The Press-Dispatch
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B-2 Sports Wednesday, December 20, 2017 The Press-Dispatch UPCOMING SPORTS SCHEDULE 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. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 27 High School Boys' Basketball: Graber Post Build- ings Tournament at North Daviess: Pike Central vs. Fort Wayne Blackhawk, 4:30 p.m. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 29 High School Boys' Basketball: Pike Central in Graber Post Buildings Tournament at North Daviess, TBD. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 30 High School Boys' Basketball: Pike Central in Graber Post Buildings Tournament at North Daviess, TBD. HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS' BASKETBALL Pocket Athletic Conference Standings PAC Overall Team W-L W-L Heritage Hills ...................................... 4-0 ................. 11-1 Gibson Southern ................................. 4-0 ...................9 -2 North Posey ........................................ 1-0 .................. 5 -5 Pike Central ........................................ 3-1 ...................7-5 Forest Park .......................................... 3-2 .................. 6 -5 Tell City ................................................ 2-3 .................. 6 -9 Tecumseh ............................................ 1-3 ...................7-5 South Spencer ..................................... 0 -3 .................0 -13 Southridge ........................................... 0 -5 .................2-12 Results of December 12 Evansville Central 63, Forest Park 37 Heritage Hills 47, Southridge 17 Results of December 14 Gibson Southern 63, Pike Central 47 Evansville Mater Dei 64, North Posey 48 Paoli 52, Forest Park 48 Tell City 44, Tecumseh 36 Results of December 15 Gibson Southern 71, South Spencer 34 Crawford County 47, Southridge 20 Results of December 16 North Knox 58, Pike Central 51 PSC Holiday Classic at Perry Central Tell City 40, South Spencer 28 Heritage Hills 51, Perry Central 25 Perry Central 53, South Spencer 51 (OT) Heritage Hills 46, Tell City 28 Result of December 18 Tecumseh 66, South Knox 57 Games of December 19 Jasper at Pike Central 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 Game of December 26 North Posey in Merry Mule Holiday Tournament at Fairfield (Ill.) Games of December 27 Heritage Hills at Washington North Posey in Merry Mule Holiday Tournament at Fairfield (Ill.) Game of December 29 Forest Park in Toby Yoho Classic at Eastern Greene Games of December 30 Hancock County (Ky.) at South Spencer Forest Park in Toby Yoho Classic at Eastern Greene hug from her father, Scott. "It was a big relief, be- cause I was nervous," said the 18 -year-old Hen- drixson, who signed a na- tional letter of intent last month to play basketball at Maryville University. "I was, like, 'What if it doesn't happen? '" "When I got it, I was ec- static, but I knew we had a job to still get done," Hen- drixson continued. "We worked our way back in it, and we just had to continue to fight and get it done and, unfortunately, we didn't." Hendrixson – who scored 20 points to end the game with 1,008 for her career – is the first Lady Charger to reach 1,000 ca- reer points since the 2006 - 07 season, when Megan Davis and Brittany Craney ended their high school ca- reers with 1,189 and 1,057 points respectively. Valerie White graduated in 2006 with 1,040 points. "It's a great accomplish- ment," Pike Central head coach Kyle McCutchan said. "She's worked hard. She's put the effort in. She's been playing since her freshman year and she's a talented player and she's been really great for us this year. I'm proud of her. She's deserved this." HENDRIXSON Continued from page 1 By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net The Pike Central High School girls' basketball team erased a 15 -point third-quar- ter deficit to take a 46 -45 lead with 3:46 left in the fourth period before suc- cumbing to visiting North Knox 58 -51 on Saturday, Dec. 16. During the first half, the Lady Chargers missed 14 of 18 field goal attempts and six of 11 tries from the free throw line – including the front end of a one-and-one with 1.1 seconds left in the second quarter – as North Knox took a 27-14 lead. "We dug ourselves a hole," said Pike Central head coach Kyle McCut- cha, whose team slipped to 7-5 with its second consec- utive loss. "We missed free throws, and we missed some easy shots. We didn't play that bad. We just didn't take advantage of opportunities that we had." The Lady Vikings, who improved to 11-2 with their ninth straight victory, made 12 of 21 field goal attempts during the first half, includ- ing eight of 12 shots in the first quarter while taking an 18 -9 lead. "The first half, we let them pull ahead when we could have been right there with them," McCutchan said. "We just missed some easy shots. We didn't play poorly in my estimation. We just mssed some shots." North Knox focused on stopping Pike Central se- nior Erika Hendrixson, who, needing 12 points to reach 1,000 for her career, made just one of six field goal at- tempts and was 2-for-4 from the free throw line during the first half. "They were really good defenders – they executed their game plan I'm sure just how their coach want- ed them to," Hendrixson said. "Every time I caught the ball, they were forcing me to my weak hand, which is what teams usually do. When I caught it in the post, they doubled." However, after North Knox sophomore Grace Yo- chum scored to extend the Lady Vikings' lead to 29 -14 early in the second half, Pike Central's offense heated up, hitting eight of 10 field goal attempts – including two three-point field goals by sophomore Lauren Vaughn – and four of five tries from the free throw line while out- scoring North Knox 22-11 to close to within 38 -36 head- ing into the fourth quarter. Hendrixson scored 11 points during the third pe- riod, going 4-for-5 from the field and 3-for-4 from the charity stripe, while Vaughn netted seven points and Nal- ley added four points. "In the second half, we started hitting shots and they couldn't pressure me as much," Hendrixson said. "It's nice when shots are falling and everybody gets a piece of the action." "We hit shots, so they had to come out," McCutchan said. "The first half, they just packed it in and dared us to shoot. When we hit shots, the defense has to expand, which just opens up more for the post. (Hendrixson) got a little bit more aggressive. We were down, so we just had to be more aggressive." A fter Vaughn opened the fourth period with a three-pointer to give the Lady Chargers a 39 -38 lead, North Knox got back-to- back baskets from senior Re- eva Hammelman and junior Makinzi Maurer to surge ahead 42-39. A basket by Hendrixson pulled Pike Central to within one point, but a three-point- er by Reeva Hammelman extended the Lady Vikings' lead to 45 -41 with 5:10 re- maining. The Lady Chargers bat- tled back, however, scor- ing five straight points – on a three-pointer by Croak and a pair of free throws by Hendrixson – to take a 46 - 45 lead with 3:46 remaining. However, North Knox would answer with a 11-2 scoring run – during which the Lady Vikings made nine of 10 free throw attempts – to open up a 56 -48 lead with 28.1 seconds left. During that span, Pike Central went 0 -for-2 from the floor and 2-for-4 from the free throw line while turning the ball over three times. "When you bury yourself in a hole, it's tough to ex- pend all that energy, and I didn't play many players the second half," McCutchan said. "I rolled with the play- ers who were playing with the hot hands, who were bringing the effort, and, you know, they probably ran out of gas." "That's on me," Mc- Cutchan added. "I've got to play maybe a few more peo- ple. But I've got to have ev- erybody step it up, and I just rolled with the kids who had got us there and got the job done today. We ran out of gas, probably, and they hit shots. And then, down the stretch, they hit free throws." Hendrixson paced Pike Central with 20 points and six rebounds while also dishing out three assists. Vaughn added 10 points while Croak tallied nine points. Nalley, who scored six points, and Nelson, who netted one point, collected three steals each. For the game, Pike Cen- tral made 16 of 36 field goal attempts – a 44.4 percent av- erage – and hit 13 of 23 tries from the free throw line while turning the ball over 14 times. Reeva Hammelman and Maurer led North Knox with 22 points and 20 points, re- spectively. Maurer also led the Lady Vikings with three assists and four steals. Yo- chum and senior Addison McKinley both had six re- bounds. For the game, North Knox made 21 of 40 field goal at- tempts – a 52.5 percent av- erage – and hit 12 of 17 tries from the free throw line while turning the ball over 16 times. "Good teams step up and finish games off, and they're a good team," McCutchan said. "That's what we're try- ing to work to become." In junior varsity action, freshman Mallory Hick- ey scored a game-high 17 points to lead Pike Cen- tral to a 38 -30 victory over North Knox. Freshman Gra- cie Jones added nine points while juniors Emily Carna- han and Hannah Carnahan tossed in six points each. Sophomore Mallory Ear- hart led the Lady Warriors with 14 points. The Lady Chargers, who hosted Jasper on Tuesday, Dec. 19, will return to action on Thursday, Jan. 4, when they will host Washington. "We knew this was a good stretch, and this is what I wanted to see, is us com- pete," McCutchan said. "We played some times, when we won six in a row, I knew we could compete against, and we played well against them." "But these were the games that we knew was going to be tough. Gibson Southern, we fell down the first half, but they just fin- ished us off," McCutchan added. "Tonight, we came back, gave ourselves a chance, and I was proud of their effort." Second-half rally by Lady Chargers comes up short in 58-51 loss to North Knox Pike Central High School senior Brook Nalley (right) goes up for a shot over North Knox senior Rylee Hammelman (11) during varsity girls' bas- ketball action on Saturday, Dec. 16. Nalley scored six points in a 58-51 loss to the Lady Warriors. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School senior Natalie Bur- khart (22) passes the ball during varsity girls' basketball action against visiting North Knox on Saturday, Dec. 16. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School freshman Kailee Mann (41) looks to pass the ball during junior varsity girls' basketball action against visiting North Knox on Saturday, Dec. 16. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School junior Emily Car- nahan (25) drives toward the basket during ju- nior varsity girls' basketball action against visit- ing North Knox on Saturday, Dec. 16. Carnahan scored six points in a 38-30 victory over the La- dy Warriors. Ed Cahill photo Fourth-quarter rally boosts Princeton past PCMS 8th grade girls' basketball team The Pike Central Middle School eighth grade girls' basketball team was out- scored 17-4 in the fourth quarter as host Princeton rallied for a 27-21 victory on Wednesday, Dec. 13. "The fourth quarter was a hard one to watch," Lady Chargers' head coach Eric Knight said. "The stars were lined up just right for Princ- eton tonight." Pike Central was ahead by two points late in the fourth period when Ash- lyn Hulfachor banked in a three-pointer to give the La- dy Tigers a one-point lead. A fter failing to score on its next possession, Pike Central resorted to fouling, but Princeton made eight of 10 tries from the free throw line during the fourth peri- od to seal the Lady Char- gers' fate. "It was hard to battle back when their shots are all fall- ing," said Knight. "Some of it was being wore out and the rest was the stars lining up just right for this night." "As a team, we still need to look at being more ag- gressive offensively," Knight continued. "We need to get to the rim and the free throw line more, start attacking and see what happens." While the Lady Chargers turned the ball over just nine times to Princeton's 13, Pike Central was out-rebounded 26 -25. The Lady Tigers also out- shot Pike Central from the free throw line, hitting nine of 14 tries from the free throw line for the game, while the Lady Chargers made just two of 14 attempts from the charity stripe. Sophie Carnahan scored nine points to lead Pike Central (6 -6) while Mallo- ry Hunt added five points. Kya Sullivan tossed in three points. Ashton Catt and Kya Leighty tallied two points each. Hunt and Leighty both led the Lady Chargers in re- bounds with six apiece. "Mallory worked her tail off all game against Princ- eton's center," Knight said. "She was a few inches tall- er, but Mallory held her own against her and battled her the whole game. I was proud of Mallory and the way she played." Hulfachor paced Princ- eton with 11 points, while Reagan Cochran and Court- ney Dove added seven and six points, respectively. In the seventh grade con- test, Liberty Taylor, Delaney Welch and Chloe Williams scored four points each as Pike Central (7-6) held off Princeton for a 14-12 victory. Leading 7-6 after three pe- riods, Taylor scored all four of her points and Williams netted three more as the La- dy Chargers outscored the Lady Tigers 7-6 during the final period.