The Press-Dispatch
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B-2 Sports Wednesday, March 7, 2018 The Press-Dispatch ern gave Pike Central a 30 - 28 lead heading into the fi- nal period. During the third quar- ter, Nalley made five of six field goal attempts and went 4-for-5 from the char- ity stripe while scoring 14 of his game-high 20 points. "I didn't think he played his best basketball in the first half," Elliott said of Nal- ley. "I went to him right at the end of halftime, before the third quarter started, and I told him, 'You're the best player on this floor. You need to start acting like it.'" "I didn't think they had anybody that could guard him," Elliott continued. "I don't know that anybody, one-on-one, has been able to guard him all year. I thought that third quarter, he kind of carried us and made sure we got back in the game." During the third quar- ter, Pike Central was 6 -for-7 from the field while miss- ing three of seven tries from the free throw line, includ- ing the front end of two one- and-ones. "We missed some oppor- tunities at the free throw line," Elliott said. "We didn't shoot bad from the free throw line, we just missed some kind of big ones that might have extended that lead a little bit." "They made plays down the stretch and they hit free throws and we didn't, and that's kind of what got us," Elliott added. A pair of free throws by Steimel tied the score at 30 - 30 with 5:26 remaining be- fore Nalley hit one of two free throw attempts to give Pike Central a 31-30 lead with five minutes left. Figg answered by hitting six straight free throws to give the Golden Arrows a 36 -31 lead with 44.1 seconds remaining. A fter Western hit a pair of foul shots to pull the Char- gers to within 36 -33 with 39.9 seconds left, Sulli- van scored six unanswered points – on two free throws by Pirtle and four by Figg – to close out the contest. During the fourth peri- od, Pike Central was 0 -for-8 from the field and 3-for-4 from the free throw line while turning the ball over twice. "A fter that third quarter from Bryant, they made it very difficult to get Bry- ant the basketball," Elliott said. "We knew that was go- ing to happen, and I think some of our kids were kind of still looking for somebody else to make a play, instead of just going and making plays themselves. We need- ed to have some other peo- ple step up and, unfortunate- ly, it just didn't happen." Booker and Western both added four points for Pike Central, which ended the season 11-12. Henson and Tormohlen tossed in two points each while Claridge netted one point. Nalley grabbed a team- high five rebounds. Book- er had four rebounds while dishing out a game-high three assists. For the game, the Char- gers made 12 of 28 field goal attempts – a 42.3 percent av- erage – and hit eight of 13 tries from the free throw line while turning the ball over nine times. Figg led Sullivan with 16 points and six rebounds while Steimel added 12 points. Tyler Drake – who ended the regular season averaging a team-high 16.8 points per game – tossed in seven points. "The job that Claridge did on the Drake kid is some- thing that's going to go un- noticed, but it was pretty phenomenal, because the Drake kid is a great basket- ball player," Elliott said. "To hold him to seven points – and three of those were not even on Claridge – that's a heck of a performance. He was on him all night." For the game, the Gold- en Arrows made 11 of 30 field goal attempts – a 36.7 percent average – and went 16 -for-16 from the free throw line while turning the ball over six times. "They were going to be disciplined, and they did that all night as far as taking a minute or two off the clock before they were ever real- ly looking to score," Elliott said. "So it kind of forced our hand a little bit." "I thought, defensively, we were really, really sol- id all night," Elliott added. "We knew what they were going to run. As far as per- sonnel-wise and stat-wise, we took most of that away." The loss ended the high school careers of the Char- gers' six seniors – Breyton Booker, Cameron Henson, Bryant Nalley, Tyler Tor- mohlen and Kyson West- ern – who compiled a 58 - 41 won-loss record over the past four seasons. "It was really hard," Elliott said. "It was a very tough loss for them. We were want- ing to do something special again this year. What I tried to tell them, and it's some- thing that's going to take a while to sink in, is that what they've accomplished over their careers is just incred- ible. They've kind of resur- rected the basketball pro- gram. When they started as freshmen, there hadn't been any success, really, to speak of, in the last several years." "It's unfortunate," Elliott added. "Those seniors are going to be missed. Those kids hold a special place in my heart. When I started was when they started, so it's kind of like I've never been without them. So it's going to be different." Pike Central will be re- turning just one of its top seven players – junior Chris- tian Benson – next season. "We're returning a lot of players who don't have a ton of varsity experience but that's part of it," Elliott said. "We had a senior class like this. They were very dom- inant and did a lot of good things. I think they've kind of laid the groundwork for everything that comes here- after." "It's one of those things where we're going to have to build and we have a lot of work to put in, but this ju- nior class is one that a lot of people, I think, have slept on over the year," Elliott added. "When you look at it, as far as the success they've had at the jayvee level this year and last year, they've had a lot of success." "It's going to take a lot of work, but it's something that we don't want these last cou- ple of years to just be a blip on the radar. We're looking to be build a program and have some consistency and be very competitive every year." SPORTS BRIEFS Winslow Sports League hosting adult co-ed softball tournament The Winslow Sports League will be hosting its 1st Annual Spring Adult Co-Ed Softball Tourna- ment on Saturday, March 17, and Sunday, March 18. The team entry fee for the double-elimina- tion tournament is $200, which is due on or be- fore Saturday, March 10. There will be a maximum of 20 teams, with a max- imum of 13 players per team, including a mini- mum of four female play- ers. For more information, contact Josh Moore 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 during the Petersburg Elemen- tary School's Spring Car- nival on Friday, 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 player 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 for condi- tioning 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 Winslow Community Center 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. UPCOMING SPORTS SCHEDULE 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 Heritage Hills, 9 a.m. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14 Middle School Girls' and Boys' Swimming: Pocket Athletic Conference Championship prelimi- naries at Southridge, 6:30 p.m. THURSDAY, MARCH 15 Middle School Girls' and Boys' Swimming: Pocket Athletic Conference Championship finals at Southridge, 6:30 p.m. Pike Central High School senior Miki Feldpaus- ch leads a cheer during the Chargers' 42-33 loss to Sullivan in the opening round of the boys' bas- ketball sectional at the Huntingburg Memorial Gym on Tuesday, Feb. 27. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School senior Cameron Hen- son (left) chases after Sullivan junior Benjamin Pirtle (4) during the opening round of the boys' basketball sectional at the Huntingburg Memori- al Gym on Tuesday, Feb. 27. Henson scored two points in a 42-33 loss to the Golden Arrows. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School senior Breyton Book- er (11) goes up for a shot over Sullivan senior Samuel Steimel (right) during the opening round of the boys' basketball sectional at the Hunting- burg Memorial Gym on Tuesday, Feb. 27. Booker scored four points in a 42-33 loss to the Golden Arrows. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School senior Bryant Nal- ley (40) dribbles the ball up the floor during the opening round of the boys' basketball section- al against Sullivan at the Huntingburg Memorial Gym on Tuesday, Feb. 27. Nalley scored a game- high 20 points in a 42-33 loss to the Golden Ar- rows. Ed Cahill photo Above: From left to right, Pike Central High School seniors Audra Stone, Shelbi Pipes and Brook Nal- ley hold pom poms up in the air as a Charger shoots a free throw during a 42-33 loss to Sullivan in the opening round of the boys' basketball sectional at the Huntingburg Memorial Gym on Tuesday, Feb. 27. Ed Cahill photo Left: Pike Central High School head coach Hunter Elliott prowls the sideline as senior Breyton Booker (right) looks up at the scoreboard during a 42-33 loss to Sullivan in the opening round of the boys' bas- ketball sectional at the Huntingburg Memorial Gym on Tuesday, Feb. 27. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School senior Ty- ler Tormohlen (top) takes a shot over Sul- livan sophomore Ka- leb Thrasher (bottom) during the opening round of the boys' bas- ketball sectional at the Huntingburg Memo- rial Gym on Tuesday, Feb. 27. Tormohlen scored two points in a 42-33 loss to the Gold- en Arrows. Ed Cahill photo FALL Continued from page 1