The Press-Dispatch
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B-2 Sports Wednesday, Februar y 28, 2018 The Press-Dispatch SPORTS BRIEFS Winslow Sports League hosting adult softball tournament The Winslow Sports League will be hosting its 1st Annual Spring Adult Softball Tournament on Saturday, March 17, and Sunday, March 18. For more information, contact Josh at (812) 582- 3969. Petersburg Little League baseball/softball sign-up dates set Registration for the Pe- tersburg Little League baseball and softball leagues will be held during the Petersburg Elementary School's Spring Carnival on Fri - day, March 9, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Registration can also be completed online at http://tshq.bluesombre- ro.com/petersburglittle- league, or by mailing the registration form – with checks made payable to Petersburg Little League – to P.O. Box 102, Peters- burg, IN 47567. The registration fee is $25 plus $10 per play- er for concession duty for all leagues. Maximum cost per family is $100 plus concession duty. Anyone who is unable to attend registration and do not have access to the In- ternet can contact one of the league's board mem- bers, or, if unsure who to contact, call Joey O'Brien at (812) 486 -7107. No player will be turned away due to financial in- ability to pay. Financial assistance is available. All forms will also be available at the Peters- burg Little League's Face- book page. Winslow Sports League holding conditioning, sign-ups Who is ready to play some ball? Join the Winslow Sports League Wednesdays this month for conditioning and sign- ups. Softball and T-ball sign- ups and conditioning will take place on Tuesdays at the Winslow Communi- ty Center from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. All baseball condition- ing and sign-ups will take place on Wednesdays at the Old Petersburg Gym from 5:30 p.m.-7 p.m. Conditioning is for all ages who are playing t- ball, softball or baseball. You may also sign up during this time or mail your registration form in. For more information, email winslowsports@ hotmail.com, visit our Facebook page Winslow Sports League, or call 812-631-5648. AJ CYCLE 30 Indiana St, Jasper (right behind Shoney's) • www.ajcycle.net Call to schedule your service today! 812-482-3366 Mon.-Fri. 9am-6pm Sat. 9am-2pm Trained Techs GREAT SERVICE AJ Cycle and Trike Conversions can service your motorcycle, trike or ATV/UTV with quality parts and trained technicians. Authorized builder/service center for Motortrike and California Sidecar Trikes, also providing parts and service for most major brand trike conversions. Allow AJ Cycle and Trike Conversions to be your Powersports source! Full service department, oil and tire changes, accessories installed, and the right parts for your street bike, off-road bike, trike or ATV. UPCOMING SPORTS SCHEDULE THURSDAY, MARCH 1 Middle School Girls' and Boys' Swimming: Pike Central at Southridge, 6 p.m. FRIDAY, MARCH 2 High School Boys' Basketball: Sectional Tourna- ment at Southridge – Southridge vs. Pike Central-Sul- livan winner, 6:30 p.m.; Washington vs. Princeton-Vin- cennes Lincoln winner, 8 p.m. SATURDAY, MARCH 3 High School Boys' Basketball: Sectional Tourna- ment at Southridge – Championship game, 7:30 p.m. Middle School Wrestling: Pike Central in Titan Duals at Gibson Southern, 9 a.m. MONDAY, MARCH 5 Middle School Girls' and Boys' Swimming: South Spencer at Pike Central, 6:30 p.m. TUESDAY, MARCH 6 Middle School Wrestling: North Knox, Tecumseh and Wood Memorial at Pike Central, 6 p.m. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7 Middle School Girls' and Boys' Swimming: Te- cumseh and Jasper at Pike Central, 6 p.m. SATURDAY, MARCH 10 Middle School Wrestling: Pocket Athletic Confer- ence Championship at Gibson Southern, 9 a.m. HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS' BASKETBALL Pocket Athletic Conference Standings PAC Overall Team W-L W-L Gibson Southern ................................. 8 -0 ................ 19-5 Heritage Hills .......................................7-1 .................17-4 Forest Park .......................................... 6 -2 ................ 15 -9 Pike Central ........................................ 4-4 ............... 11-11 Tell City ................................................ 4-4 ............... 11-13 Tecumseh ............................................ 4-4 ............... 11-12 North Posey ........................................ 2-6 ............... 11-14 Southridge ........................................... 1-7 .................3-18 South Spencer ..................................... 0 -8 .................2-21 STATE TOURNAMENT STATE FINALS Results of February 24 At Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis Class 4A Warren Central 50, Zionsville 46 Class 3A Northwestern 63, Greensburg 42 Class 2A Central Noble 46, Winchester 42 Class 1A Michigan City Marquette 38, Vincennes Rivet 31 By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net The Pike Central High School boys' basketball team rallied from an 11-point third-quarter deficit to post a 46 -43 overtime victory over host South Knox on Tuesday, Feb. 20. The Chargers made just seven of their first 30 field goal attempts – a 23.3 per- cent average – as South Knox jumped out to an ear- ly 7-0 lead and extended it to 31-20 midway through the third period. However, Pike Central scored nine straight points – five by senior Bryant Nal- ley and four by senior Brey- ton Booker – to close to with- in 31-29 with 6:32 remaining in the fourth quarter. Then, after two free throws by Spartans sopho- more Justin Fickling gave the Spartans a 37-33 lead with 24.6 seconds left in regulation, a basket by Nal- ley and a buzzer-beating lay- up by senior Kyson Western sent the game into overtime with the score tied at 37-37. A basket by Booker to start the four-minute over- time period gave Pike Cen- tral its first lead of the game – at 39 -37 – before the Char- gers hit seven of 12 free throw attempts to hold on for the win. "I thought we did a great job tonight, especially get- ting the ball inside," said Pike Central head coach Hunter Elliott, whose team made seven of its last 13 field goal attempts. "Our post passing was really good. I thought we moved well. It's just we didn't shoot real well. We didn't finish." "As long as we're getting those looks, I'm happy with that," Elliott added. "Late in the game, they started fall- ing, and we wound up on top." The Chargers – who dropped a 48 -40 loss to South Knox during the Gra- ber Post Buildings Classic at North Daviess on Dec. 30 – missed their first six field goal attempts as the Spar- tans took an early 7-0 lead on back-to-back baskets by senior Luke Marchino and senior Brandon Fickling and a three-pointer by junior Gage Bobe with 4:14 left in the first quarter. With Nalley – who had been replaced in the start- ing lineup by senior Ty- ler Tormohlen after show- ing up late for a team shoot- around – waiting in front of the scorer's table to enter the game, Elliott quickly called a 30 -second timeout. "To get (Nalley) in the game and to tell them, 'I know we're down 7-0, but we're getting all the shots we want to get'," Elliott said regarding the purpose of the timeout. "If we're getting shots in the paint, where we're being aggressive, at- tacking the basket, that's what we've got to do. We've just got to keep doing that and good things are going to happen." A fter Tormohlen hit a three-pointer to cut the defi- cit to 7-3, a three-pointer by Bobe and a free throw by junior Nick Johnson – sand- wiched around a basket by Nalley – extended South Knox's lead to 11-5 with 1:35 left in the first period. The Spartans, leading 11- 7 following a basket by Nal- ley, started the second quar- ter with a 7-2 scoring run – on back-to-back baskets by Johnson and junior Zacha- ry Welage – to stretch their lead to 18 -9 with 6:18 left in the first half. A basket by senior Brey- ton Booker and a three-point- er by senior Cameron Hen- son slashed South Knox's lead to 18 -14. A fter a basket by Marchino extended the Spartans' lead to 20 -14, Tor- mohlen buried a three-point- er to pull the Chargers to within 20 -17 with 2:17 re- maining in the second pe- riod. "Early on, they hit us for a couple of three's that I thought were a little too open, but I thought, defen- sively, we were doing a pret- ty nice job," Elliott said. "Of- fensively, I was loving the shots we were getting. Book- er was getting a lot of good looks in the paint and on the blocks. Cameron had a cou- ple. Bryant had a couple. We just weren't finishing." Leading 22-18 at halftime, South Knox scored the first four points of the second half – on back-to-back bas- kets by Brandon Fickling and Johnson – to take a 26 - 18 lead. A fter a pair of free throws by Booker cut the deficit to 26 -20, a pair of free throws by Brandon Fickling and a three-pointer by Bobe ex- tended the Spartans' lead to 31-20 with 3:46 left in the third period. With Pike Central trail- ing 31-22 following a bas- ket by Nalley, Booker hit two free throws, drew an of- fensive foul on South Knox senior Bryce Coomes, then rebounded a missed three-pointer by Western and tossed up an off-balance shot that fell through the basket at the buzzer to cut South Knox's lead to 31-26. "I was on him early in the game, because I know he was a little frustrated," Elliott said of Booker. "He was getting a lot of good looks and he wasn't finish- ing. I brought him out and I sat him right down and I told him, 'Keep being ag- gressive. You're getting the shots I want you to get. You're going to knock them down.' I put him right back in. I thought he played great for us tonight." With the Chargers trail- ing 33-29, Booker had to leave the game with 5:06 left in the fourth quarter af- ter rolling his right ankle on a drive to the basket. Less than two minutes lat- er, however, Booker re-en- tered the game. "He came back over and he said, 'I'm ready to go. I want this. Get me in'," El- liott said. "I said, 'Alright,' and I put him back in. Tak- ing the charge down there was a huge play." Pike Central would fall behind by as many as five points – at 35 -30 – with 2:23 left before a three-point play by Western slashed the defi- cit to 35 -33 with 1:24 re- maining. A fter Marchino missed the front end of a one-and- one, Justin Fickling – who grabbed the long rebound and was fouled – hit both ends of the one-and-one to stretch South Knox's lead to 37-33 with 24.6 seconds left. Pike Central answered with a basket by Nalley to pull the Chargers to within 37-35 with 15.1 seconds left. Then, after Welage missed the front end of a one-and-one with 14 sec- onds remaining, Western drove down the right side of the lane and hit a lay-up to knot the score at 37-37 as the buzzer sounded. "Actually, we drew it up for Cam to come off to shoot the three, and he wasn't open," Elliott said. "But the other option was going to be for Kyson to drive down the lane right there, and he took advantage of that and drove and made a play." "I've been on Kyson all year about being aggres- sive," Elliott added. "I think he can really score for us. I think he's really hard to guard off the dribble. To- night, he was aggressive there late. He was aggres- sive and he made some plays late and he came up huge for us." Having scored the final four points of regulation, began the overtime period with a 7-1 scoring run – on a basket and a free throw by Booker and four free throws by Nalley – to take a 44-38 lead with 52.2 seconds re- maining. "Going into the overtime kind of the way we did, we had all the momentum," El- liott said. "We won the tip and got it straight to Book- er in the post and he made a play. You know, that's what you've got to do. We came up big when we needed to. I was proud of our effort tonight." A basket by Justin Fick- ling and a three-pointer by Johnson – sandwiched around a free throw by Hen- son – cut the deficit to 45 -43 with 7.7 seconds left. A fter Nalley hit the first of two free throws to extend the Chargers' lead to 46 -43 with 5.4 seconds remaining, a steal by Booker as the final seconds ticked off the clock sealed South Knox's fate. Nalley led Pike Central with a game-high 18 points while Booker added 13 points. Henson led the Char- gers with nine rebounds and three assists, while Booker had three steals. For the game, Pike Cen- tral made 14 of 43 field goal attempts – a 32.6 percent av- erage – and hit 15 of 22 tries from the free throw line while turning the ball over five times. "We were attacking real- ly well all night, and that's what we've got to do," said Elliott, whose Chargers im- Chargers rally for 46-43 overtime win over South Knox Above: Pike Central High School junior Chris- tian Benson (12) makes a bounce pass during varsity boys' basketball action at South Knox on Tuesday, Feb. 20. The Chargers defeated the Spartans 46-43 in overtime. Ed Cahill photo Right: Pike Central High School senior Brey- ton Booker (right) takes a shot at the basket over South Knox senior Brandon Fickling (33) during varsity boys' basketball action on Tuesday, Feb. 20. Booker scored 13 points as the Chargers de- feated the host Spartans 46-43 in overtime. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School senior Tyler Tor- mohlen (24) looks to pass the ball during varsi- ty boys' basketball action at South Knox on Tues- day, Feb. 20. Tormohlen scored six points as the Chargers defeated the Spartans 46-43 in over- time. Ed Cahill photo See CHARGERS on pg 4