14, will trav- el to Wood Memorial on Fri- day, Nov. 17, before return- ing home to host Tell City on Tuesday, Nov. 21. Sorgius, who will be pur- suing a pre-med degree – the first step toward her goal of becoming a pediat- ric oncologist. "When I go there, I feel at home. When I walked in, the first day, I knew that's where I wanted to go, because the environ- ment's great, the people are great, and I love everything about it." Lindsey Wilson finished the 2017 season with an overall record of 39 -13, in- cluding 21-1 in the Mid- South Conference. David Dews enters his fifth sea- son as head coach of the Blue Raiders, having com- piled a record of 189 -46 – in- cluding 101-12 against con- ference foes. Lindsey Wilson has ad- vanced to postseason play each of the last four years, including back-to-back NA- IA Softball World Series ap- pearances in 2014 and 2015. Sorgius said that she ex- pects to pitch on the Blue Raiders' junior varsity team as a freshman, and that she hopes to battle for a start- ing position on the varsity at second base. During her junior year, Sorgius was 15 -6 with a 2.23 earned run average, allowing 138 hits in 135 in- nings while walking 26 and striking out 70. She tossed 18 complete games, five of which were shutouts. For her high school ca- reer thus far, Sorgius is 25 - 12 – with one save – with a 2.57 ER A, allowing 261 hits in 236 -2/3 innings while walking 55 and striking out 133. She has compiled 30 career complete games and seven shutouts. At the plate, Sorgius is a career .289 hitter, with 44 hits – including seven dou- bles and one home run – in 152 at-bats. She's scored eight runs, drove in 28, and has two stolen bases. Blue Raiders assistant coach Sam White, who was present for the signing, said that Sorgius first caught his eye when he was working at a softball camp in Elizabeth- town, Ky. "We were working with some different drills, and ev- ery time I said something, she just picked up on it right away," White said. "And I was thinking, you know, this kid is really coachable, and she's athletic." Later in the day, when the camp's participants were di- vided into teams, White and Sorgius began to talk to each other. "It was just like the en- tire time we were talking to each other – about the game, about different things, about our program, and about what she was doing in her career," White said. "It was just such a strong connec- tion right away. She drew interest in our program and we had an interest in her. We're just tickled to death that she decided to come to Lindsey." Sorgius said once she made the decision to sign with Lindsey Wilson, she didn't want to put it off any longer than she had to. "Once I verbally commit- ted, I didn't really see the point in waiting around," Sorgius said. "It just real- ly relieves a lot of stress be- cause I can go and have fun and just play with my friends this year and not worry about the stress of trying to find a college and stuff." "The fact that she has committed early, I think, shows that she does love the school," White said. "I think she took her time and made the best decision for her. It's going to allow us to watch her develop and communi- cate. But it's a great thing for us to have an idea what our team's going to look like in the future." Sorgius said that she al- so had drawn interest from Franklin College as well as Transylvania University in Lexington, Ky. "They are great schools, too," Sorgius said. "I just felt really at home at Lind- sey Wilson." Sorgius said that she did consider whether or not she would prefer to go to college somewhere closer to home, but ultimately decided to be- come a Blue Raider. "I definitely thought about it would be nice to be close to home but, at the same time, it's a day trip if I want to come home," Sorgius said. "It's not like it's too far away. But it's also far away enough that I can spread my wings and get to experience the world by myself." "I feel really good," Sorgi- us added. "I'm just really ex- cited to go down there now and get to play." White laughed when asked how he pronounced Sorgius (for the record, it is unofficially pronounced – at least in Pike County – as "Syracuse"). "We don't pronounce it," White said. "We just say, 'Peyton.'" POWERS Continued from page 1 SORGIUS Continued from page 1 LOSS Continued from page 1 SOMETHING NEWSWORTHY? Give us a call: 812-354-8500 HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL Pocket Athletic Conference Standings PAC Overall Team W-L W-L PF PA Gibson Southern 7-0 11-1 615 140 Southridge 6 -1 11-2 468 192 North Posey 5 -2 7-3 368 262 Heritage Hills 4-3 5 -5 300 231 South Spencer 3-4 3-7 168 394 Forest Park 1-6 4-7 233 398 Pike Central 1-6 2-8 175 410 Tell City 1-6 2-7 146 385 IHSA A TOURNAMENT FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 10 CLASS 6A Regional 1 Penn 33, Crown Point 3 Regional 2 Carmel 22, Fort Wayne Snider 21 Regional 3 Ben Davis 50, Fishers 7 Regional 4 Avon 32, Center Grove 21 CLASS 5A Regional 5 Michigan City 21, Concord 7 Regional 6 Kokomo 33, Zionsville 21 Regional 7 Indianapolis Cathedral 35, Bloomington South 21 Regional 8 Columbus East 49, Terre Haute North 18 CLASS 4A Regional 9 Lowell 25, New Prairie 20 Regional 10 Fort Wayne Dwenger 34, Angola 0 Regional 11 Greenwood 34, Mississinewa 27 Regional 12 East Central 35, Evansville Central 13 CLASS 3A Regional 13 Brebeuf Jesuit 13, West Lafayette 10 Regional 14 Mishawaka Marian 30, Fort Wayne Luers 7 Regional 15 Danville 38, Indianapolis Chatard 7 CLASS 2A Regional 17 Woodlan 40, North Newton 28 Regional 18 Eastbrook 56, Lapel 26 Regional 19 Indianapolis Scecina 48, Western Boone 33 Regional 20 Southridge 47, Providence 7 CLASS 1A Regional 21 Pioneer 38, LaVille 0 Regional 22 Monroe Central 28, Southwood 21 Regional 23 Indianapolis Lutheran 50, Indianapolis Arlington 15 Regional 24 Eastern Greene 42, Fountain Central 19 SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 11 CLASS 3A Regional 16 Evansville Memorial 56, Lawrenceburg 35 FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 17 CLASS 6A Semistate Penn (11-1) at Carmel (8 -4) Avon (10 -2) at Indianapolis Ben Davis (12-0) CLASS 5A Semistate Michigan City (9 -3) at Kokomo (8 -4) Columbus East (12-1) at Indianapolis Cathedral (7-5) CLASS 4A Semistate Lowell (13-0) at Fort Wayne Dwenger (10 -3) Greenwood (11-2) at East Central (10 -3) CLASS 3A Semistate Brebeuf Jesuit (9 -4) at Mishawaka Marian (9 -4) Evansville Memorial (12-1) at Danville (13-0) CLASS 2A Semistate Woodlan (11-2) at Eastbrook (13-0) CLASS 1A Semistate Monroe Central (12-1) at Pioneer (13-0) Eastern Greene (10 -3) at Indianapolis Lutheran (11- 2) SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 18 CLASS 2A Semistate Southridge (11-2) at Indianapolis Scecina (12-1) MAC'S HEATING & AIR CONDITIONING 812-789-3065 104 E Center St, Winslow • macshtgac@hotmail.com T H I S F E A T U R E I S S P O N S O R E D B Y : PIKE CENTRAL OF THE WEEK Mac's Heating and Air Conditioning recognizes the Pike Central seniors who are involved in athletics. PEYTON SORGIUS has played Volleyball at Pike Central for four years, and also participated in Soft- ball. Peyton was the recipient of the Academic Award for Volleyball, and was a 2016 STAR Student. She received the Pitching award in Softball and was named All-PAC Honorable Mention. She is a member of the National Honor Society, Graduation Committee and Student Gov- ernment. Her favorite classes are Medical and Science classes. Peyton is the daughter of Scott and Teresa Sorgius, of Otwell. TYCE SORGIUS has played Football at Pike Central for four years and also participates in Wrestling and Golf. Tyce is a member of Swing Choir and the National Honor Society. His favorite classes are Web Design and Criminal Justice. He also enjoys playing disc golf. Tyce is the son of Scott and Teresa Sorgius, of Otwell. KAYLA SANDERS has been a Cheerleader at Pike Central for four years. She has received the Na- tional Cheerleaders Association Leadership award and was an All-American Cheer nominee. Kayla is an honor student whose favorite classes are English and Biomed- ical Innovations. She also enjoys hunting and traveling. Kayla is the daughter of Mark and Chastity Sanders, of Winslow. Pike Central High School senior Erika Hendrix- son (23) goes up for a shot as South Knox junior Paige Cavins (5) defends during varsity girls' bas- ketball action on Friday, Nov. 10. Ed Cahill photo time. So I just asked Him to help me through it." Powers said that she plans to double major in physical ed- ucation and youth ministry at OCU. "I want to become a PE teacher, to help kids stay in shape," Powers said. "I want to be in a school district so I can coach kids, but then I al- so want to be in a church set- ting, so I can teach kids about God." The fact that Oakland City University offered both of her majors, Powers said, made her decision a relatively easy one. "And that's where I felt like home was," Powers added. Powers wrapped up her se- nior year in impressive fash- ion, posting a personal re- cord time of 21:04 during the regional meet at Prides Creek Park on Saturday, Oct. 14. One week later, Powers re- set her personal record time when she posted a time of 20 :32 during the semi-state meet at Brown County's Ea- gle Park. Roach noted that two mem- bers of the boys' cross coun- try team – junior Draven Huff and freshman Ijaa Chambers – spoke with Powers after hav- ing competed in the boys' race immediately preceding the girls' race. "Draven and Ijaa came up to her before her race and told her, 'Hey, this is what we ex- perienced,' and she had ran on the course a couple times, so she was pretty mentally prepared for it," Roach said. "She even still says that she felt like she was running a lot faster in the beginning than she was supposed to be run- ning, but when we were out there watching her, she was right where we wanted her. She just kind of took off and got her best time." "It's kind of bittersweet, because you want to be able to see if she can keep going," Roach added. "That's what I told her after the meet that right there shows her college coaches even more, that she's going to keep improving when they get her, too." Roach, who was named Pike Central's head girls' and boys' cross country coach in 2016 after one year as the middle school girls' and boys' cross country coach in 2015, said that the difference for Powers during her senior year was consistency. "We looked at things as far as not just running, but as far as nutrition and stuff like that," Roach said. "She start- ed eating a little bit healthi- er before the meets on Sat- urday mornings, and it kind of kicked her back into over- drive, and she improved and improved and improved." "That just goes to show how bad she wants it," Roach con- tinued. "It's not just the work she does at practice, it's the things that she'll look at and change every day, to make her better in the long run. From Day One, she's been some- body that's willing to do that, willing to take that and go run with it." The Mighty Oaks are coached by Princeton grad Will Niederhaus, who took over as the men's and wom- en's cross country coach this year after running for OCU from 2013-17. "Will just took over this year and he's doing a good job of building that team," Roach said. "From what I hear, with who he wants there, I think they're going to be really com- petitive next year – and she'll thrive off of that as well."