The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/912793
The Press-Dispatch Sports Wednesday, December 6, 2017 B- 3 whose team improved to 5 -4 overall – and 2-0 in the Pock- et Athletic Conference – with its fourth straight win. "I didn't realize she only had seven, because I thought, man, she's had a lot of points tonight." "Twenty-two's a big num- ber; we'll take that every night," McCutchan added. "She was very efficient, got to the basket when we had a mismatch. Whether it was in the post or driving the bas- ket, she took advantage of it. And that was big." Hendrixson and senior Brook Nalley, who added 12 points while grabbing a team-high six rebounds, had six steals each as Pike Cen- tral converted 13 of 23 steals into 26 total points on the of- fensive end. Nalley, who missed most of last season after suffer- ing a torn ACL in her left knee during a practice ses- sion, scored 10 of her points in the first half, when she made five of seven field goal attempts. "She was outstanding," McCutchan said. "I thought her and Erika really played their best games of the sea- son. Brook's coming back off the injury from last year and she's gradually getting a little bit better." "There are certain things you can see that's still bug- ging her a little bit, men- tally as much as physical- ly," McCutchan continued. "But she was really aggres- sive tonight and I was real- ly impressed with how she played. I mean, she was out- standing. She gave the other team a lot of trouble." Two free throws by Hen- drixson and a basket by Nalley, sandwiched around a basket by South Spencer senior Emily Kaufman, gave the Lady Chargers an early 4-2 lead before Kaufman hit a three-pointer to propel the Lady Rebels to their first – and only – lead at 5 -4 with 6:07 left in the first period. However, a three-pointer and a basket by senior Demi Croak, two baskets by Nal- ley, a three-pointer by soph- omore Lauren Vaughn and a basket by senior Audra Stone fueled a 14-0 scoring run as Pike Central rallied to take an 18 -5 lead with 2:21 remaining in the opening quarter. "South Spencer's going to play hard; they're a var- sity team, and they're going to be able to hit some shots, and they hit a couple ear- ly," McCutchan said. "We picked up our intensity a lit- tle bit more." South Spencer would rally to within nine points three times, the last at 23- 14 with 6:56 left in the sec- ond period, before the La- dy Chargers rolled off 10 straight points – on bas- kets by Nalley, Hendrix- son and senior Halley Pow- ers, a three-pointer by Hen- drixson and a free throw by Stone – to extend their lead to 33-14 with 2:03 remaining in the first half. An exchange of baskets – the first by junior Kelsey Bowlds for South Spencer, the second by junior Becca Crow for Pike Central – left the Lady Chargers holding a 35 -16 halftime lead. During the first half, Pike Central made 14 of 27 field goal attempts – including four of eight tries from be- yond the three-point line – while hitting three of six tries from the free throw line and turning the ball over just eight times. Eight different Lady Char- gers – Nalley (10 points), Hendrixson (7), Croak (5), Stone (3), Vaughn (3), ju- nior Hailey Marchino (3), Crow (2) and Powers (2) – scored two points or more during the first half. "I've got a good talented bunch," McCutchan said. "I've got 10 players who dress specifically just varsi- ty and I've got 10 good play- ers I can put out there basi- cally in any situation and I feel comfortable. It's been a luxury this year." Pike Central subsequent- ly scored the first eight points of the second half – on three straight baskets by Hendrixson and a pair of free throws by Nalley – to stretch its lead out of 43- 16 with 5:17 left in the third period. South Spencer (0 -8 over- all, 0 -3 in the PAC) would get no closer than 25 points the rest of the game. "They played hard, and good things happen when you just compete and play hard," McCutchan said of his team. "We just got after them on defense and it led to getting steals and easy buck- ets on the other wide. When you hit some easy shots, that just gets your confidence go- ing. It was a good game for us." Croak and Marchino add- ed seven points each in the winning effort while Stone, Vaughn and freshman Ken- zie Powell tossed in three points apiece. Crow, Powers and sophomore Jayln Nelson tallied two points each. Ju- nior Kenzie Dunn rounded out the scoring for the La- dy Chargers with one point. For the game, Pike Cen- tral made 22 of 49 field goal attempts – a 44.9 percent av- erage – and hit 13 of 20 tries from the free throw line while turning the ball over 16 times. Croak and Hendrixson dished out four assists each. Hendrixson also had four re- bounds and three blocked shots. Senior Natalie Bur- khart added three steals, while Croak and Crow had two each. Kaufman led South Spen- cer with eight points while Bowlds and juniors Alyson Ficker and Lexi Nix added six points each. Kaufman and Bowlds both had six rebounds. Bowlds also had a team-high three steals while junior Avery Myers dished out a team- high three assists. For the game, South Spen- cer made 13 of 38 field goal attempts – a 34.2 percent average – and hit one of five tries from the free throw line while turning the ball over 34 times. "If you just compete and get after it, good things are going to happen," Mc- Cutchan said. "They're starting to get to that point. We're playing teams that we know we can compete against, and that's great. But this has got to become a hab- it when we play anybody on our schedule." "We have to get to the mindset where it doesn't matter who we're fac- ing, we can compete," Mc- Cutchan added. "These last few games, they knew they could compete. We've got to get to where, whenever we step on the floor, we've got to believe we can win. We've got to believe we can com- pete." Pike Central will host Southridge on Thursday, Dec. 7, and Evansville Bosse on Saturday, Dec. 9. "These are two good op- portunities for us to play some quality teams," Mc- Cutchan said. "Southridge has played some good teams and Bosse's an Evansville school. We want to keep competing, keep getting better. "Tonight, there were things we can definitely work on" McCutchan said. "Despite the score, there were things we didn't do very well. That's part of it, always knowing you've got something you can get bet- ter at." The Lady Chargers will subsequently travel to Gib- son Southern on Thursday, Dec. 14, before returning home to host North Knox on Saturday, Dec. 16. • In junior varsity action, Dunn and Powell scored 12 points each and freshman Mallory Hickey added 11 points as Pike Central de- feated South Spencer 46 - 26. Freshman Gracie Jones added eight points for the Lady Chargers while junior Hannah Carnahan had one point. Sophomore Alix Sto- ermer paced the Lady Reb- els with 10 points. Meanwhile, sophomore Dalton Williams (106) and seniors Gavin Boyd (170) and Christian Alvey (195) placed third in their respec- tive weight classes. "Gavin Boyd wrestled very well, beating a very tough competitor from Ow- ensboro," Hewig said. "Dal- ton Williams had three pins on the day and looked im- pressive while getting third place. Christian Alvey al- so got third, going 4-1, and wrestled well." Placing fourth in their respective weight class- es were Lane Miller (120) and Ian Allen (160); plac- ing fifth was Blake Henson (132); placing sixth were Jerry Greer (132), Brandon Goeppner (138) and Jager Gladish (145); placing sev- enth was Lane Potts (113); and placing eighth was Ty- ler Kirby (152). "Lane Miller had a great day," Hewig said. "He had two different bouts that he was losing but came back to win late in the match." As a team, Pike Central scored a total of 178 points, trailing Evansville Reitz (204.5 points) and McCrack- en County (Ky.) (195.5). Mt. Vernon (Posey) was fourth with 143 points, followed by Jasper (139.5), Evansville North (110), Hopkinsville, Ky. (100), Owensboro, Ky. (74), Evansville Bosse (70) and Ft. Campbell, Ky. (43). Pike Central will compete in the Pocket Athletic Con- ference Duals on Friday, Dec. 8, and Saturday, Dec. 9, at Tell City. On Wednes- day, Dec. 13, the Chargers will travel to Owensboro, Ky. CLASSIC Continued from page 1 MMA Continued from page 1 PAST Continued from page 1 HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS' BASKETBALL Pocket Athletic Conference Standings PAC Overall Team W-L W-L Heritage Hills ...................................... 2-0 ...................6 -1 Pike Central ........................................ 2-0 .................. 5 -3 Gibson Southern ................................. 1-0 ...................5 -2 Forest Park .......................................... 2-1 ...................5 -2 Tecumseh .............................................1-1 .................. 5 -3 Tell City ................................................ 1-3 ...................4-7 North Posey ........................................ 0 -0 ...................3-3 South Spencer ..................................... 0 -2 .................. 0 -8 Southridge ........................................... 0 -2 ...................1-8 Results of November 28 Pike Central 71, Eastern Greene 17 Forest Park 47, Southridge 17 Heritage Hills 55, Tell City 36 Wood Memorial 53, North Posey 41 Results of November 30 Heritage Hills 53, Tecumseh 21 Tell City 41, Southridge 32 Results of December 1 Gibson Southern 63, Forest Park 37 North Posey 52, Carmi (Ill.) 40 South Central (Elizabeth) 68, Tell City 30 Results of December 2 Jasper 36, Southridge 25 North Daviess Tournament Northeast Dubois 33, Tecumseh 26 Tecumseh 46, North Daviess 39 Results of December 4 Pike Central 64, South Spencer 31 Evansville North 61, Gibson Southern 52 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 Games of December 11 Daviess County (Ky.) at South Spencer Evansville Reitz at North Posey Games of December 12 Forest Park at Evansville Central Southridge at Heritage Hills Games of December 14 Pike Central at Gibson Southern – Junior Varsity, 6:30 p.m.; Varsity, 8 p.m. North Posey at Evansville Mater Dei Paoli at Forest Park Tecumseh at Tell City Games of December 15 South Spencer at Gibson Southern Southridge at Crawford County Games of December 16 North Knox at Pike Central – Junior Varsity, 10 a.m.; Varsity, 11:30 a.m. PSC Holiday Classic at Perry Central Tell City vs. South Spencer Heritage Hills vs. Perry Central Tell City-South Spencer loser vs. Heritage Hills-Per- ry Central loser Tell City-South Spencer winner vs. Heritage Hills-Perry Central winner the most exciting fight, and I was marketable, or what- ever," Schieve said. Schieve, who works as an overnight stock clerk at the Walmart in Jasper, was a member of the Pike Cen- tral wrestling team during his freshman and sopho- more years. "It's definitely benefited me a lot," Schieve said. "If you're going to do it, wres- tling is one of the things that you absolutely need to have, to be decent at it. You need to be able to wres- tle. It's a solid place to start from." However, Schieve decid- ed not to wrestle his junior year. "My junior year was my I-didn't-give-a-crap year," Schieve said with a laugh. "I just kind of blew every- thing off, unfortunately." A fter graduating from Southridge, Schieve be- gan kick boxing. "I had a buddy ask me, 'Hey, do you want to kick box? '" Schieve recalled. "I like fighting. I fought quite a bit in high school. And I was, like, 'Sure, why not? I think I'd like it.' "And I did," Schieve added. "I loved it. I kick- boxed a lot and then went to MMA." Schieve's first MMA fight was on Oct. 13, 2013, at Cannelton, Ind., when he faced off against Cesar Anacieto. "I won," Schieve recalled matter-of-factly. "Second round, by guillotine choke." Schieve described MMA as "a lot, lot harder" than kickboxing. "You've got to have just everything – jiu-jitsu, ev- erything on the ground," Schieve said. "In kick- boxing, you just stand up. It's punching and kick- ing. Whereas, MMA, you can punch or kick on the ground, you can choke, you can put people in armlocks. It's a lot harder training." Schieve would win his first four bouts, the last one being a memorable win by submission over Garett Potter of Vincennes. "He was a big name at the time for me to fight, and I was going there un- defeated, and he had a big win record," Schieve re- called. "I won by Gogopla- ta, and that's a submission that you don't see used in the octagon, especially by amateurs, to finish some- body with." "A fter I won, I was, like, 'Alright, let's do this,'" Schieve added. "I was pre- pared to do this for the rest of my life." Schieve said that, when he began training for MMA, he did so at a gym, but with his work schedule, he mostly trains on his own at and around his home in Winslow, which is decorat- ed with a punching bag on the front porch. "I run," Schieve said. "I do a lot of cardio and I hit my bag a lot. I do a lot of body weight – sit ups and push ups." "I like to get my cardio up as high as I can get it, because if I can just out- last them and they're out of breath, well,that's going to be easier for me to beat them," Schieve said. "So I run every day." Schieve said that, re- gardless of the outcome of Saturday's exhibition bout, he plans to turn pro after- ward – as well as to relo- cate to Washington State in April, where he has family. "Even if I don't get it, I'm still going to go profes- sional," Schieve said. "That doesn't mean that they won't offer me a contract, but it won't be one of their big contracts, I imagine. And I could always get of- fered a contract from some- body else." "But if I win the contract, whether I decide to stick here for a while or if I want to go ahead and move to the state of Washington in the spring, I'm going to just keep training as hard as I can, and fight as much as I can, especially as a pro," Schieve added. "Because the money is nice." Pike Central High School senior Audra Stone (15) eyes the basket while being defended by South Spencer senior Rhiana Fantini (right) during varsity girls' basketball action on Mon- day, Dec. 4. The host Chargers defeated South Spencer 64-31. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School sophomore Jayln Nel- son (with ball) goes up for a shot as South Spen- cer senior Emily Kaufman (left) defends during varsity girls' basketball action on Monday, Dec. 4. The host Lady Chargers defeated South Spen- cer 64-31. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School junior Becca Crow (11) drives toward the basket during varsity girls' basketball action against visiting South Spencer on Monday, Dec. 4. Ed Cahill photo