The Press-Dispatch
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B-2 Sports Wednesday, December 6, 2017 The Press-Dispatch CHARGERS Continued from page 1 UPCOMING SPORTS SCHEDULE THURSDAY, DECEMBER 7 High School Girls' Basketball: Pike Central at Southridge – Junior Varsity, 6 p.m.; Varsity, 7:30 p.m. High School Girls' and Boys' Swimming: South- ridge, South Spencer and Wood Memorial at Pike Cen- tral, 6 p.m. High School Freshmen Boys' Basketball: Te- cumseh vs. Pike Central at Old Petersburg Gym, 6:30 p.m. Middle School 6th Grade Girls' Basketball: Pike Central vs. Jasper at Cabby O'Neil Gym, 6 p.m. Middle School 7th and 8th Grade Boys' Basket- ball: Pike Central at Jasper (A & B), 6 p.m. Middle School 7th and 8th Grade Girls' Basket- ball: Heritage Hills at Pike Central, 6:30 p.m. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 8 High School Wrestling: Pike Central in Pocket Athletic Conference Duals at Tell City, 6 p.m. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 9 High School Wrestling: Pike Central in Pocket Athletic Conference Duals at Tell City, 9 a.m. High School Girls' Basketball: Evansville Bosse at Pike Central – Junior Varsity, noon; Varsity, 1:30 p.m. High School Boys' Basketball: Southridge at Pike Central – Junior Varsity, 6 p.m.; Varsity, 7:30 p.m. Middle School 7th and 8th Grade Girls' Bas- ketball: Dubois at Pike Central, 9:30 a.m. Middle School 6th Grade Boys' Basketball: Pike Central at Princeton, 10 a.m. Elementary School 5th Grade Boys' Basketball: Petersburg at Dubois, 10 a.m. MONDAY, DECEMBER 11 High School Freshmen Boys' Basketball: Pike Central at South Knox, 6 p.m. High School Girls' and Boys' Swimming: Evans- ville Reitz at Pike Central, 6:30 p.m. Middle School 7th and 8th Grade Girls' Bas- ketball: Pike Central at Forest Park, 6 p.m. Middle School 6th Grade Boys' Basketball: Pike Central at Oakland City (B team first), 6 p.m. Middle School 6th Grade Girls' Basketball: Washington Catholic at Pike Central, 6 p.m. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 12 High School Freshmen Boys' Basketball: Pike Central at North Posey, 6:30 p.m. Middle School 7th and 8th Grade Boys' Basketball: Pike Central at Forest Park, 6 p.m. Elementary School 5th Grade Girls' and Boys' Basketball: Winslow at Francisco, 5:30 p.m. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 13 High School Girls' and Boys' Swimming: Evans- ville North at Pike Central, 6 p.m. High School Junior Varsity Wrestling: Pike Cen- tral at Owensboro, Ky., 6 p.m. Middle School 7th and 8th Grade Girls' Basket- ball: Pike Central at Princeton, 6:30 p.m. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 14 High School Girls' Basketball: Pike Central at Gibson Southern – Junior Varsity, 6:30 p.m.; Varsity, 8 p.m. High School Freshmen Boys' Basketball: Princ- eton at Pike Central, 6:30 p.m. Middle School 7th and 8th Grade Girls' Basket- ball: Owensville at Pike Central, 6:30 p.m. Middle School 7th and 8th Grade Boys' Basket- ball: Pike Central at Owensville, 6:30 p.m. Middle School 6th Grade Girls' Basketball: Her- itage Hills at Pike Central, 6:30 p.m. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15 High School Boys' Basketball: Vincennes Rivet at Pike Central – Junior Varsity, 6 p.m.; Varsity, 7:30 p.m. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 16 High School Girls' Basketball: North Knox at Pike Central – Junior Varsity, 10 a.m.; Varsity, 11:30 a.m. Middle School 7th and 8th Grade Girls' Bas- ketball: Pike Central at Barr-Reeve, 1 p.m. HIGH SCHOOL BOYS' BASKETBALL Pocket Athletic Conference Standings PAC Overall Team W-L W-L Forest Park .......................................... 1-0 .................. 2-0 Gibson Southern ................................. 0 -0 ...................0 -1 Heritage Hills ...................................... 0 -0 .................. 3-0 North Posey ........................................ 0 -0 .................. 2-0 Pike Central ........................................ 0 -0 ...................0 -2 South Spencer ..................................... 0 -0 ...................0 -2 Southridge ........................................... 0 -0 .................. 0 -0 Tecumseh ............................................ 0 -0 ...................1-2 Tell City ................................................ 0 -1 ...................2-1 Result of November 28 Owensboro Catholic (Ky.) 76, South Spencer 47 Results of December 1 Barr-Reeve 51, Tecumseh 39 Evansville Mater Dei 54, South Spencer 37 Heritage Hills 53, Evansville Day 43 Jasper 44, Gibson Southern 42 North Posey 82, Mount Vernon (Posey) 65 Results of December 2 Princeton 66, Pike Central 52 Forest Park 55, Tell City 22 Heritage Hills 66, Northeast Dubois 63 Wood Memorial 55, Tecumseh 44 Games of December 5 Boonville at Tecumseh North Posey at Evansville Day Games of December 8 Evansville Central at Gibson Southern Loogootee at Forest Park North Posey at Heritage Hills Tecumseh at Cannelton Tell City at Southridge Games of December 9 Southridge at Pike Central: Junior Varsity, 6 p.m.; Varsity, 7:30 p.m. Forest Park at Washington South Central (Elizabeth) at Tell City South Spencer at Mount Vernon (Posey) Games of December 12 Gibson Southern at Evansville North Heritage Hills at Hancock County (Ky.) Games of December 15 Vincennes Rivet at Pike Central: Junior Varsity, 6 p.m.; Varsity, 7:30 p.m. North Posey at Evansville Mater Dei South Spencer at Gibson Southern Tell City at Tecumseh Games of December 16 Crawford County at South Spencer Mount Vernon (Posey) at Heritage Hills North Daviess at Tecumseh Dubois County Tournament at Jasper Northeast Dubois vs. Jasper Southridge vs. Forest Park Northeast Dubois-Jasper loser vs. Southridge-For- est Park loser Northeast Dubois-Jasper winner vs. Southridge-For- est Park winner Pike Central High School junior Eli Coleman (13) drives past Princeton freshman Jurrien Bal- lard during junior varsity boys' basketball action on Saturday, Dec. 2. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School sophomore Mario Fields (23) goes up for a shot as Princeton fresh- man Rhett Thompson (23) looks on during ju- nior varsity boys' basketball action on Saturday, Dec. 2. Ed Cahill photo before the Tigers answered with a trey of their own – by junior Drew Robb – to tie the score at 3-3 with 7:05 left in the first period. A fter Nalley hit one of two free throw attempts to give the Chargers a 4-3 lead, a three-pointer by Wilkerson propelled Princeton ahead 6 -4. A basket by Nalley drew Pike Central even at 6 -6 with 5:53 left in the opening peri- od, but the Tigers scored six straight points – on a pair of free throws by senior Nick Albin and back-to-back bas- kets by Wilkerson and junior Zach Dove – to take a 12-6 lead with 3:39 remaining in the first quarter. The Chargers fought back, scoring five straight points – on a three-pointer by Nalley and a basket by senior Tyler Tormohlen – to close to within 12-11 with 2:14 left in the opening pe- riod. However, after an ex- change of baskets by Zach Dove for Princeton and Nal- ley for Pike Central, the Ti- gers scored 11 unanswered points – on a three-point play by Zach Dove, back-to-back three-pointers by Wilkerson and another basket by Zach Dove – to extend their lead to 25 -13 with 4:49 left in the first half. A basket by senior Camer- on Henson – which cut the deficit to 25 -15 with 4:26 re- maining in the second pe- riod – ended a five-minute scoreless stretch by the Chargers. Princeton would ex- tend its lead to as many as 15 points before a pair of three-pointers by Pike Cen- tral senior Breyton Booker – sandwiched around a bas- ket by Wilkerson – pulled the Chargers to within 37- 26 at the intermission. "He shot the ball well in that second quarter," Elliott said of Booker, who made three three-pointers in as many attempts during the period. "He got good looks and those were the looks we were trying to get for him. He hit them and that kind of cut it ... so we were within fighting distance coming out of the half." However, Princeton opened the third quarter by scoring five straight points – on a pair of free throws by junior Matt Dove and a three-pointer by Wilkerson – to extend its lead to 42-26. A three-point play and back-to-back baskets by Nalley pulled the Chargers to within nine points – at 42-33 – with 2:29 left in the third period. The Tigers' lead fluctu- ated between nine and 11 points over the next two minutes before a free throw by Henson cut the deficit to 48 -40 with 33.5 seconds re- maining in the quarter. A fter a pair of free throws by Zach Dove extended Princeton's lead to 50 -40, Tormohlen hit a three-point- er in the closing seconds of the third quarter to pull Pike Central to within 50 -43. When play resumed at the start of the fourth period, however, the Tigers scored six straight points – on bas- kets by Wilkerson, Zach Dove and Albin – to stretch their lead to 56 -43 with 6:29 remaining. Pike Central would get no closer than 11 points the rest of the contest. During the fourth period, Princeton made six of nine field goal attempts and was 4-for-7 from the free throw line while the Chargers went 3-for-14 from the field – in- cluding 0 -for-7 from beyond the three-point arc – and were 3-for-4 from the char- ity stripe. "That fourth quarter, they were hitting shots and we weren't," Elliott said. "We were getting the looks we wanted, and when we get shots four or five feet from the basket, wide open, you can't ask for much more, or wide-open three's. If they don't go in, sometimes that's just how it goes." In addition to Nalley's team-high 22 points, Book- er and Tormohlen added nine points each, while Hen- son had seven points to go along with a team-high eight rebounds and a team-high four assists. For the game, Pike Cen- tral made 19 of 45 field goal attempts – a 42.2 percent av- erage – and hit eight of 13 tries from the free throw line while turning the ball over seven times. The Chargers attempted 25 shots from beyond the three-point line, hitting six – a 24 percent average. "Princeton's a heck of a team," Elliott said. "We knew they were going to be really good. I think our boys played really hard. Some of our shots didn't fall. It could have easily been a differ- ent game if we hit some of those." Albin added 16 points while Zach Dove pitched in 13 points in the winning ef- fort. Matt Dove led the Ti- gers in rebounds with seven. For the game, Princeton made 22 of 36 field goal at- tempts – a 61.1 percent av- erage – and hit 16 of 22 tries from the free throw line while turning the ball over five times. Pike Central returns to action on Saturday, Dec. 9, when the Chargers will host Pocket Athletic Conference rival Southridge. "It'll be nice to play in front of the home crowd, for the first time this year," El- liott said. "We had a great following tonight. We might have had more fans here than they did. And I think as hard as we play, they're going to back them." "Good things are going to happen," Elliott added. "If we continue to play and battle that hard, the wins are going to come. I'm not wor- ried about that. As long as we keep bringing that inten- sity and that effort, we'll be just fine." • In junior varsity action, sophomore Noah Whann scored a game-high 19 points while junior Hayden Kabrick added 14 to lead Pike Central to a 57-51 vic- tory over Princeton. Fresh- man Jurrien Ballard paced the Tigers with 15 points. Above: Pike Central High School senior Ka- leb Claridge (13) dribbles the ball up the floor during varsity boys' basketball action at Prince- ton on Saturday, Dec. 2. Ed Cahill photo Right: Pike Central High School senior Bry- ant Nalley (right, with ball) looks to go up for a shot while Princeton junior Matt Dove (32) looms over him during varsity boys' basketball action on Saturday, Dec. 2. Nalley scored a team- high 22 points but the visiting Chargers fell to 0- 2 with a 66-52 loss. Ed Cahill photo PCMS 8th grade girls' basketball team falls 31-19 at North Knox Turnovers and missed free throws proved costly as the Pike Central Middle School eighth grade girls' basketball team dropped a 30 -19 loss at North Knox on Thursday, Nov. 30. Leading 11-9 at halftime, the Lady Chargers – who turned the ball over 19 times while making just five of 14 tries from the free throw line – were outscored 21-8 in the second half as North Knox rallied for the win. "We played great in the first half – we looked to score and handled the boards, and the defense was great," Pike Central head coach Er- ic Knight said. "Late in the third, the girls looked wore out and we started getting beat back and started throw- ing the ball away. That gave North Knox the easy buck- ets plus the confidence and momentum. Two big three's late in the third gave North Knox their first lead and mis- takes on our end is what real- ly hurt us." Sophie Carnahan led the Lady Chargers in scor- ing with seven points – five of which came in the first quarter, when Pike Central jumped out to a 7-4 lead. "Sophie came out in the first half playing ball," Knight said. "She looked to score and take that outside jumper. Her long arms on de- fense really helped pester the guard play." Mallory Hunt added five points while Kya Sullivan tossed in three points. Alba- ny Ashley and Kya Leighty contributed two points each. Abigale McKinley and Grace Poe scored 13 and 11 points, respectively, to pace the Lady Warriors. "We just need to put four quarters together one night and see what we can do, and knock down those free throws," Knight said. "North See PCMS on 4