The Press-Dispatch
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B-4 Sports Wednesday, Januar y 24, 2018 The Press-Dispatch Hatchets scored seven sec- ond-chance points while Pike Central only had two. "They ended up with sev- en offensive rebounds that first half, and that killed us bad," Elliott said. "That's something we've been stressing – we just have to have people who want to re- bound. That was the big em- phasis at halftime." "If we can just keep oppo- nents off the glass and limit teams to one opportunity ... that's kind of been the tale of the last couple of games, with South Knox and Wood Memorial," Elliott added. "If we limit them to one op- portunity, I think we proba- bly win both those games as well." The Chargers scored the first four points of the second half – on a basket by Booker and a pair of free throws by Nalley – to extend their lead to 25 -19 with 4:46 left in the third quarter. A fter a basket by junior Hunter Killion and a free throw by Fleetwood pulled the Hatchets to within 25 -22, an exchange of baskets by Pike Central senior Kyson Western and Wright left the Chargers holding a 27-24 ad- vantage with 3:13 remaining in the third period. However, back-to-back three-pointers by senior Cameron Henson – off as- sists from Nalley and senior Kaleb Claridge – and a free throw by Booker would ex- tend the Chargers' lead to 34-24. Washington pulled back to within seven points twice – at 34-27 and 36 -29 – before a basket and a pair of free throws by Western stretched Pike Central's lead to 40 -29 with 4:45 remaining in the fourth quarter. A fter a pair of free throws by Wright and one by Clar- idge left the Chargers hold- ing a 41-31 lead, Elliott called a timeout with 3:54 left. "I'd rode with our starting lineup there the whole sec- ond half, and it was a little bit trying to give them a breath- er," Elliott said. "I told them if we get three straight stops, this game's over." Pike Central subsequently forced the Hatchets to turn the ball over, but would, in turn, turn the ball over them- selves, on a steal by Fleet- wood, before Washington head coach Gene Miller called a timeout of his own with 3:43 left. The Hatchets would score eight straight points – on a baskets by Killion, Wright and sophomore Grant Nie- haus and a pair of free throws by Fleetwood – to pull back to within 41-39 with just over a minute remaining. During that stretch, Pike Central turned the ball over three times while shooting 0 -for-1 from the field and 0 -for-1 from the free throw line. "We weren't attacking the press," Elliott said. "We were kind of being passive. We weren't coming to meet the ball and we didn't have kids wanting the basketball. A couple of bounces didn't go our way and they kind of cut our lead there to two." "I feel like that's kind of when Bryant said, 'Just give me the ball and we'll be fine here,'" Elliott continued. Indeed. A fter Nalley hit a pair of free throws to extend the Chargers' lead to 43-39 with 53.9 seconds left, he drew an offensive foul by Killion, forcing Killion out of the game with his fifth person- al foul with 28.1 seconds re- maining. Nalley added two more free throws with 24.6 sec- onds left, stretching Pike Central's lead to 45 -39. A f- ter rebounding a missed three-point shot by Wright, Western added two more free throws to conclude the scoring. "It was one of those games where (Nalley) kind of car- ried us a little bit there," El- liott said. "We got on his back and he kind of took us to the finish line." "That's something that he has to do a little bit more at times, is be a little more as- sertive, be a little more, you know, 'Give me the ball and I'll go get us a bucket or I'll score for us, I'll get a stop here.' He came up and real- ly did that." For the game, Nalley made four of six field goal attempts – including two three-pointers in as many tries – and sank nine of 10 free throws while grabbing 10 rebounds and dishing out three assists. Henson added eight points in the winning effort, go- ing 2-for-2 from beyond the three-point arc, and grabbed eight rebounds. "I thought Cameron played really well," Elliott said. "I know he's been a lit- tle frustrated with himself. You know, he's expecting more out of himself, know- ing that he can give us more, and we need more out of him." "I thought, that second half, he finished," Elliott added. "When he's doing that and he's rebounding like that and playing defense, then all of a sudden he's into the game and the shots just come, and he knocked down a couple of big ones for us." Western also netted eight points – all in the second half – while grabbing five rebounds. "They were putting a lot of pressure on our guards, and I just kept telling them, just go around, drive, be ag- gressive, attack the basket, and he came up that second half and was really aggres- sive and came out looking to score, and that really helped us as well." For the game, Pike Cen- tral made 12 of 26 field goal attempts – a 46.1 percent av- erage – and hit 19 of 23 tries from the free throw line while turning the ball over 10 times. Wright paced Washington with 11 points while Killion and Latham tossed in eight points each. Killion led the Hatchets with six rebounds while Latham had five. For the game, Washington made 15 of 43 field goal at- tempts – a 34.9 percent av- erage – and hit seven of 13 tries from the free throw line while turning the ball over six times. For the game, Pike Cen- tral out-rebounded Wash- ington 28 -19, including a 13-5 advantage in the sec- ond half. "On a night when I thought some of the balls didn't nec- essarily bounce our way, we just overcame," Elliott said. "We just found a way to win. We made plays down the stretch, when we needed to, and got the stops we need- ed. That second half, we re- bounded the ball really well, and I was very proud of our effort." Pike Central High School senior Bryant Nalley (40) tries to drive past Washington junior Hunter Killion (50) during high school varsity boys' bas- ketball action on Saturday, Jan. 20. Nalley scored 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in the Chargers' 47-39 victory. Ed Cahill photo CHARGERS Continued from page 2 PAC Continued from page 1 1.25 points behind the first- place finisher, Southridge sophomore Evie Sherer. Placing third in indi- vidual events for the La- dy Chargers were Cond- er in the 100 -yard breast- stroke with a person- al record time of 1:22.30, besting her previous PR time of 1:23.37; freshman Charlotte Dudenhoeffer in the 500 -yard freestyle with a season-best time of 6:30.66; sophomore Lily Frederick-Rice in the 100 -yard backstroke with a personal record time of 1:14.39, besting her previ- ous PR time of 1:16.04; and junior Hallee Stephens in diving with an 11-dive score of 301.20 points. Placing fourth in indi- vidual events for the La- dy Chargers were Cond- er in the 200 -yard individ- ual medley with a person- al record time of 2:45.36, besting her previous PR time of 2:49.23; and Young in the 50 -yard freestyle with a season-best time of 28.21 seconds, and in the 100 -yard butterfly with a time of 1:16.42. Placing fifth in individ- ual events for the Lady Chargers were Dudenhoef- fer in the 200 -yard free- style with a season-best time of 2:21.80 ; and fresh- man Audrey Keepes in the 50 -yard freestyle with a season-best time of 28.31 seconds. Placing seventh in an individual event for the Lady Chargers was se- nior Shania Cremeans in the 100 -yard backstroke with a season-best time of 1:21.39. Placing eighth in an in- dividual event for the La- dy Chargers was senior Gretchen McCrary in the 200 -yard individual medley with a personal record time of 2:54.21, besting her pre- vious PR time of 2:55.23. Placing ninth in indi- vidual events for the La- dy Chargers were Keep- es in the 100 -yard butter- fly with a season-best time of 1:22.43; McCrary in the 100 -yard breaststroke with a time of 1:29.51; and se- nior Courtney Frederick in the 500 -yard freestyle with a season-best time of 7:07.95. Placing 10th in an indi- vidual event for the Lady Chargers was Frederick in the 200 -yard freestyle with a season-best time of 2:38.33. Placing 11th in individ- ual events for the Lady Chargers were Cremeans in the 100 -yard butterfly with a season-best time of 1:26.20 ; and Meyer in the 100 -yard freestyle with a season-best time of 1:10.71. Placing 12th in an in- dividual event for the La- dy Chargers was fresh- man Neeley Correll in the 100 -yard breaststroke with a season-best time of 1:33.29. Finishing 14th in an in- dividual event for the Lady Chargers was freshman Libby Stone in the 50 -yard freestyle with a time of 32.31 seconds. In addition, the team of Frederick-Rice, Keepes, McCrary and Meyer placed third in the 200 -yard free- style relay with a time of 2:01.59. As a team, Pike Central compiled a score of 300 points, trailing first-place Heritage Hills' total of 329 by 29 points. In 2017, the Lady Chargers trailed Her- itage Hills 370 -270. In 2016, the Lady Patriots out-point- ed Pike Central 358 -246. "We've slowly closed in," said Mike Bohnert. "We were just a little shy in the middle part of our lineup, getting there. But we had some really good times, a lot of drops all the way across the board. A lot of girls really showed up and swam really well." Southridge was third overall with 182 points, followed by South Spencer (143 points), Forest Park (100), Tecumseh (89), Tell City (84) and Gibson Southern (767). The Lady Chargers, who will host Evansville Mater Dei on Thursday, Jan. 25, will compete in the section- al meet at Jasper on Thurs- day, Feb. 1, and Saturday, Feb. 3. "We've got a lot to work with, and the girls' times are getting better," Mike Bohnert said. "We're go- ing in the right direction." Chargers' pursuit of seventh straight PAC boys' swimming title falls short By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net The Pike Central High School boys' swimming and diving team's string of six consecutive conference ti- tles came to an end with a second-place finish in the Pocket Athletic Conference Championship on Saturday, Jan. 20, at Tecumseh. The Chargers, who placed first in four events, scored a total of 282 points, while Heritage Hills, which placed first in seven events, scored a total of 347 points to win its first PAC title since 2007. The Patriots had finished as the PAC runner-up to Pike Central in each of the last four years. "We knew we were a lit- tle light," said Pike Central head coach Mike Bohnert. "We were hoping, but we knew Heritage Hills was re- ally loaded. They were set for this year. They're real- ly senior-loaded. The stars were aligned for them this year." "We did well," he add- ed, "but we just didn't have enough horsepower at the end to do what we were hop- ing for." Pike Central senior Ja- cob Bohnert placed first in the 100 -yard butterfly with a time of 56.01 seconds – just six-tenths of a second ahead of Tell City sopho- more Drew Ettensohn – to break the school record of 57.49 seconds set by Chaney McKinney in 2015. In 2011, Jacob Bohnert's older brother, Brandon, had set the school record of 58.98 seconds that was broken by McKinney four years later. "It was a race to the very end," said Mike Bohnert, Jacob Bohnert's father. "Coming off the third wall, he was behind, and he just wasn't going to let it go. So that last 25 (yards), he gut- ted it out." Senior Lukas Hill placed first in the 100 -yard breast- stroke with a season-best time of 1:02.68, just three- tenths of a second off the PAC record time of 1:02.38 he set while winning the event in 2016. Senior Jackson Keepes, who won the 100 breast- stroke in 2017, placed sec- ond with a season-best time of 1:05.83. "We mixed it up the year before, because we knew we could gain a cou- ple of extra firsts," Mike Bohnert said of Lukas Hill, who set school and PAC re- cords while winning the 200 -yard individual med- ley and the 500 -yard free- style in 2017. "This year, we kind of wanted to go back and just kind of put Lukas in his main stuff, so we're ready for sectional coming up and, hopefully, get him out to state again." In addition, Jacob Bohnert, Lukas Hill, senior Ty Cassitty and sophomore Jersey Mills teamed up to place first in the 200 -yard medley relay with a sea- son-best time of 1:44.56, and first in the 400 -yard freestyle relay with a time of 3:21.92. "The last relay, (Heritage Hills) was disqualified, but we did beat them," Mike Bohnert said. "We were behind by right around five seconds when Jake hit the water on the third leg, and he passed his kid up, and then Lukas held his own and gained a little bit on them." "I told them before, if (Mills and Cassitty) could keep us in the race, our two best swimmers were at the end, and both of them turned 49s, so we did really well," Mike Bohnert added. Lukas Hill, gunning for his fourth straight PAC ti- tle in the 200 -yard individ- ual medley, finished second with a season-best time of 2:05.12, trailing Heritage Hills sophomore Gavin Fuchs, who won the event with a time of 2:01.83. Jacob Bohnert, aiming for his third straight PAC title in the 100 -yard back- stroke, finished second with a season-best time of 56.71 seconds, trailing Fuchs, who won the event with a time of 54.88 sec- onds. "He swam really well," Mike Bohnert said of Fuchs. "He had a really big day, all day. He had big swims." Placing third in individ- ual events for the Chargers were Mills in the 50 -yard freestyle with a season-best time of 23.66 seconds; se- nior Ty Cassitty in diving with an 11-dive score of 317.60 points; and senior Jacob Dudenhoeffer in the 500 -yard freestyle with a season-best time of 5:43.33. Placing fourth in indi- vidual events for the Char- gers were Dudenhoeffer in the 200 -yard freestyle with a season-best time of 2:04.23; Keepes in the 200 -yard individual med- ley with a season-best time of 2:22.02; and Mills in the 100 -yard freestyle with a season-best time of 51.60 seconds. Placing fifth in individ- ual events for the Char- gers were Cassitty in the 100 -yard freestyle with a season-best time of 52.94 seconds; and freshman Garrett Boyd in diving with an 11-dive score of 176.60 points. Placing sixth in an indi- vidual event for the Char- gers was sophomore Cole- man Henson in the 500 -yard freestyle with a personal re- cord time of 6:34.86, best- ing his previous PR time of 6:40.86. Placing seventh in in- dividual events for the Chargers was sophomore Brayden Cooper in the 50 -yard freestyle with a per- sonal record time of 25.75 seconds, besting his previ- ous PR time of 25.93 sec- onds, and in the 100 -yard backstroke with a personal record time of 1:09.19, best- ing his previous PR time of 1:09.40. Placing eighth in an in- dividual event for the Char- gers was sophomore Sam Theising in the 100 -yard backstroke with a sea- son-best time of 1:15.38. Placing 11th in an indi- vidual event for the Char- gers was junior Colton Car- penter in the 50 -yard free- style with a personal record time of 28.39 seconds, best- ing his previous PR time of 28.46 seconds. Placing 12th in individ- ual events for the Char- gers were Carpenter in the 100 -yard breaststroke with a time of 1:26.06; and Hen- son in the 200 -yard free- style with a time of 2:28.37. Finishing 13th in an in- dividual event for the Char- gers was Theising in the 200 -yard freestyle with a time of 2:28.86. Finishing 19th in an in- dividual event for the Char- gers was sophomore A.J. Hill in the 100 -yard free- style with a season-best time of 1:13.67. In addition, the team of Cooper, Dudenhoeffer, Henson and Keepes placed second in the 200 -yard freestyle relay with a sea- son-best time of 1:46.39. Tell City placed third overall with 179 points, fol- lowed by Tecumseh (173 points), Southridge (75), Gibson Southern and South Spencer (tied at 73) and Forest Park (10). Pike Central will host Evansville Mater Dei on Thursday, Jan. 25, and Evansville Central and Evansville Bosse on Wednesday, Feb. 7, before competing in the section- al meet at Jasper on Thurs- day, Feb. 15, and Saturday, Feb. 17. "If we can get three real- ly solid, good weeks of hard practices in and get ready for our sectional, to start a good taper, we should be good," Mike Bohnert said. "The goal is to come out and see if we can get some people to advance, and hope for some solid swims, like we did here." SOMETHING NEWSWORTHY? Give us a call: 812-354-8500