The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/915141
B-2 Sports Wednesday, December 13, 2017 The Press-Dispatch tempts and turned the ball over 16 times in the first half, went 11-for-19 from the field during the final two periods while turning the ball over just nine more times. "When we could get in our offense, we knew we were go- ing to get a good shot every time, but we had to get past half court," Lady Chargers head coach Kyle McCutchan said. "We still weren't great in the second half, but Erika came back in and she helped. She's six-foot tall, athletic and can throw the ball up the floor, or dribble it. That helps." "At halftime, Coach told us the way we were going to win this game is if we take care of the ball and if we execute on offense," Hendrixson said. "And we came out and I think we did exactly that." "We were a lot stronger," Hendrixson continued. "We started thinking more. We used each other to break the press rather than just using one person, and that helped a lot with getting rid of the turn- overs. And we executed on of- fense, just like he told us to. That was the game plan and it helped us get the job done." Evansville Bosse, which fell to 3-7 with its fifth straight loss, jumped out to an early 5 -0 lead on baskets by soph- omore Denaya Harris and senior Shayna Murray and a free throw by senior Ma'Nya Adams before a basket by sophomore Jayln Nelson – off of an assist from senior Na- talie Burkhart – got the Lady Chargers on the scoreboard with 4:30 left in the first quar- ter. A fter a pair of free throws by senior Jaleah Crosby ex- tended Evansville Bosse's lead to 7-2, Pike Central scored seven straight points – on a basket by Hendrixson, a free throw and a basket by Nelson and a basket by senior guard Brook Nalley – to take a 9 -7 lead with 2:12 remaining in the opening period. Neither team would score until Adams made one of two free throw attempts to pull the Lady Bulldogs to within 9 -8 with 4:43 left in the sec- ond quarter. Pike Central answered with a pair of free throws by senior guard Audra Stone and one free throw by junior guard Becca Crow, extending its lead to 12-8 with 2:14 remain- ing in the first half. However, the Lady Char- gers would turn the ball over on four of their last five pos- sessions of the second peri- od as Evansville Bosse ral- lied, scoring five straight points to take a 13-12 lead in- to halftime. As poorly as Pike Central shot the ball during the first half, the Lady Bulldogs fared even worse, hitting just four of 28 field goal attempts – a 14.3 percent average – while mak- ing five of eight tries from the free throw line. "We did a good job defen- sively – that kept us in the game – but the press is the only thing that gave us fits," McCutchan said. "Offensive- ly, they struggled to score, but they made us look like middle schoolers in the first half. We were just struggling." "We were kind of play- ing out of control, not relax- ing against pressure, and that let them stay with us," McCutchan added. "We got a lead and then just kind of gave it right back to them at the end of the first half." Back-to-back baskets by Hendrixson at the start of the second half propelled Pike Central ahead 16 -13 with 5:50 left in the third period before the Lady Bulldogs an- swered with a 6 -2 scoring run to vault back into the lead, 19 - 18, with 3:57 remaining in the third quarter. Then, after a basket by Nelson gave the Pike Cen- tral a 20 -19 lead, Evansville Bosse took a 22-20 lead on a three-pointer by Murray with 2:53 left in the period. However, a pair of free throws by Nelson launched a 10 -1 scoring spurt – with Nal- ley, Nelson and Stone scor- ing two points each and Hen- drixson adding four more – to spur the Lady Chargers to a 30 -23 lead with 6:48 left in the fourth period. A three-pointer by fresh- man Aysha Lindsey cut the deficit to 30 -26 with 6:34 re- maining before Pike Central scored six straight points – on a pair of baskets by Hendrix- son sandwiched around a pair of free throws by Burkhart – to extend its lead to 36 -26 with 3:43 to play. A fter Adams hit one of two free throws to pull the Lady Bulldogs to within 36 - 27, Pike Central scored five straight points – on a basket by Hendrixson and a basket and a free throw by sopho- more guard Lauren Vaughn – to open up a 41-27 lead with 2:13 remaining. Crosby answered with a three-pointer – the Lady Bull- dogs' third in 15 attempts – to cut the deficit to 41-30, but that would be as close as Evansville Bosse would get during the game's final two minutes. "This is a big win for us, because we haven't faced a team this athletic," Mc- Cutchan said. "Lincoln was bigger and stronger and may- be a more talented team, but a team like this gives us fits. We haven't played a team this ath- letic, especially the last four or five games, so this was a jump up. We finally made an adjustment, and it was a good win for us." In addition to Hendrixson's game-high 19 points, Nelson came off the bench to add nine points while grabbing five rebounds. Nalley, who al- so sat out most of the first half after picking up her second personal foul with 1:06 left in the opening period, added six points, as did Stone. Round- ing out the scoring for the Lady Chargers were Vaughn with three points, Burkhart with two points and Crow with one point. Croak did not score but grabbed seven rebounds and blocked one shot while dish- ing out a pair of assists. McCutchan said that he was particularly pleased with the play of Burkhart, who had two rebounds, one assist and a pair of steals while drawing a pair of offensive fouls on the defensive end of the floor. "She is the best defend- er I've seen in girls' basket- ball," McCutchan said. "I'm sure there's been ones at oth- er schools, but the best one here. She moves her feet. She anticipates. And she's going to give you all that she's got. I always tell her that I know what I'm going to get out here and that's why I love coach- ing her, because she plays so hard. If I could get everybody to play as hard as Natalie, we wouldn't have had a loss, prob- ably, by now." For the game, Pike Cen- tral made 16 of 37 field goal attempts – a 43.2 percent av- erage – and hit 14 of 21 tries from the free throw line while turning the ball over 25 times. Adams, Crosby and Murray scored seven points each to lead Evansville Bosse. Harris led the Lady Bulldogs in re- bounds with six and in steals with three. For the game, Evansville Bosse made 10 of 49 field goal attempts – a 20.4 percent aver- age – and hit eight of 16 tries from the free throw line while turning the ball over 20 times. Pike Central will return to action on Thursday, Dec. 14, with a road contest at Gibson Southern, before returning home to host North Knox on Saturday, Dec. 16, and Jasper on Tuesday, Dec. 19. "We've got a tough sched- ule coming up," McCutchan said. "We play Gibson, who has probably been the con- ference champ it seems like for the last 10 years. We know they're good. They're a good team. They've beat some teams pretty bad. We know we're up for a challenge and, hopefully, we come out and bring the intensity." "There's times you're go- ing to make mistakes, " Mc- Cutchan added. "But if you play hard and get after it on defense, you can be compet- itive." • In junior varsity action, freshman forward Mallory Hickey scored a game-high 12 points as Pike Central de- feated Evansville Bosse 37- 14. Freshman center Gracie Jones added six points, ju- nior Kenzie Dunn netted five points and juniors Kelsey Bar- rett and Hannah Carnahan had four points each. With the win, the Lady Charger JV team remained undefeated at 9 -0. VICTORY Continued from page 1 UPCOMING SPORTS SCHEDULE 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. 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. MONDAY, DECEMBER 18 Middle School 7th and 8th Grade Boys' Bas- ketball: Loogootee at Pike Central, 6 p.m. Elementary School 5th Grade Boys' Basketball: Northeast Dubois at Petersburg (A & B), 6 p.m. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 19 High School Girls' Basketball: Jasper at Pike Cen- tral – Junior Varsity, 6 p.m.; Varsity, 7:30 p.m. Elementary School 5th Grade Boys' Basketball: Ireland at Petersburg (A & B), 6 p.m. Elementary School 5th Grade Girls' Basketball: Petersburg at Ireland (A & B), 6 p.m. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 20 High School Boys' Basketball: Pike Central at Evansville Bosse – Junior Varsity, 7 p.m.; Varsity, 8:15 p.m. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 22 High School Wrestling: Pike Central at Crawford County Duals, 10 :30 a.m. SPORTS BRIEFS Red Ryder BB gun shoot set for Dec. 16 The Sons of the Amer- ican Legion's Red Ryder BB Gun Shoot will be on Saturday, Dec. 16, start- ing at 1 p.m., at the Amer- ican Legion Post 256 in Oakland City. The entry fee is $2 per round. Cash or meat priz- es will be awarded for ev- ery round. No pellet or better quality guns will be permitted. Loaner guns will be available for use. Admission is free for spectators. Concessions will be provided on site by the Ladies Auxiliary. HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS' BASKETBALL Pocket Athletic Conference Standings PAC Overall Team W-L W-L Heritage Hills ...................................... 3-0 ...................8 -1 Pike Central ........................................ 3-0 ...................7-3 Gibson Southern ................................. 1-0 ................... 7-2 North Posey ........................................ 1-0 .................. 5 -4 Forest Park .......................................... 3-2 .................. 6 -3 Tecumseh ............................................ 1-2 .................. 6 -4 Tell City ................................................ 1-3 .................. 4-8 South Spencer ..................................... 0 -2 .................0 -10 Southridge ........................................... 0 -4 .................2-10 Results of December 5 Forest Park 58, Tecumseh 45 Heritage Hills 52, Jasper 36 North Posey 55, Southridge 30 Results of December 7 Pike Central 36, Southridge 18 Gibson Southern 53, Mount Vernon (Posey) 42 Heritage Hills 50, Forest Park 40 Northeast Dubois 44, Tell City 32 Tecumseh 54, Perry Central 36 Washington 51, North Posey 28 Wood Memorial 51, South Spencer 32 Result of December 8 Gibson Southern 50, Evansville Central 39 Results of December 9 Pike Central 46, Evansville Bosse 31 Southridge 31, Borden 18 Results of December 11 Daviess County (Ky.) 64, South Spencer 40 North Posey 55, Evansville Reitz 43 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 Game of December 18 South Knox at Tecumseh Games of December 19 Jasper at Pike Central – Junior Varsity, 6 p.m.; Var- sity, 7:30 p.m. Heritage Hills at Evansville Reitz Toyota Teamwork Classic Mount Vernon (Posey) at Gibson Southern Game of December 20 Cannelton at South Spencer Games of December 21 Forest Park at Northeast Dubois Lanesville at Tell City Loogootee at Tecumseh Game of December 22 Toyota Teamwork Classic Mt. Carmel (Ill.) at Gibson Southern Game of December 23 Gibson Southern in Toyota Teamwork Classic Pike Central High School junior Becca Crow (11) drives past Evansville Bosse senior Jaelah Crosby (22) during varsity girls' basketball ac- tion on Saturday, Dec. 9. Crow scored one point in a 46-31 victory over the Lady Bulldogs. Ed Ca- hill photo Pike Central High School sophomore Jayln Nel- son (20) goes up for a shot during varsity girls' basketball action against visiting Evansville Bosse on Saturday, Dec. 9. Nelson scored nine points in a 46-31 victory over the Lady Bulldogs. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School junior Kenzie Dunn (21) drives toward the basket during junior varsi- ty girls' basketball action against visiting Evans- ville Bosse on Saturday, Dec. 9. Dunn scored five points in a 37-14 victory over the Lady Bulldogs. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School freshman Gra- cie Jones looks to make a move to the basket as Evansville Bosse freshman Neveah Smelser (32) defends during junior varsity girls' basketball ac- tion against visiting Evansville Bosse on Saturday, Dec. 9. Jones scored six points in a 37-14 victo- ry over the visiting Lady Bulldogs. Ed Cahill photo