The Press-Dispatch
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The Press-Dispatch Sports Wednesday, November 29, 2017 B- 3 us, but we moved it well and we hit some shots," Pike Central head coach Kyle McCutchan said. "They went to man, and we ex- ploited Erika on the block. She was our mismatch, so we tried to get her the ball as much as we could." The Lady Chargers scored the game's first 11 points – seven by Hendrix- son and two each by senior Natalie Burkhart and soph- omore Lauren Vaughn – be- fore a jump shot by Tell City senior Katie Goffinet ended the shutout with 5:56 left in the second period. Hendrixson then netted seven more points while seniors Brook Nalley and Demi Croak added two apiece as Pike Central out- scored the Lady Marksmen 11-2 to extend its lead to 22- 4 with 3:18 remaining in the first half. Two free throws by senior Hayley Fackler and a bas- ket by Goffinet cut the defi- cit to 22-8 with 1:04 left in the second quarter before a jumper by Nalley – off an as- sist from junior Becca Crow – gave the Lady Chargers a 24-8 halftime lead. During the first half, Pike Central made 11 of 26 field goal attempts – including one of four tries from be- yond the three point line – and was 1-for-1 from the free throw line while turn- ing the ball over just four times. Tell City, meanwhile, made just two of 14 field goal attempts during the first half – including a miss on its only shot from be- yond the three-point line – and was 4-for-4 from the free throw line while turn- ing the ball over 13 times. Despite holding a 16 -point halftime lead, how- ever, McCutchan was a lit- tle concerned about how the Lady Chargers would play following the intermission. "I've seen us play a good half before, and some nights we've come out flat in the third," McCutchan said. "That's what I preached to them, even before we came out – extend the lead here. No let-up. Let's push ahead. We get a couple of baskets early, you can bury them." A fter turning the ball over on its first possession of the second half, Pike Central scored six straight points – on a three-point play by Hendrixson and a three-point shot by Croak – to stretch its lead to 30 - 8 with 6:44 left in the third period. "Those were big," Mc- Cutchan said. "We scored six quick points to really put us in a position where we knew we could finish them off." A basket by sopho- more Elizabeth Thomas and a three-pointer by ju- nior Chloe Carman – sand- wiched around a basket by Hendrixson – pulled the La- dy Marksmen to within 32- 13 with 3:42 remaining in the third quarter. However, the Lady Char- gers scored the final nine points of the period – seven by Crow and two by junior Hailey Marchino – to take a 41-13 lead into the fourth period. Tell City opened the scor- ing in the final quarter with a three-point play by Fack- ler, but Pike Central an- swered with a 12-2 scor- ing run – on five points by senior Audra Stone, three -points by Vaughn and two points each by Marchino and senior Halley Powers – to extend its lead to 50 -18 with 1:49 remaining. "Tonight, I thought the first half, we were just kind of hesitant," McCutchan said. "In the second half, we built the lead and we just started playing more confi- dent. We were looking to at- tack more. We were looking to make the extra pass – in- stead of taking a good shot, getting a great shot." "Our passing has to get better, and it was better to- night," McCutchan added. "We have to keep getting better, and we have to stay confident. If we're open, we've got to look to knock the shot down, or when the drive's there, look to take the drive. It's a work in progress, but tonight was a good start." McCutchan was espe- cially pleased with the play of Crow, who, in addition to scoring seven points, dished out a game-high five assists. "Her confidence has been a little shaken," McCutchan said. "I talked to her a lit- tle bit last night. She played very well. I worked on her to get the ball to the middle of the paint, and kick to her teammates – make a play, not just for yourself, but al- so for your teammates – and she did that." Croak, Stone and Vaughn added five points each while Marchino and Nalley scored four points apiece. Burkhart, Powers and ju- nior Hannah Carnahan rounded out the scoring with two points each. For the game, Pike Cen- tral made 23 of 52 field goal attempts – a 44.2 percent average – and hit six of 10 tries from the free throw line while turning the ball over a season-low seven times. "It's just amazing how an offense looks when you hit some jump shots," Mc- Cutchan said. "We missed some easy shots – you're always going to miss easy shots – but we got really good looks tonight." Fackler paced Tell City with seven points while Goffinet and Thomas chipped in with four points each. Carman and sopho- more Ava Hilgenhold add- ed three and two points, re- spectively, to round out the scoring for the Lady Marks- men. For the game, Tell City made six of 31 field goal at- tempts – a 19.4 percent av- erage – and hit seven of 10 tries from the free throw line while turning the ball over 24 times. In the junior varsity con- test, junior Emily Carnahan and freshman Mallory Hick- ey scored 10 points each to lead Pike Central to a 35 -11 victory. Junior Kenzie Dunn and freshman Kenzie Pow- ell added six and five points, respectively, while fresh- men Gracie Jones and Kail- ee Mann netted two points each. With the win, the La- dy Chargers JV squad im- proved to 6 -0. Pike Central, which host- ed Eastern Greene on Tues- day, Nov. 28, will return to action on Monday, Dec. 4, when the Lady Chargers will host South Spencer. Pike Central will then play at Southridge on Thurs- day, Dec. 7,. before return- ing home to host Evansville Bosse on Saturday, Dec. 9. off of assists by Nalley and se- nior Kyson Western – cut the deficit to 52-50 with 33 sec- onds left. Reece Bauer subsequent- ly hit one of two free throw attempts with 23.1 seconds, giving Northeast Dubois a 53-50 lead. However, the Chargers – trying to set up a score-tying three-point shot – turned the ball over on a steal by Kers- tiens. "They knew what we were running, and we had Camer- on wide open over here on the left wing, right in front of our bench," Elliott said. "We were supposed to dribble and skip it and, for whatever rea- son, we kept it on that same side, and we just didn't exe- cute that last play. We just didn't get a good look." A fter Reece Bauer missed two free throws with 1.7 sec- onds left, Nalley – after grab- bing the rebound – launched a desperation shot from be- yond mid-court that hit off the top of the backboard as the final buzzer sounded. First-year Pike Central head coach Hunter Elliott said afterward that the Char- gers had dug themselves too deep of a hole to climb out of during the first period. "We beat them every quar- ter besides the first, and giv- ing up 24 points in just unac- ceptable," Elliott said. "We came out not ready to play and they got a lot of easy buckets that first quarter. We kind of got in that hole and we had to chip away. We did, but we just couldn't really get over that hump." "Defensively, I thought we did a nice job – after the first quarter," Elliott add- ed. "We dug ourselves too big of a hole and it took a lot of energy to climb out of it. By the time we'd get to the edge of it, we just didn't have quite enough to get over that hump." Elliott was especially dis- appointed in the fact that the Chargers were unable to take full advantage when the Jeeps – leading 51-40 – missed six of eight free throw attempts, including the front ends of two one-and-ones, in the game's final 95 seconds. "They gave us an opportu- nity," Elliott said. "Even with the breaks not going our way and shots not falling, we still had a chance there at the end. We just didn't have it to- night." Henson added 16 points and a team-high three as- sists for the Chargers while Booker chipped in with 15 points. Claridge rounded out the scoring with two points. Western had a game-high four steals. For the game, Pike Central made 19 of 45 field goal at- tempts – a 42.2 percent aver- age – and hit nine of 15 tries from the free throw line while turning the ball over 12 times. The Chargers attempt- ed 16 shots from beyond the three-point arc, hitting just three. "I really thought we got a lot of good looks all game, but they just didn't fall," El- liott said. "But that's kind of part of it. The breaks didn't go our way and shots didn't fall, and that makes it a little difficult." Kerstiens led the Jeeps with 17 points while Reece Bauer and Merkel tossed in 10 points each. For the game, Northeast Dubois made 20 of 36 field goal attempts – a 55.6 percent average – and hit eight of 15 tries from the free throw line while turning the ball over 17 times. The Jeeps attempted 10 shots from beyond the three- point arc, hitting five. "They shot the ball well," Elliott said. "They hit shots when they needed to hit shots and we didn't, and that kind of cost us the game." Pike Central will return to action on Saturday, Dec. 2, when the Chargers will play at Princeton. "The kids are upset, and that's kind of part of it," El- liott said. "I'd be worried if they weren't upset. But, like I told them, we can't put all our stock into the first game of the season. It's a long year. Northeast Dubois isn't a sec- tional opponent. They're not a conference opponent. So we've just got to bounce back and be ready to go." "Princeton's a tough team and they've got a lot of size," Elliott added. "We've got to do a good job of executing and taking care of the ball." In junior varsity action, ju- nior Hayden Kabrick scored nine points while juniors Christian Benson and Judah Leathco added eight points each to lead Pike Central to a 47-39 win over Northeast Dubois. CHARGERS Continued from page 1 TELL CITY Continued from page 1 HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS' BASKETBALL Pocket Athletic Conference Standings PAC Overall Team W-L W-L Forest Park .......................................... 1-0 ...................4-1 Pike Central ........................................ 1-0 ...................3-3 Tecumseh ............................................ 1-0 ...................4-1 Gibson Southern ................................. 0 -0 ...................4-1 Heritage Hills ...................................... 0 -0 ...................4-1 North Posey ........................................ 0 -0 ...................2-2 Southridge ........................................... 0 -0 ...................1-5 South Spencer ..................................... 0 -1 ...................0 -7 Tell City ................................................ 0 -2 .................. 3-5 Results of November 21 Pike Central 55, Tell City 20 Evansville Central 63, North Posey 40 Gibson Southern 59, Evansville Bosse 37 Heritage Hills 49, Princeton 44 Mount Vernon (Posey) 65, South Spencer 47 Tecumseh 47, Barr-Reeve 26 Result of November 27 Tecumseh 60, South Spencer 55 Games of November 28 Eastern Greene at Pike Central Southridge at Forest Park Tell City at Heritage Hills Wood Memorial at North Posey Games of November 30 Southridge at Tell City Tecumseh at Heritage Hills Games of December 1 Forest Park at Gibson Southern South Central (Elizabeth) at Tell City Games of December 2 Jasper at Southridge Tecumseh in North Daviess Tournament Games of December 4 South Spencer at Pike Central – Junior Varsity, 6:30 p.m.; Varsity, 8 p.m. Evansville North at Gibson Southern Games of December 5 Jasper at Heritage Hills Southridge at North Posey Tecumseh at Forest Park Games of December 7 Pike Central at Southridge – Junior Varsity, 6 p.m.; Varsity, 7:30 p.m. Gibson Southern at Mount Vernon (Posey) Heritage Hills at Forest Park Northeast Dubois at Tell City Perry Central at Tecumseh Washington at North Posey Wood Memorial at South Spencer Game of December 8 Evansville Central at Gibson Southern Games of December 9 Evansville Bosse at Pike Central – Junior Varsity, noon; Varsity, 1:30 p.m. Borden at Southridge Pike Central High School junior Becca Crow (11) drives past Tell City junior Chloe Carman during varsity girls' basketball action on Tuesday, Nov. 21. Crow scored seven points and dished out a game-high five assists in the host Lady Char- gers' 55-20 victory. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School senior Demi Croak (43) fires up a three-point shot over Tell City se- nior Katie Goffinet (10) during varsity girls' bas- ketball action on Tuesday, Nov. 21. Croak scored five points in the host Lady Chargers' 55-20 vic- tory. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School senior Bryant Nal- ley (40) goes up for a shot as Northeast Dubois senior Griffen Bauer (44) defends during varsity boys' basketball action on Wednesday, Nov. 22. Nalley scored 17 points and grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds in the visiting Chargers' 53-50 sea- son-opening loss. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School senior Kaleb Clar- idge (13) drives past Northeast Dubois senior Al- ex Harder (21) during varsity boys' basketball action on Wednesday, Nov. 22. Claridge scored two points in the visiting Chargers' 53-50 sea- son-opening loss. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School senior Cameron Hen- son (10) tries to drive past Northeast Dubois se- nior Brandon Merkel (left) during varsity boys' basketball action on Wednesday, Nov. 22. Henson scored 16 points in the visiting Chargers' 53-50 season-opening loss. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School senior Kyson Western (14) starts to drive toward the basket during var- sity boys' basketball action at Northeast Dubois on Wednesday, Nov. 22. Ed Cahill photo