The Press-Dispatch
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B-2 Sports Wednesday, Januar y 31, 2018 The Press-Dispatch I knew they didn't want us to run," Elliott said. "I thought they'd probably play us some zone." "I thought we were getting good looks and we weren't hitting them," Elliott added. "We weren't necessarily cut- ting as hard as I would like. We weren't moving the ball like we needed to." Trailing by 21-16 midway through the third period, Pike Central surged back into the lead – at 22-21 – on back-to-back three-pointers by Nalley and senior Tyler Tormohlen. However, a bas- ket and a pair of free throws by O'Neill spurred Barr- Reeve to a 25 -22 lead head- ing into the fourth period. Nalley opened the final quarter with a three-point play that tied the score at 25 -25. A fter junior Austin Ainscough scored to give the Vikings a 27-25 lead, a three-pointer by Tormohlen propelled the Chargers to a 28 -27 lead with 7:03 remain- ing. A free throw by Gladish would pull Barr-Reeve even before a three-pointer by Nalley and a free throw by Henson gave Pike Central a 32-28 lead with 3:43 left. Baskets by Ainscough and O'Neill – sandwiched around a free throw by Nal- ley – cut the Chargers' lead to 33-32 with just under two minutes remaining. A fter senior Kaleb Clar- idge was fouled with 1:34 left, Elliott called a timeout. "We were hitting one and missing one, I felt like, for a little bit," Elliott said. "Clar- idge got fouled and I called a timeout, had him sit down. I told him to step up and hit them." "I told them, 'Guys, this is why you come in, in the morning. This is why you shoot thousands of free throws. Have confidence. Take your breath and put them in.'" Claridge, who had hit 10 of 15 free throws this sea- son – a 67 percent average – subsequently sank both free throws, extending Pike Cen- tral's lead to 35 -32. A fter a basket b y junior Isaac Wagler pulled Barr- Reeve to within 35 -34 with 1:20 left, senior Breyton Booker hit one of two tries from the free throw line to give Pike Central a 36 -34 lead with 48.5 seconds left. Nalley, fouled while try- ing to rebound a missed three-pointer by Vikings freshman Bryce Graber, hit one of two free throws to extend the Chargers' lead to 37-34 with 25 seconds re- maining. Henson, fouled af- ter rebounding a missed three-pointer by Ainscough with 9.1 seconds left, hit both free throws to give Pike Central a 39 -34 lead with 9.1 seconds left. A fter a three-pointer by Gabe Gladish cut the deficit to 39 -37 with 3.9 seconds left, a pair of free throws by Nalley with 2.8 seconds left sealed the win. "When we took the lead, we called layups and free throws," said Elliott, whose team hit 10 of 14 tries from the free throw line during the fourth quarter. "We were looking to get a layup, attacking the basket, or get fouled and get to the free throw line. We did a nice job there executing, getting the ball to where we needed to get it, and stepped up to the line and hit some clutch free throws." Henson added eight points while grabbing a team-high six rebounds in the winning effort, while Tormohlen came off the bench to hit two out of three tries from behind the three- point line for six points. "In the second half, against the zone, I thought we attacked it really well," Elliott said. "We were work- ing the baseline and attack- ing off the dribble. Cam- eron was attacking off the dribble. We were work- ing and getting the ball to Bryant inside. We had Ty- ler get his feet ready, catch and shoot the ball. We have to have kids ready to catch and shoot, especially when they're in zone." Western dished out a team-high three assists while Henson and Nalley had two steals each. For the game, Pike Cen- tral made 10 of 27 field goal attempts – a 37 percent av- erage – and hit 15 of 21 tries from the free throw line while turning the ball over six times. Gladish led Barr-Reeve (12-2) with 15 points while O'Neill added 12 points and grabbed a game-high 10 re- bounds. Graber dished out a game-high five assists. For the game, the Vikings made 15 of 34 field goal at- tempts – a 44.1 percent av- erage – and hit three of four tries from the free throw line while turning the ball over six times. Pike Central will be hit- ting the road for its next four games – at North Posey on Thursday, Feb. 1; at Vin- cennes Lincoln on Satur- day, Feb. 3; at Tecumseh on Tuesday, Feb. 6; and at Tell City on Friday, Feb. 9 – be- fore returning home to host Heritage Hills on Saturday, Feb. 10. "We knew Barr-Reeve would be a tall task to- night," Elliott said. "We came out and I just thought we showed a lot of intensi- ty and a lot of effort and got us a win. Now we're going to have to go on the road and we're going to have to keep bringing that same intensity and effort and keep just get- ting after it." • • • In the junior varsity con- test, freshman Devin Gra- ber scored a game-high 10 points while juniors Keshon Wittmer and Jenson Witt- mer added nine points and eight points, respectively, to lead Barr-Reeve to a 42- 28 victory over Pike Central. Junior Judah Leathco led the Chargers with eight points and junior Andrew Krieg netted seven points. RALLY Continued from page 1 UPCOMING SPORTS SCHEDULE THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1 High School Boys' Basketball: Pike Central at North Posey – Junior Varsity, 6:30 p.m.; Varsity, 8 p.m. High School Girls' Swimming: Pike Central in Sectional Meet at Jasper – Swimming preliminaries, 5:30 p.m. Middle School 8th Grade Girls' Basketball: Pike Central in Gibson Southern Tournament, TBD. Middle School 8th Grade Boys' Basketball: Pike Central in Gibson Southern Tournament, TBD. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 2 High School Girls' Basketball: Sectional Tour- nament at Princeton – Sullivan vs. Southridge-Vin- cennes Lincoln winner, 7 p.m.; Princeton vs. Pike Cen- tral-Washington winner, 8:30 p.m. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 3 High School Boys' Basketball: Pike Central at Vincennes Lincoln – Junior Varsity, 1 p.m.; Varsity, 2:30 p.m. High School Girls' Swimming: Pike Central in Sectional Meet at Jasper – Diving preliminaries and semifinals, 9 a.m.; Consolation and Finals, 1 p.m. High School Girls' Basketball: Sectional Tour- nament at Princeton – Championship game, 8:30 p.m. High School Wrestling: Pike Central in Regional Tournament at Bloomington South, 9:30 a.m. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 5 High School Freshman Boys' Basketball: Gib- son Southern at Pike Central, 6:30 p.m. Middle School 6th Grade Boys' Basketball: Pike Central at Jasper, 6 p.m. Middle School 6th Grade Girls' Basketball: Barr-Reeve at Pike Central, 6 p.m. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6 High School Boys' Basketball: Pike Central at Tecumseh – Junior Varsity, 6:30 p.m.; Varsity, 8 p.m. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7 High School Boys' Swimming and Diving: Evansville Central and Evansville Bosse at Pike Cen- tral, 6:30 p.m. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8 Middle School 6th Grade Girls' Basketball: Pike Central at South Spencer, 6:30 p.m. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 9 High School Boys' Basketball: Pike Central at Tell City – Junior Varsity, 6:30 p.m.; Varsity, 8 p.m. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 10 High School Boys' Basketball: Heritage Hills at Pike Central – Junior Varsity, 6:30 p.m.; Varsity, 8 p.m. HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS' BASKETBALL Pocket Athletic Conference Standings PAC Overall Team W-L W-L Gibson Southern ................................. 8 -0 ................ 18 -4 Heritage Hills .......................................7-1 ................. 17-3 Forest Park .......................................... 6 -2 .................14-8 Pike Central ........................................ 4-4 ...............10 -10 Tell City ................................................ 4-4 ............... 11-12 Tecumseh ............................................ 4-4 ...............10 -11 North Posey ........................................ 2-6 .................9 -13 Southridge ........................................... 1-7 ................. 3-17 South Spencer ..................................... 0 -8 .................2-20 Results of January 23 Tecumseh 39, Pike Central 36 North Posey 59, South Spencer 47 Springs Valley 44, Tell City 28 Result of January 24 Tell City 52, South Spencer 27 Results of January 25 Heritage Hills 49, Pike Central 37 Forest Park 62, North Posey 43 Gibson Southern 61, Wood Memorial 36 Tell City 56, Perry Central 33 Tecumseh 33, Southridge 27 Results of January 27 Gibson Southern 66, North Posey 64 South Central (Elizabeth) 67, South Spencer 39 END REGULAR SEASON STATE TOURNAMENT (All times Eastern) Games of January 30 Sectional 31 (3A) At Princeton Southridge vs. Vincennes Lincoln Pike Central vs. Washington Sectional 32 (3A) At Mount Vernon (Posey) Heritage Hills vs. Mount Vernon (Posey) Boonville vs. Evansville Bosse Sectional 48 At Forest Park (2A) Perry Central vs. North Posey South Spencer vs. Forest Park Sectional 64 At Wood Memorial (1A) Springs Valley vs. Tecumseh Games of Feb. 2 Sectional 31 (3A) At Princeton Sullivan vs. Southridge-Vincennes Lincoln winner, 6:30 p.m. Princeton vs. Pike Central-Washington winner, 8 p.m. Sectional 32 (3A) At Mount Vernon (Posey) Gibson Southern vs. Heritage Hills-Mount Vernon (Posey) winner, 7 p.m. Evansville Memorial vs. Boonville-Evansville Bosse winner, 8:30 p.m. Sectional 48 At Forest Park (2A) Tell City vs. Perry Central-North Posey winner, 6:30 p.m. Evansville Mater Dei vs. South Spencer-Forest Park winner, 8:30 p.m. Sectional 64 At Tecumseh (1A) Wood Memorial vs. Cannelton, 6:30 p.m. Northeast Dubois vs. Springs Valley-Tecumseh win- ner, 8:15 p.m. Games of Feb. 3 Sectional 31 (3A) At Princeton Championship game, 7:30 p.m. Sectional 32 (3A) At Mount Vernon (Posey) Championship game, 8 p.m. Sectional 48 (2A) At Forest Park Championship game, 7:30 p.m. Sectional 64 (1A) At Tecumseh Championship game, 7:30 p.m. By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net Seniors Cameron Henson and Tyler Tormohlen com- bined to score 25 first-half points as the Pike Central High School boys' basketball team rolled to a 65 -48 victo- ry over visiting South Spen- cer on Friday, Jan. 26. Tormohlen came off the bench to hit four of five field goal attempts – including two three-pointers in three tries – and was 3-for-3 from the free throw line to score 13 points, while Henson hit four of seven shots from be- yond the three-point arc to add 12 more points as the Chargers built up a 36 -15 halftime lead. "Tyler came out and he was really shooting the ball well, and he can really score it, especially when he gets hot," said Pike Central head coach Hunter Elliott, whose team improved to 6 -6 over- all and 2-0 in the Pocket Ath- letic Conference. "I think he kind of sparked Cameron, and then Cameron shot the ball really well in that first half." With the score tied 6 -6 with just over three minutes left in the first period, senior Breyton Booker, Henson and Tormohlen hit three straight three-pointers to give Pike Central a 15 -6 lead. South Spencer answered with a 4-0 scoring run – on a three-pointer by junior Sam Cummings and a free throw by senior Jaylen Taylor – to close to within 15 -10 at the end of the opening quarter. However, two three-point- ers and a basket by Tor- mohlen and a basket by ju- nior Christian Benson fueled an 11-0 run by the Chargers, extending Pike Central's lead to 25 -10 with 5:52 left in the first half. A fter a layup by Taylor cut the deficit to 25 -12, Henson hit a three-pointer to give the Chargers – who hit eight of nine field goal attempts, in- cluding six three-pointers, since the score was tied at 6 -6 – a 28 -12 lead. "That was fun," Elliott ad- mitted afterward. A layup by Tormohlen – off of an assist by senior Ka- leb Claridge – extended Pike Central's lead to 30 -12 with 3:47 left in the first half. A fter Taylor hit a free throw for South Spencer, Henson hit a three-pointer – off of an assist by senior Bryant Nalley – to give the Chargers a 33-13 lead with 1:38 remaining in the sec- ond period. Following a basket by Taylor that pulled the Reb- els to within 33-15, Tor- mohlen – fouled while shoot- ing a three-pointer – buried three free throws to extend Pike Central's halftime lead to 36 -15. During the first half, Pike Central made 13 of 22 field goal attempts – including seven of 14 tries from beyond the three-point arc – and was 3-for-3 from the free throw line while turning the ball over just four times. South Spencer, mean- while, made just four of 19 field goal attempts – includ- ing two tries from beyond the three-point line – and was 5 -for-8 from the free throw line while turning the ball over five times during the first half. However, while the Rebels Henson, Tormohlen spark Chargers in 65-48 win over South Spencer Pike Central High School senior Kyson Western drives to- ward the basket during varsity boys' basketball action against visiting South Spencer on Friday, Jan. 26. Western scored two points in the Chargers' 65-48 victory. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School senior Tyler Tormohlen (24) fires up a three-point shot during varsity boys' basketball action against visiting South Spencer on Friday, Jan. 26. Tormohlen scored 15 points in the Chargers' 65-48 victory. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School senior Bryant Nalley (right) goes up for a shot over South Spencer senior Jaylen Taylor (2) during var- sity boys' basketball action on Friday, Jan. 26. Nalley scored 20 points in the host Chargers' 65-48 vic- tory. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School sophomore Connor O'Neal (24) goes up for a shot as South Spen- cer junior Jackson Holstein (15) defends during junior varsity boys' basketball action on Friday, Jan. 26. O'Neal scored four points in the host Chargers' 61-20 victory. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School senior Breyton Book- er (with ball) drives past South Spencer junior Sam Cummings (30) during varsity boys' basket- ball action on Friday, Jan. 26. Booker scored 10 points in the host Chargers' 65-48 victory. Ed Ca- hill photo See CHARGERS on pg 3