The Press-Dispatch
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B-4 Sports Wednesday, Februar y 28, 2018 The Press-Dispatch CHARGERS Continued from page 2 WIN Continued from page 1 back three-pointers by Nal- ley. North Posey, which fell to 10 -12 overall and 3-4 in the PAC, closed to within six points three times – at 8 -2, 11-5 and 13-7 – before a three-pointer by Henson and consecutive baskets by Tormohlen and Claridge ex- tended Pike Central's lead to 20 -7 at the end of the first quarter. The 20 points scored by the Chargers during the first period were the most since Pike Central scored 21 first-quarter points in a 70 -50 win over Southridge on Dec. 9. "Any time you can get off to a hot start, that's going to be huge," said Elliott, whose Chargers had been held to seven first-quarter points or less during seven of their last nine games. "That's something that's kind of eluded us here as of late." A basket by Tormohlen stretched Pike Central's lead to 22-7 with 6:28 left in the second period. Follow- ing an exchange of baskets – by sophomore Joshua Rick- etts for North Posey and ju- nior Christian Benson for the Chargers – the Vikings closed to within 24-11 on a basket by senior Alex Stew- art with 4:27 remaining in the first half. However, Pike Central would end the half by scor- ing 10 unanswered points – four each by Henson and Nalley and two by Tor- mohlen – to take a 34-11 halftime lead. During the first half, the Chargers made 14 of 21 field goal attempts, includ- ing four of eight tries from behind the three-point line, while going 2-for-2 from the free throw line. North Posey, meanwhile, had hit just five of 20 first- half field goal attempts, in- cluding just one of seven three-point shots. "I told them this is a ball club that doesn't usually score 11 points in a half," Elliott said of his halftime talk to his players. "I think we did a heck of a job on them defensively. But I knew they were going to hit some shots. They're too good of shooters to keep missing all night." "I told them we've got to stay the course, we've got to keep being aggressive," El- liott continued. "They don't give you an award, or a win, for winning the first half of a basketball game." A pair of three-point- ers by senior Jacob San- ford – sandwiched around a three-pointer by Nalley – left the Chargers holding a 37- 17 lead with 4:50 left in the third period. However, free throws by Claridge and se- nior Kyson Western and a three-pointer by Western extended Pike Central's lead to 42-17 with 2:30 remaining in the third quarter. A pair of three-pointers by Sanford – sandwiched around a trey by Tormohlen – pulled the Vikings to with- in 45 -23 heading into the fi- nal period. North Posey's rally was stymied, however, as the Chargers opened the fourth quarter with a 7-2 scoring run – on a three-pointer by Tormohlen, a basket by Western and a pair of free throws by Tormohlen – to stretch their lead to 52-25 with 6:26 left. Three free throws and a pair of three-pointers by Ricketts and a trey by San- ford fueled a 12-3 scoring spurt that cut Pike Central's lead to 19 points – at 56 -37 – with 4:13 remaining, but that would be as close as the Vi- kings would get as the Char- gers answered with an 8 -2 scoring run on two baskets and four free throws by Nal- ley to widen the gap to 64-39 with 2:39 left. During the second half, North Posey made only 10 of 29 field goal attempts – a 34.5 percent average – but were 8 -for-15 from be- yond the three-point arc as well as 3-for-3 from the free throw line. "In the third quarter, we held that lead and extended it a little bit, but then, late, they kind of cut it a few with some three's," Elliott said. "It's kind of tough to defend a little bit of that, but we did a nice job of handling their pressure and attacking it and getting some lay-ups." Elliott was also pleased with his team's work on both the offensive and defensive glass, out-rebounding the Vikings 30 -21 – including 18 -4 in the first half. "That's been one of our Achilles' heels all season, and that's something that I've challenged them with here as of late," Elliott said. "I think last night and to- night, especially, we really did a nice job. We cleaned up the defensive glass. Of- fensively, we were attack- ing and getting those sec- ond and third opportunities, and that's huge for us." Sanford made six of 10 three-point field goal at- tempts to lead North Posey with 18 points while Rick- etts added 13 points. Rick- etts and senior Corey Heath both had four rebounds to lead the Vikings in that cate- gory. Senior Jordan Goedde had a game-high two steals. For the game, North Posey made 15 of 49 field goal attempts – a 30.6 per- cent average – while going 3-for-3 from the free throw line. The Vikings turned the ball over seven times. The Chargers, who made 12 of 18 tries from the free throw line, committed eight turnovers. For the game, Tormohlen was 5 -for-5 from the field – including 2-for-2 from three- point range – and was 2-for-2 from the free throw line while posting his first ca- reer double-double. He also dished out one assist. "He did a heck of a job," El- liott said. "I thought he had a heck of a game all night. We had him for a double-dou- ble with 14 points and 10 re- bounds. He came up huge for us tonight." The win – Pike Central's third in the last five games – boosted the Chargers into third place in the PAC. For- est Park and Heritage Hills tied for the best record in the conference at 7-1. "PAC was one of our goals, and everybody at the start of the season wants to go un- defeated," Elliott said. "But the PAC was really tough this year, and we've had a really tough schedule, even outside of the conference. I think a lot of the teams in our conference kind of just beat up on each other all sea- son." "We dropped a few, but I thought we had some real- ly good wins along the way, and we've done some real- ly good things," Elliott add- ed. "Going into sectional, I think we can kind of car- ry this momentum and just keep going." Elliott said that he hoped that the Chargers' back-to- back road wins to end the regular season was a sign of good things to come when they took on Sullivan in the first round of the Class 3A Southridge Sectional at Huntingburg Memori- al Gymnasium on Tuesday, Feb. 27. "All season, I've said we don't want to peak in De- cember and we don't want to peak in January," Elliott said. "We want to be at our best going into sectional. To- night shows, I think, we're playing pretty well. Coming out tonight and being able to do that without Booker, that was huge for us." The Huntingburg Memo- rial Gymnasium was where Pike Central won its first sectional title since 1997 two years ago. Last year, the Chargers claimed their second straight sectional ti- tle at the Hatchet House in Washington. "Going to Huntingburg, I think these kids, they've all talked about it and they have some pretty fond memories of that place," Elliott said. "They've experienced cut- ting down the nets, and they want to do it again." • • • In the junior varsity game, Camden Bender scored a game-high 21 points to lead North Posey to a 62-58 vic- tory over Pike Central. Zach Lowe and Tristen Fish- er added 16 points and 10 points, respectively, for the Vikings. Benson and sopho- more Mario Fields paced the Chargers – who ended the season 10 -9 overall and 5 -3 in the PAC – with 12 points each while junior Austin Holder added 11 points. Above: Pike Central High School senior Bryant Nalley (40) goes up for a shot during varsity boys' basketball action at North Posey on Wednesday, Feb. 21. Nalley scored 22 points as the Chargers defeated the Vikings 64-42. Ed Cahill photo Below: Pike Central High School junior An- drew Krieg (34) drives toward the basket as North Posey's Tyler Holman (left) defends during junior varsity boys' basketball action on Wednes- day, Feb. 21. Krieg scored seven points as the Chargers dropped a 62-58 loss to the host Vi- kings. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School sophomore Mario Fields (23) slips past North Posey's Tristen Fish- er (41) while going up for a lay-in during junior varsity boys' basketball action on Wednesday, Feb. 21. Fields scored 12 points as the Chargers dropped a 62-58 loss to the host Vikings. Ed Ca- hill photo Pike Central High School junior Austin Hold- er (10) tries to dribble past North Posey's Dalton Cox (right) during junior varsity boys' basketball action on Wednesday, Feb. 21. Holder scored 11 points as the Chargers dropped a 62-58 loss to the host Vikings. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School senior Cameron Hen- son (10) takes a shot over North Posey seniors David Bender (22) and Drake Rogers (25) during varsity boys' basketball action on Wednesday, Feb. 21. Henson scored 12 points as the Char- gers defeated the host Vikings 64-42. Ed Cahill photo proved to 10 -11. "I thought on some of our drives, we were kind of changing some of our shots to avoid the foul or getting blocked or whatever it might be, and we can't do that. You've got to go shoot it and just go look to score, and if you get fouled, you get fouled." "But I think we did a nice job of attacking," Elliott added. "We were attacking all night and we were get- ting the looks we wanted to get. Eventually, I knew they were going to fall." Johnson paced South Knox (13-9) with nine points while Brandon Fick- ling added eight points to go along with nine re- bounds and three assists. For the game, the Spar- tans made 16 of 35 field goal attempts – a 45.7 per- cent average – and hit six of 14 tries from the free throw line while turning the ball over 10 times. "I think we both had a pretty good game plan coming in," Elliott said. "We scrimmage them, then we saw them in the sea- son, and now, seeing them again, there wasn't really anything new we were go- ing to throw at each other. We know their personnel and they know ours, and we just came out on top to- night." • • • In the junior varsity contest, sophomore Mario Fields scored 11 points and junior Judah Leathco add- ed 10 points to lead Pike Central to a 48 -44 victory over South Knox. Junior Coleton Hostettler led the Spartans with 13 points, while sophomores Chase Donaldson and Logan An- this added 12 points and 10 points, respectively. SOMETHING NEWSWORTHY? Give us a call: 812-354-8500