2018 Basketball Sectionals

2018 Sectionals

The Herald â– YO U R C O M M U N I T Y N E W S PA P E R S I N C E 1 8 9 5 d u b oiscounty h era l d. com

DUBOIS COUNTY, INDIANA Monday, February 26, 2018 SECTION B

page 2 ■ sectional

the herald ■ Monday, February 26, 2018

THE THRILL OF THE DUNK

HERALD FILE PHOTOS

Forest Park freshman Curt Hopf is one of several area basketball players who have thrown it down with authority this season as more and more players continue to show their athleticism with high-flying dunks. A dunk can change the flow and momentum of a game as has been shown a few different times this season.

How athleticism is changing the game

By HENDRIX MAGLEY hmagley@dcherald.com Everyone can remember some of their favorite slam dunks that they’ve witnessed in person.

For Southridge boys basketball head coach Ted O’Brien, he can recall a tomahawk jam thrown down by then-Heritage Hills teammate and future NFL Pro Bowler Jay Cutler in a sectional game in 1999 against Evansville Bosse.

Forest Park boys basketball coach Jeff Litherland gets excited just reminiscing on Sam Englert’s breakaway dunk in last year’s regional game against Crawford County, a jam that brought back some memories of Litherland’s playing days at Perry Central in Derby gym.

But no dunk is quite as memorable as the first one you ever throw down — even if no one believes you actually did it.

“My first dunk I ever had was at Holland Park when I was 13 but no one was there to witness it,” Ranger freshman Curt Hopf said.

“It sucked, people still don’t really believe me about it.”

However, after witnessing dunks that Hopf’s thrown down against opponents like Crawford County and even one in historic Hoosier Gym in Knighstown against Southridge, people know now that he was being serious.

While it’s not a guarantee that you’re going to see a dunk in every high school basketball game you attend, with athletes like Hopf, Heritage Hills’ Blake Sisley, Southridge’s Colson Montgomery and Forest Park’s Sam Englert, the chances of a putback or a breakaway dunk in a game are

Southridge’s Chad O’Bryan was a player that current Raiders Colson Montgomery and Jaden Hayes used to watch dunk when they were in middle school and now they search to emulate his style. significantly higher.

“The athleticism of the kids that play high school basketball today is just crazy,” said Southridge’s Jaden Hayes, who has thrown down a few massive dunks in practice but is still waiting on his debut Memorial Gym jam.

“Before the JV games you can just hear the rims rattling with guys dunking and it’s a great experience because it boosts the atmosphere and keeps the game intense.”

Dunks create energy. Dunks create highlights. But most importantly, dunks can create momentum that some other shots just can’t obtain.

During the battle between Heritage Hills and Southridge earlier this year, Patriot sophomore Simon Scherry got his first career dunk right before the end of the

half off of a steal which made the Patriot student section go absolutely crazy. After that dunk? The tide had nearly completely turned in Heritage Hills’ favor as they rolled to the victory.

“Us coaches just want them to get it in the basket but (a dunk) is such a good motivator and gets everyone fired up so when you get the opportunity, you better do it,” Heritage Hills head coach Nate Hawkins said with a laugh. “It gets everyone in the game into it, even the bench — it definitely can be a momentum changer.”

When Hawkins coached at Forest Park, he can remember current Chicago Bears tight end Ben Braunecker throw it down game after game — he even had four dunks in a game not once, but twice.

Hawkins also remembers what

those dunks did to the energy of the game and how that same energy is felt around the ones that guys like Murray Becher and Carter Meunier have thrown down for the Patriots this season.

While none of the area teams practice dunking per se, it’s always a good way to start or end the practice session for the day.

“We always finish our drills with a layup or dunk as they go through their ball handling drills,” Hawkins said. “While it’s not necessarily something we practice, when they go to finish at the rim (during the drill) and they try to get up there, I tell them to throw it down — if they can do it, we encourage it.”

Growing up, everybody had a local player they would watch dunk as they could only hope to someday emulate that in a game of their own.

O’Brien remembers watching Jasper players such as Scott Rolen and Michael Lewis stun opponents with their athletic ability and highflying prowess while in the last couple of years Montgomery has seen local studs such as Heritage Hills’ Gavin Schaefer and Southridge’s Cody Thompson throw down some impressive jams.

Hayes can recall reading stories about 2014 Raider graduate Chad O’Bryan and what he did to opponents in Memorial Gym — something that Hayes has been working on through this three seasons at Southridge.

“When I was in about sixth grade, I picked up a copy of The Herald and I remember seeing a picture of Chad O’Bryan dunking all over a Jasper kid,” Hayes said.

“I just remember looking at that

and thinking ‘Man, that’s cool.’ I had heard stories about how (Memorial Gym) used to erupt and I was like, ’Hey, it’d be cool if I did that too.’”

While a dunk can create an increased burst of confidence for your team, if you miss one it can do the complete opposite.

Jasper head coach John Goebel believes that sometimes players get into situations where they’re not sure if they should throw it down or not which can lead to some bad decisions.

“I think kids get a little apprehensive about it, especially in a breakaway situation when they’re running full court by themselves,” Goebel said. “I think it goes through their mind, ‘Should I try to dunk this basketball?’ But at the same time, they’re scared that if they don’t dunk or if they miss it and the game is on the line, what that could mean for the team.”

There’s still no feeling quite like a made dunk in a game — especially in front of your home crowd.

Hopf ? He’s done it a few times this season in front of the Buechler Arena faithful. Sisley? If keeping track of dunks was a stat, he’d lead the Patriots by a wide margin.

But Montgomery? Well, he’s still waiting for the perfect time to throw one down for his first career high school dunk.

“It’ll be a pretty sweet experience to have my first one be at Memorial (Gym),” said the freshman as a big smile came across his face.

“I know the crowd would go crazy because it’s not everyday you see a dunk there and I know my teammates will love it too — they’ll be like, ‘Well, he’s dunking so we better get to playing now.”

the herald ■ Monday, February 26, 2018

sectional ■ page 3

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page 4 ■ sectional

the herald ■ Monday, February 26, 2018

WILDCATS Win The Sectional!

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the herald ■ Monday, February 26, 2018

Sectional ■ page 5

New sectional brings new challenges for Cats

By HENDRIX MAGLEY hmagley@dcherald.com Jasper senior basketball player Eric Nordhoff knows that going into their first sectional as a member of Class 4A, there probably aren’t many people that give the Wildcats much of a punchers chance.

Except for those in their family, of Nordhoff course.

“Well, other than our moms and dads I don’t know how many people think we really have a chance to win that sectional,” Nordhoff said with a Milligan laugh. “For us as a team, we like that challenge. We’ve been kind of underrated this whole year on what we can and can’t do but I think we’ve shown some great signs of what we’re capable of.”

After having at least one area foe in their sectional in the past, this time the Cats will be going up against six schools all from the Evansville area.

Castle (15-7) won this sectional championship last year but Sectional 16 has seen a few different winners as Evansville Reitz won it back-to-back years in 2015 and 2016 while Evansville Harrison and Evansville Central won in 2013 and 2014, respectively.

If Wildcat coach John Goebel had it his way, he’d choose to have stayed in the old sectional which had built up some historic rivalries with teams such as Vincennes Lincoln, Washington and Pike Central.

“That old sectional is where the rivalries were and that’s what brought the crowd, the energy and the emotion but we don’t have a choice in that,” Goebel said. “We see this sectional as opportunity to play some of the best teams in southern Indiana and we’ve already shown that we can compete with these teams. It’s one of those sectionals where you can’t hope for any certain draw because there’s not really one draw that’s better than any others — no matter what, you’re going to have

HERALD FILE PHOTO

Jasper’s Jared Englert scored 16 points in the team’s season-opening loss to Evansville Harrison, who the Wildcats will face in the first round of their first jaunt in the Class 4A sectional. While many aren’t giving the Cats much of a chance in the “Evansville sectional,” that’s okay with them — they enjoy being the underdogs. Jasper (14-8) will play Evansville Harrison (14-9) at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday with the winner meeting defending sectional champ Castle (15-7) on Friday. Evansville North (10-12) and Evansville Central (5-16) will be the other game on Tuesday with the winner facing off against Evansville Reitz (10-12) on Friday night. your hands full.”

For the Wildcats, it’s been a season that’s been mixed with some highs and lows.

Jasper alternated wins and losses for their first eight games of the season, saw a brief threegame stretch where they lost to Class 4A No. 3 New Albany, Class 1A No. 6 Barr-Reeve and Heritage Hills and then ended the season with a seven-game winning streak to go into March with a boatload of confidence.

“Through that stretch, I think we only gave up about 41 points a game defensively so we’ve really began to zero in on defense,” Goebel said. “We just can’t take winning for granted because we know that winning games isn’t easy. We have to keep working hard, we can’t just get complacent.”

The Wildcats have been led offensively this season by Jared Englert (11.4 ppg) and Nordhoff (9.7 ppg) but it’s not just the scoring that has kept the Wildcats recora-

float this season.

One of the players who has quietly made the biggest impact on Jasper’s 14-8 season has been junior guard Reece Milligan. While Milligan can get some shots falling at a consistent rate (he shoots 45 percent from the field and 80 percent from the charity stripe), it’s some of the little things he does that have helped the Cats the most.

“That’s one thing that the coaches have been stressing,” said Milligan about doing the little things right. “You can score and you can do all the flashy plays you want but if you can’t set a screen or grab a rebound then you won’t win many ball games.”

One of the things Milligan has become known for is his speed — whether it’s on the basketball court, the football field or the track.

He’s used that skill to help him in many different facets of his game and Goebel has said

that both Milligan’s lateral quickness and speed in open court are “tremendous.”

“My speed is the best part of any of my sports and it’s really helped me to be successful in everything that I do,” Milligan said.

“Whenever I see a loose ball or something, I just turn it into a whole different gear.”

Another key aspect of the Wildcats success this season has been their depth. At the beginning of the season when Nordhoff was out with an injury, sophomore Jackson Kabrick was thrown into the varsity starting lineup for the first time in his young career and performed exceptionally well.

There was a mix of players that was used for the Jasper rotation at the beginning of the season but as the year went on, Goebel developed a starting five of Englert, Nordhoff, Milligan and guards Austin Simmers and Justin Persohn along with the three core

members of the bench group in Kabrick, Josh Weidenbenner and senior big man Ben Elliott.

“It takes a little while to establish a rotation. With Eric (Nordhoff ) out early, we had a rotation that had started to be established and then once he came back, we had to reestablish another rotation,” Goebel said. “When you have guys like Weidenbenner, Kabrick and Elliott you’re not losing any level of play, they all have their own strengths. None of these guys are in there just to fill time, they’re all in there to do something positive and time and time again they’ve done that.”

Nordhoff added, “A lot of people don’t realize that extra players really help once you get to March because you can rest more during the season and even at practice, too. Whether it’s one guy or four guys that can play, extra players help a lot in terms of staying fresh.”

Tourney Rewind 2014: Jasper’s Austin Alles gave a high five to Philip Huebschman as their teammates Nolan Ahrens, left, and Tyler Nottingham, right, celebrated their 69-52 sectional championship victory over Heritage Hills in Huntingburg in 2014 — the Cats last sectional crown. (Herald file photo)

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page 6 ■ sectional

the herald ■ Monday, February 26, 2018

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the herald ■ Monday, February 26, 2018

sectional ■ page 7

Youthful Raiders have battled ups and downs

BY JONATHAN SAXON jsaxon@dcherald.com This season for the Southridge boys basketball team has been somewhat of a roller coaster ride, filled with its ups and downs.

The Raiders had to start practicing with about half of their team missing due to the football team’s postseason run Voegerl to the state title in the fall, and had to make up those gaps in team cohesion on the fly when games started.

“It’s been a process for us all year long,” said SouthHayes ridge coach Ted O’Brien.

“We’re throwing five guys on the floor that never played together.

We had to build this chemistry on the run.”

The season and its process has been tough for the Raiders. They lost their first two games, but the team bounced back and played a stretch of games where they won six of eight, including four in a row. But after their 50-37 win against Tecumseh on Jan. 5, the team fell back into some bad habits O’Brien had hoped were behind them and the wins didn’t come as consistently as the Raiders would have liked.

O’Brien believes the team’s main issue has been maintaining a consistent level of focus on the game’s little details on a nightly basis, a challenge that comes with coaching a younger team.

“Some of our younger players are struggling with the fact that every possession matters,” he said. “They don’t understand sometimes why we’re frustrated with the simple things. Those things are the difference in games in varsity basketball.”

But even with those growing pains that come with developing players who have not played on a varsity level before, O’Brien feels that his young core has done a lot of growing over the course of the season, and believes young guns like Colson Montgomery and Garrett Voegerl are vital ingredients to the Raiders winning formula when sectional play starts.

“We’ve played a lot of good basketball, won some big games,” he said. “The morale has been good.

We’re still fighting and have belief in ourselves as a basketball program. The guys know what they’re capable of; we’re very confident in the guys we put out on the floor.”

Montgomery is one of those guys. The freshman guard leads the team in scoring with 19 points per game and has served as the engine which drives the Raiders over the course of their season.

He does a bit of everything — he can drive with fluidity in the lane, hit from outside, and possesses the court vision which led the coaches to putting the ball in his hands as the initiator of the team’s offense.

He looks to Duke superstar Grayson Allen and former Blue Devil Luke Kennard for inspiration in his game, but Montgomery’s main goal when he hits the floor is setting up either Joe LaGrange on the perimeter or Jaden

Sarah Ann Jump/The Herald

As a freshman, Colson Montgomery was thrown into the fire immediately for the Southridge Raiders but the young gun has loved every minute of it. He’s been the most consistent scoring threat for the Raiders (19 ppg) but his defensive presence and pinpoint passing have been just as impressive. Southridge drew a bye in their home sectional which means the Raiders (10-13) won’t play until Friday against the winner of Pike Central (11-11) and Sullivan (17-6) who play Tuesday. The other Tuesday game is between Princeton (19-4) and Vincennes Lincoln (15-8) with the winner battling Washington (9-13) on Friday.

Hayes in the paint. His buckets are just extra as far as he’s concerned.

“What I’m trying to do is create shots for other players, but if I score, it just happens,” he said.

“If (LaGrange) starts knocking down shots that builds confidence for him, and if we get the ball into Jaden (Hayes) early, that’s going to get us rolling.”

O’Brien said that Montgomery had been on his radar since displaying his basketball aptitude in middle school. He sees Montgomery as one of the top overall players in southern Indiana and said it was easy to make the decisions when it came to starting him, as well as putting the ball in his hands to run the point in the place of injured junior guard Matt Price.

“We knew we would need him to play varsity basketball immediately,” said O’Brien. “He’s not overwhelmed by it. He’s got a great future as a Southridge Raider in all three sports (football, basketball, baseball). We’ve known all along he was going to play from day one. ” O’Brien is impressed by how Montgomery has grown within the game and has gotten tougher over the course of the season, as he’s dealt with taking the team’s best shots during the season. He thinks Montgomery can only get better as his body matures and he expands his toolbox for putting the ball through the hoop.

“Right now he can go one-onone and get his shot,” he said. “I’d like to see him work on his pull-up game. He’s posted up more recently and can continue to get better there.”

However those aren’t the only areas Montgomery is looking to improve. The freshman doesn’t take his role on the varsity team for granted and knows the team can only go so far if he’s a onedimensional player.

“Right now I’m lacking in my defensive ability,” he said. “I can play defense, but there’s times when I take off possessions. I have

to stay locked in the whole game.

Every possession matters in big games.”

Fortunately, with basketball being a team sport, the responsibility of good defense is spread among all the players on the court.

And for Garrett Voegerl, defense is an area of his game he takes the most pride in.

“My goal is to be a defensive stopper,” he said. “We got plenty of scorers on this team. I just want to hold the best player on the other team to their lowest (scoring) average.”

But that isn’t the only way that Voegerl makes his presence known on the floor. O’Brien loves the rebounding effort the sophomore brings to the team with his athleticism, and thinks that he could turn into the kind of offensive threat that would make the Raiders a defensive headache for their opponents.

“His offensive game is starting to rise as the season has gone on,” O’Brien stated. “That’s what you’ll see in the future.

He’s going to be another threat for us.”

O’Brien wants to see Voegerl work on his ball control off the dribble so he can create more for himself, and he also needs to work on staying locked in mentally during games to keep from wasting possessions and opportunities.

“What he’s starting to figure out right now is that every possession counts,” said O’Brien.

“That’s just something every high school player has to go through when they make the jump from JV to varsity. His effort is always there, but being locked in mentally will go a long way with him.”

Both Montgomery and Voegerl will have their roles to play in the future, but now they have to look toward sectional, which their coach sees as a second season with a fresh start. They both believe that the recipe for a successful postseason run is rooted in defensive intensity and letting that feed into their offense.

“We need to have the defensive mindset back — getting into our guy’s face and saying ‘you’re not scoring on us,’” said Voegerl.

“We can score whenever we want,” added Montgomery. “ (We need to) stay confident and play how we know how to play.”

O’Brien thinks the Raiders can rise above their late season struggles. He knows they have underachieved given the talent they possess, but they can’t cry over spilled milk. The Raiders have to take the sectional tournament as a

clean slate and trust in each other, learn from the regular season, and get back to the focus and passion they played with in the games where they’ve been successful.

“You never know going into the tournament,” said O’Brien.

“We know what we can do, it’s just a matter of going and putting it together for two nights. We’ll get our guys prepared and put together a great plan for Friday night. We can’t change the past, but we’re very optimistic about our future.”

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page 8 â– sectional

the herald â– Monday, February 26, 2018

Members of the Jasper boys basketball team are, from left, first row: Dillon Sternberg, Austin Simmers, Justin Persohn, Eric Nordhoff, Ben Elliott and Reece Milligan. Second row: Caleb Burger, Jackson Kabrick, Jared Englert, Josh Weidenbenner and Phillip Noblitt. Third row: Reece Day, Kyle Hedinger, Quentin Harmon, Cameron Mehringer, Elliott Hopf, Carter Stamm and Cam Kilian.

Members of the Forest Park boys basketball team are, from left, first row: Garrett Jochem, Garrett Betz, Reid Steffe, Daniel Lusk, Elliott Rothgerber, Isaac Uebelhor and Garrett Jochem. Second row: Simon Jacob, Braydon Voegerl, Sam Englert, Curt Hopf, Collin Hochgesang, Noah Fleck and Aaron Hurst.

the herald â– Monday, February 26, 2018

sectional â– page 9

Members of the Southridge boys basketball team are, from left, first row: Logan Seger, Carson Mundy, Noah Goeppner, Matt Price, Colin Smith, Jacob Masterson and Camden Gasser. Second row: Justin Lammers, Sam Sermersheim, Colson Montgomery, Jaden Hayes, Garrett Voegerl, Joe LaGrange and Jayce Harter.

Members of the Northeast Dubois boys basketball team are, from left, first row: Trevor Seufert, Mathew Jacob, Logan Dodd, Reece Bauer, Marshall Knies and Ethan Ziegler.

Second row: Brandon Merkel, Alan Kerstiens, Griffen Bauer, Reece Helming, Chase Riecker and Alex Harder.

page 10 ■ sectional

the herald ■ Monday, February 26, 2018

Jasper Wildcats

Members of the Jasper boys basketball managers are, from left, first row: Drew Hurst and Trevor Weisman. Second row: Kale Burke and Luke Jarboe.

Members of the Jasper boys basketball coaching staff are, from left, first row: Jason Ahlbrand, John Goebel and Adam Schwartz.

Second row: Eric Dall, Cameron Harris, Caleb Begle and Jeremy Wolf.

Members of the Jasper cheerleading team are, from left, first row: Jurney Sturgeon, Brynn Schwartz, Emily Rennie and Kylie Patterson. Second row: Olivia Ariens, Grace Werner, Jessica Mehringer, Hailey Hurst and Brynn Sermersheim.

SEASON RESULTS (14-8) OPPONENT W/L SCORE at Evansville Harrison L 64-62 GIBSON SOUTHERN W 44-42 EVANSVILLE MEMORIAL L 59-47 NORTHEAST DUBOIS W 54-48 FOREST PARK L 55-34 EVANSVILLE CENTRAL W 66-52 at Evansville North L 43-42 VINCENNES LINCOLN W 61-49 MOUNT VERNON W 74-33 at Forest Park L 59-44 at Boonville W 67-44

STATISTICS

OPPONENT W/L SCORE NORTHEAST DUBOIS W 53-40 at New Albany L 87-44 BARR-REEVE L 57-50 HERITAGE HILLS L 44-29 EVANSVILLE MATER DEI W 58-44 MOUNT CARMEL W 49-42 WASHINGTON W 56-39 at Princeton W 55-36 at Pike Central W 49-35 at Southridge W 55-51 at North Daviess W 50-37

Forest Park Rangers

PLAYER Jared Englert Eric Nordhoff Justin Persohn Austin Simmers Jackson Kabrick Reece Milligan Josh Weidenbenner Ben Elliott Quentin Harmon Dillon Sternberg Elliott Hopf Phillip Noblitt Kyle Hedinger Caleb Burger

G 22 15 22 22 22 22 22 22 11 5 8 6 5 4

PTS HI AVG FG 3PT FT-FTA 251 26 11.4 107 4 33-56 146 18 9.7 52 16 26-29 187 19 8.5 59 22 47-72 155 21 7.0 51 17 36-44 143 17 6.5 57 11 18-24 129 14 5.9 45 11 28-35 68 15 3.1 21 13 13-16 56 8 2.5 23 0 10-14 7 3 0.6 2 0 3-4 2 1 0.4 0 0 2-4 0 0 0.0 0 0 0-1 0 0 0.0 0 0 0-0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0-2 0 0 0.0 0 0 0-0

Forest Park boys basketball team student manager Noah Hawkins.

Members of the Forest Park boys basketball team coaching staff are, from left: Coach Jordan Johnson, head coach Jeff Litherland, coach Phil Winkler, assistant coach Abe Schwartz. Not pictured: Dave Welp, Brian Bartenheimer and videographer Gabe Muller.

Members of the Forest Park cheerleading team are, from left, first row: Dana Hoffman, Kylie, Hasenour and Makenna Chumbley. Second row: Lauren Troesch, Shelby Wesselman, Riley Prechtel, Kelsey Mehling and Layne Prechtel.

SEASON RESULTS (19-4) OPPONENT W/L SCORE CRAWFORD COUNTY W 43-37 TELL CITY W 55-22 LOOGOOTEE W 61-50 at Washington W 55-44 vs. Southridge W 68-49 at Jasper W 55-34 EASTERN (PEKIN) W 71-31 CHRISTIAN ACADEMY W 59-44 SOUTHRIDGE W 62-54 at Barr-Reeve L 52-50 PERRY CENTRAL W 85-37 JASPER W 59-44

OPPONENT W/L SCORE TECUMSEH W 81-43 vs. Southridge W 69-54 at Evansville Mater Dei L 62-61 at Wood Memorial L 59-58 at Heritage Hills L 69-52 at South Spencer W 58-48 BOONVILLE W 81-43 NORTH POSEY W 70-55 PIKE CENTRAL W 54-41 GIBSON SOUTHERN W 58-50 at Northeast Dubois W 61-50

STATISTICS PLAYER Sam Englert Curt Hopf Daniel Lusk Trever Zink Collin Hochgesang Noah Fleck Braydon Voegerl Isaac Uebelhor Reid Steffe Simon Jacob Elliott Rothgerber Aaron Hurst Garrett Betz

G 23 23 23 17 23 8 23 23 23 10 21 6 5

PTS HI AVG FG 3PT FT-FTA 381 29 16.6 149 1 82-128 300 23 13.0 116 7 61-103 199 17 8.7 80 11 28-36 126 17 7.4 34 23 35-48 139 14 6.0 50 18 21-27 30 9 3.8 9 2 10-12 79 14 3.4 33 0 13-24 76 11 3.3 31 2 12-21 54 11 2.3 18 14 4-6 11 5 1.1 4 1 2-6 22 6 1.0 7 1 7-13 6 4 1.0 2 0 2-2 4 2 0.8 1 0 2-2

the herald ■ Monday, February 26, 2018

sectional ■ page 11

Southridge Raiders

Student managers for the Southridge boys basketball team are Jenna Broeker, left, and Jerzi Cannon.

Members of the Southridge cheerleading team are, from left, first row: Bailee Fisher, Jenna Brock and Kyndall Seidl.

Second row: Megan Buechler, LaKiesha Wampler, Chaney Barrett and Elisha Painter.

Members of the Southridge boys basketball coaching staff, from left: Ted O’Brien, Larry Altstadt, T.J. Montgomery and Steve O’Brien.

SEASON RESULTS (10-13) OPPONENT W/L SCORE TELL CITY L 53-51 at Pike Central L 70-50 CORYDON CENTRAL W 67-43 vs. Forest Park L 68-49 vs. Northeast Dubois W 60-34 SHOALS W 74-57 vs. Salem W 53-40 vs. Lanesville W 57-45 at Forest Park L 62-54 at Tecumseh W 50-37 at Northeast Dubois L 58-41 at Heritage Hills L 66-54

OPPONENT W/L SCORE at North Posey L 57-52 PERRY CENTRAL W 77-60 vs. Forest Park L 69-54 at Gibson Southern W 59-57 WASHINGTON L 61-58 WOOD MEMORIAL W 75-65 at North Daviess L 75-67 SOUTH SPENCER L 64-51 at Loogootee L 61-49 JASPER L 55-51 at Boonville W 63-41

STATISTICS PLAYER Colson Montgomery Jaden Hayes Joe LaGrange Garrett Voegerl Jayce Harter Jacob Masterson Logan Seger Noah Goeppner Matt Price Colin Smith Carson Mundy Justin Lammers

G 23 22 23 23 23 23 18 1 11 7 11 4

PTS HI AVG FG 422 39 18.3 152 285 21 13.0 112 272 18 11.8 94 95 10 4.1 38 79 9 3.4 30 76 10 3.3 28 38 8 2.1 15 2 2 2.0 1 15 7 1.4 4 10 3 1.4 4 13 6 1.2 4 2 2 0.5 1

3PT 38 14 30 8 5 10 5 0 1 1 4 0

FT-FTA 80-108 47-69 54-71 11-18 14-27 10-27 3-5 0-0 6-8 1-2 1-4 0-0

Northeast Dubois Jeeps

Student managers for the Northeast Dubois boys basketball team are, from left: Kortney Quinn, Tyla Rasche and Clare Mangin. Not pictured: Landon Ernst.

Members of the Northeast Dubois coaching staff are, from left: Seth Matheis, Cody Ziegler, Terry Friedman and Travis Schroering.

SEASON RESULTS (13-9) OPPONENT W/L SCORE PIKE CENTRAL W 53-50 at Tell City L 41-40 at Washington Catholic W 75-33 HERITAGE HILLS L 66-63 at Orleans W 49-38 at Jasper L 54-48 vs. Southridge L 60-34 BARR-REEVE L 29-26 at South Knox L 52-45 SOUTHRIDGE W 58-41 VINCENNES RIVET W 41-35

Members of the Northeast Dubois cheer squad are, from left, first row: Angel Dill, Hannah Schepers, Lauren Lorey, Amanda Ehrhard, Hunter Thewes, Mackenzie Zehr, Kristin Blessinger and Paige Knies. Second row: Morgan Schepers, Hali Nesbitt, Madison Knies, Courtney Vittitow, Kayleigh VanPelt, Corbyn Zehr, Makena Everman, Jordan Bauer and Mitchell Schepers.

OPPONENT W/L SCORE SPRINGS VALLEY W 45-42 at Jasper L 53-40 at Wood Memorial W 66-54 at North Knox W 66-34 at Paoli L 78-60 at North Daviess W 33-31 PERRY CENTRAL W 65-46 SHOALS W 60-44 at Loogootee W 47-40 TECUMSEH W 60-29 FOREST PARK L 60-51

STATISTICS

PLAYER G Reece Bauer 22 Alan Kerstiens 22 Alex Harder 21 Griffen Bauer 22 Brandon Merkel 22 Chase Riecker 22 Logan Dodd 18 Malachi Baumeister 2 Matthew Jacob 2 Marshall Knies 22 Reece Helming 10 Trevor Seufert 5 Ethan Ziegler 10

PTS HI AVG FG 3PT FT-FTA 252 30 11.5 74 6 98-139 236 20 10.7 92 40 12-25 217 28 9.9 73 21 50-77 180 19 8.2 72 0 36-71 78 10 3.5 30 4 14-36 55 9 2.5 19 4 13-19 39 7 2.2 13 2 11-15 4 4 2.0 1 1 1-2 4 4 2.0 1 0 2-2 34 9 1.5 14 1 5-10 13 8 1.3 6 1 0-2 6 6 1.2 3 0 0-0 6 4 0.6 3 0 0-1

page 12 ■ sectional

the herald ■ Monday, February 26, 2018

Rangers newfound depth brings opportunities

By HENDRIX MAGLEY hmagley@dcherald.com Throughout the season, Forest Park boys basketball head coach Jeff Litherland had been looking forward to the moment when senior Noah Fleck would return to the Ranger lineup.

Now that it’s here, the Rangers have something that they Voegerl haven’t fully had during their last few runs through the sectional — depth.

“Last year we won a sectional championship without a lot of depth but we were very fortunate because something always seems to happen that you don’t expect and if you don’t have a player to fill that role then it can easily diminish your chances of winning,” Litherland said. “Right now we have eight or nine guys we rotate in and out to keep them fresh and sometimes we’re not sure who to take out but that’s a nice problem to have. Everybody has an up day and a down day, we just have to find the right combination.”

The combination the Rangers are using right now is appearing to work pretty well. The starting group of seniors that includes Sam Englert, Daniel Lusk and Collin Hochgesang along with underclassmen Curt Hopf and Isaac Uebelhor and the bench group led by seniors Fleck and Braydon

Marlena Sloss/The Herald

Since returning to the Forest Park lineup, Noah Fleck has been a huge contributor whether it’s in the starting role that he had been used to or coming off of the bench to provide a spark. Fleck and the Rangers (19-4) will battle South Spencer (8-15) on Wednesday in the Class 2A sectional at Castle with the winner facing the victor of the Evansville Mater Dei (8-14) and Tell City (15-8) game on Friday. The winner of North Posey (11-12) vs. Tecumseh (8-15) on Tuesday will face Perry Central (4-19) on Friday.

Voegerl along with juniors Reid Steffe and Elliott Rothgerber have carried the Rangers to a 19-4 record.

How important is the Rangers depth? In the Feb. 15 70-55 win against North Posey, Fleck started his first game in almost a year after Hopf tweaked his ankle in his physical education class earlier in the day. While Hopf still played in the

game, just having that option to put someone else in the starting lineup puts the Ranger minds at ease. “(Depth) is definitely one of the most important things you need as a team,” Hopf said. “After I hurt my ankle in PE of all places, we had Noah come back in and do what he needed to do, and man is he good at it.”

After a short stretch where the Rangers lost three games in a row

in some tough road environments, Forest Park ended the season strong with a six-game winning streak.

What went right at the end of the regular season?

“I really think the biggest step for us moving forward is playing together as a team,” Fleck said.

“The end of the season I saw it a lot and we have to continue to mesh as a team and all want the

same thing. We can’t have one guy wanting one thing and another guy wanting something else, we just have to stick together and pull through it.”

One aspect the Rangers have always prided themselves on is their defense, in fact it’s been known as “the Ranger way” of doing things.

But during that short stretch of losses, the defense seemed to be just a little disappointing.

“Ranger basketball is definitely all about defense but we had a stretch where our guys weren’t happy with the defense and they were like ‘Hey, wake up it’s time to go — this is Ranger basketball,” Hopf said.

Litherland added, “I think once we got Noah back and his speed and athletic ability and even having guys like Isaac and Braydon, they can flat out take people out of games. We have the ability to stop teams and with our athletic ability, I think we can do some pretty amazing things defensively.”

The Rangers have made the sectional championship the past three seasons but only made it to the regional round one of those times.

Last year, Forest Park advanced to the regional semifinal before being defeated by eventual Class 2A state finalist Crawford County.

Litherland knows the sectional trophy is a hard one to attain but it’s been the goal for the Rangers throughout the entire season and nothing is changing now.

“You have to be good, you’ve got to get a good draw and you’ve got to be a little lucky,” Litherland said. “Right now we’re just pushing to win our sectional and then we’ll try to get a little bonus basketball.”

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the herald ■ Monday, February 26, 2018

sectional ■ page 13

Defensive pressure takes Jeeps to high places

BY JONATHAN SAXON jsaxon@dcherald.com The Northeast Dubois boys basketball team are in their happy place as a team.

The Jeeps have been rolling to the tune of victory, winning nine of their last 12 games, including five wins in a row before a setback in the season finale Kerstiens against Forest Park.

They’ve been able to do this thanks to a collective defensive effort which has held their opponents to a little under 46 points per contest.

Harder It would seem that Jeeps coach Terry Friedman was correct in his assertion that the real season starts in January, but he isn’t downplaying the effects that the games in November and December had on his team.

“If we go back to the start of the season, I really felt in the beginning of the year we weren’t quite (firing) on a cylinders,” he said. “Early on we had several games against top teams where we couldn’t quite close them out. Those early losses really solidified us, because the group now

Sarah Ann Jump/The Herald

Reece Bauer, along with Alan Kerstiens and Alex Harder, have acted as not only the main offensive weapons for the Jeeps this season but their defensive intensity has also given opponents fits. The Jeeps (13-9) will battle Wood Memorial (15-8) on Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. in the Class 1A sectional opener in French Lick with the winner facing Cannelton (6-18) in the semifinal on Friday. Springs Valley (17-6) and Evansville Day (10-11) will compete in the other semifinal game on Friday evening. really understands what it takes to finish out these games.”

The surge which has spanned over the latter part of their season has been spearheaded by the triple threat of Reece Bauer, Alan Kerstiens, and Alex Harder. They are averaging 11.5 10.7, and 9.9 points a game respectively as part of a balanced attack that’s fed by the turnovers created by their te-

nacious man-to-man defense.

“Lately we’ve just been playing more like a team like we needed to the whole year,” added Kerstiens. “(We’re) making the extra pass every possession, valuing the ball, and doing everything that comes with winning.”

But with the regular season at an end, the Jeeps know they can’t take their winning ways for granted. Each of the players acknowledges that all

their success on the court starts with defense, but they all are wary of other areas of improvement that must be taken care of in order to ensure an extended run.

“Coming out and making the opening statement in the beginning of the game (is key),” Harder said. “Keep working hard the whole time and keeping that fire — knowing we can finish the game

strong if it’s close.”

Bauer believes that the Jeeps need to keep practicing their unselfish playing habits if they want to maintain their success, a lesson from early in the season when they struggled with consistency.

“When we’re passing the ball around we get easy shots,” said Bauer. “We started the season playing selfish basketball. As the season has gone on we bonded as a team and became more unselfish.”

Friedman, who is in his 12th year coaching basketball for Northeast Dubois, also thinks that the attitude and swagger his team carries onto the court, especially in their defense, pays its weight in gold for the team.

“The most important thing we bring is our Jeep Edge,” he said.

“That means energy, determination, grit, and enthusiasm to this group.”

The Jeeps will face Wood Memorial in their opening sectional game, a team they played and defeated 66-54 on Jan. 27. But Friedman is not letting that win lull his team to sleep — he believes the rematch will be a tougher test for his boys in the one-and-done bracket.

But the team seems focused on what they have to do in order to cash in on the expectations they set for themselves at the beginning of the season.

“We’re just going to keep working like we always have,” said Kerstiens. ”(Keep) working every single day on shooting, defense and (playing) together. You don’t win championships playing individually.”

“We just got keep doing what we’re doing,” added Harder. “We feel confident we can come out of Sectional 64 with a championship.”

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page 14 ■ Sectional

the herald ■ Monday, February 26, 2018

sectional history

YEAR WINNER RUNNER-UP HOST SCHOOL SCORE 1925 Huntingburg Orleans Jasper 23-21 1926 Huntingburg Winslow Jasper 23-14 1927 Huntingburg Winslow Huntingburg 37-29 1928 Spurgeon Petersburg Petersburg 24-15 1929 Spurgeon Holland Jasper 20-13 1930 Huntingburg Holland Huntingburg 21-12 1931 Stendal Jasper Petersburg 45-30 1932 Stendal Jasper Jasper 24-20 1933 Jasper Ireland Huntingburg 41-7 1934 Jasper Huntingburg Petersburg 23-7 1935 Huntingburg Jasper Jasper 28-13 1936 Jasper Holland Huntingburg 36-24 1937 Huntingburg Jasper Petersburg 40-34 1938 Jasper Huntingburg Jasper 30-25 1939 Stendal Jasper Huntingburg 37-35 1940 Huntingburg Petersburg Petersburg 36-22 1941 Winslow Holland Jasper 25-19 1942 Jasper Spurgeon Jasper 49-33 1943 Jasper Winslow Jasper 32-28 1944 Jasper Spurgeon Jasper 50-43 1945 Jasper Holland Jasper 61-30 1946 Jasper Spurgeon Jasper 51-41 1947 Jasper Huntingburg Jasper 36-27 1948 Jasper Spurgeon Jasper 51-49 1949 Jasper Winslow Jasper 48-39 1950 Winslow Jasper Jasper 64-46 1951 Winslow Jasper Jasper 49-42 1952 Jasper Spurgeon Huntingburg 52-47 1953 Holland Huntingburg Huntingburg 49-46 1954 Winslow French Lick Huntingburg 67-53 1955 Huntingburg Holland Huntingburg 55-50 1956 Jasper Winslow Huntingburg 73-69* 1957 Jasper West Baden Huntingburg 77-68 1958 Springs Valley Huntingburg Huntingburg 66-41 1959 Huntingburg Springs Valley Huntingburg 41-39 1960 Jasper Winslow Huntingburg 84-38 1961 Jasper Winslow Huntingburg 85-58 1962 Jasper Ireland Huntingburg 59-51 1963 Ireland Springs Valley Huntingburg 20-19 1964 Springs Valley Ferdinand Huntingburg 77-74** 1965 Springs Valley Huntingburg Huntingburg 72-65 1966 Springs Valley Jasper Huntingburg 59-57** 1967 Holland Jasper Huntingburg 62-52 1968 Holland Ferdinand Huntingburg 57-53 1969 Springs Valley Holland Huntingburg 54-34 1970 Huntingburg Holland Huntingburg 55-53 1971 Jasper Dubois Huntingburg 86-65 1972 Jasper Forest Park Huntingburg 61-53 1973 Jasper Southridge Southridge 47-46 1974 Jasper Perry Central Southridge 73-49 1975 Jasper Forest Park Southridge 75-74*** 1976 Southridge Forest Park Southridge 57-45 1977 Northeast Dubois Jasper Southridge 60-55* 1978 Perry Central Jasper Southridge 56-55 1979 Southridge Northeast Dubois Southridge 46-44 1980 Southridge Northeast Dubois Southridge 55-45 1981 Jasper Southridge Southridge 69-68 1982 Southridge Forest Park Southridge 48-44 1983 Southridge Jasper Southridge 63-53 1984 Northeast Dubois Southridge Southridge 49-36 1985 Southridge Forest Park Southridge 57-37 1986 Southridge Jasper Southridge 55-53 1987 Southridge Northeast Dubois Southridge 42-41 1988 Northeast Dubois Jasper Southridge 52-39 1989 Jasper Southridge Southridge 49-37 1990 Forest Park Jasper Southridge 55-42 1991 Southridge Northeast Dubois Southridge 47-36 1992 Southridge Forest Park Southridge 55-40 1993 Forest Park Pike Central Southridge 46-40 1994 Southridge Forest Park Southridge 46-34 1995 Jasper Southridge Southridge 70-51 1996 Jasper Northeast Dubois Southridge 61-43 1997 Pike Central Southridge Southridge 67-56 1998 Gibson Southern Pike Central Washington 63-47 Evansville Bosse Evansville Memorial Boonville 72-71*

South Spencer Evansville Mater Dei Southridge 69-68 Cannelton Northeast Dubois Tecumseh 70-61 1999 Gibson Southern Pike Central Washington 64-53

Heritage Hills Boonville Boonville 58-53 Evansville Mater Dei Perry Central Southridge 62-56 Tecumseh Cannelton Tecumseh 66-42 2000 Princeton Vincennes Lincoln Washington 61-46 Evansville Mater Dei Evansville Bosse Boonville 86-60

Paoli Tell City Southridge 73-69 Northeast Dubois Springs Valley Orleans 71-46 2001 Jasper Vincennes Lincoln Washington 71-69* Evansville Mater Dei Heritage Hills Boonville 72-59 Crawford County Tell City Southridge 65-64 Northeast Dubois Orleans W. Washington 61-30 2002 Jasper Pike Central Washington 66-39

Gibson Southern Heritage Hills Boonville 53-43 Crawford County Southridge Southridge 50-46 Tecumseh Evansville Day Wood Memorial 64-52 2003 Sullivan Vincennes Lincoln Washington 38-37

Heritage Hills Gibson Southern Boonville 38-36

Forest Park Crawford County Southridge 59-45 Tecumseh Evansville Day Tecumseh 48-37

YEAR WINNER RUNNER-UP HOST SCHOOL SCORE 2004 Vincennes Lincoln Washington Washington 64-54 Evansville Mater Dei Heritage Hills Boonville 59-55

Forest Park North Posey Southridge 64-42 Orleans Crothersville W. Washington 45-33 2005 Washington Vincennes Lincoln Washington 83-60 Evansville Mater Dei Boonville Boonville 47-38 Forest Park Southridge Southridge 61-46 Orleans Northeast Dubois Springs Valley 42-40* 2006 Washington Vincennes Lincoln Washington 63-53 Evansville Mater Dei Evansville Bosse Boonville 66-64

Forest Park South Spencer Southridge 50-37 Orleans Northeast Dubois Orleans 67-44 2007 Washington Vincennes Lincoln Washington 71-63 Evansville Bosse Evansville Memorial Boonville 56-54

Southridge Tell City Southridge 42-41 Orleans West Washington W. Washington 70-43 2008 Washington Vincennes Lincoln Washington 76-49 Evansville Mater Dei Tell City Southridge 54-41 Orleans Springs Valley Springs Valley 32-24 2009 Washington Vincennes Lincoln Southridge 42-34

Forest Park Evansville Mater Dei Boonville 69-60 Northeast Dubois Orleans Orleans 40-39 2010

Washington Jasper Washington 43-30

Forest Park Evansville Mater Dei Southridge 66-44 Northeast Dubois Orleans Springs Valley 44-42** 2011 Washington Southridge Southridge 47-36

Forest Park North Posey Boonville 43-41 Trinity Lutheran Orleans Orleans 53-40 2012 Vincennes Lincoln Jasper Washington 56-41

Forest Park Evansville Mater Dei Southridge 73-51 Orleans Northeast Dubois Orleans 61-47 2013 Vincennes Lincoln Jasper Washington 48-25

Perry Central Evansville Mater Dei Southridge 56-54 Northeast Dubois Tecumseh Wood Memorial 69-60* 2014 Jasper Heritage Hills Southridge 69-52

Perry Central Evansville Mater Dei Boonville 67-64 Northeast Dubois Tecumseh Tecumseh 55-45 2015 Vincennes Lincoln Washington Washington 50-40 Evansville Mater Dei Forest Park Southridge 69-64

Wood Memorial Evansville Day Wood Memorial 49-39 2016 Pike Central Jasper Southridge 49-47 Evansville Bosse Heritage Hills Boonville 68-36

South Spencer Forest Park Jasper 59-43 Wood Memorial Tecumseh Tecumseh 61-48 2017 Pike Central Vincennes Lincoln Washington 51-34 Evansville Bosse Mount Vernon Boonville 86-54

Forest Park Evansville Mater Dei Southridge 44-43

Wood Memorial Northeast Dubois Wood Memorial 53-38 * overtime * double overtime *** triple overtime ■■ HOW THEY’VE FARED ALL-TIME IN THE SECTIONAL School Yrs. Won Lost Pct. Titles Jasper 101 163 70 .700 31 Southridge 45 44 33 .571 12 Forest Park 46 52 35 .598 11 Northeast Dubois 41 41 32 .562 9 Heritage Hills 45 49 36 .576 9 Note: Jasper first competed in IHSAA state tournament play in 1914. In the 103 seasons from 1914 through 2016, there were three occasions where the Wildcats did not compete in sectional play. In 1914, there was no sectional round in the tournament; the Wildcats lost their first game of state tournament play to Cutler.

Then in 1917 and 1918, Jasper did not participate in the sectional because its coach, Raymond Cunningham, left to serve in the U.S. Military during World War I. ■■ SECTIONAL TITLES WON BY DEFUNCT SCHOOLS Dale (11), Huntingburg (10), Holland (3), Ireland (1) ■■ OTHER POSTSEASON TITLES School Regional Jasper 14 Southridge 2 Forest Park 5 Northeast Dubois 3 Heritage Hills 0

Semistate 1 2 3 0 0

■■ STATE CHAMPIONSHIP LEADERS School Overall Single-Class Marion 8 6 Muncie Central 8 8 Washington 7 3 Frankfort 4 4 Indpls. Park Tudor 4 0 Lawrence North 4 1 Indpls. Crispus Attucks 4

3 Anderson 3 3 Ben Davis 3 2 Bloomington South 3 1 Carmel 3 1 Evansville Bosse 3 3 Franklin 3 3 Lafayette Ctrl. Catholic 3 0 Lafayette Jeff 3

3 Lebanon 3 3 Martinsville 3 3 Pike 3 0

State 1 0 2 0 0 Multi-Class 2 0 4 0 4 3 1 0 1 2 2 0 0 3 0 0 0 3

Last Title 2016 1988 2011 1939 2015 2006 2017 1946 2017 2011 2013 1962 1922 2003 1964 1918 1933 2003

the herald ■ Monday, February 26, 2018

sectional ■ page 15

Young Patriots groomed for multiple tourney runs

BY JONATHAN SAXON jsaxon@dcherald.com When you look at the roster for the Heritage Hills boys basketball team, what sticks out the most (besides 6’7 forwards Carter Meunier and Blake Sisley) is the youth across the board for the team.

Only one starter, Mitchel Becher, is a Sisley senior. The team’s only other senior, Meunier, comes off the bench but still contributes big minutes in the front court. However, everyone else that has played a part in the Patriots’ 20-win season is an underclassmen.

How have all of these young players been able to come together and play so well, so quickly?

“Playing other sports together helped,” said sophomore guard Simon Scherry. “Last year a lot of us played baseball together. In the summer (we were) playing together a lot, it really helped us blend.”

Beyond that cultivated familiarity which breeds trust among the teammates, the players also quickly adopted the same focus and drive to win ball games that speaks to a level of maturity far beyond their years. It can be difficult many times for young players to get on the same page together and achieve the highest vision of success for their teams. But for Heritage Hills, it all fit together rather quickly and organically.

“We all wanted to do the same thing, and we started playing for each other. It was natural,” said Sisley, who stepped in at the beginning of the season to start for the Patriots at forward as a freshman while Meunier recovered from offseason knee surgery.

But head coach Nate Hawkins has been most impressed by the confidence which his young team has brought to the floor from game to game.

The players feel that no matter who lines up across from them, they always have a strong chance of winning by the time the clock

Marlena Sloss/The Herald

Sophomore Simon Scherry is one of several underclassmen that’s played a major role in Heritage Hills’ 20-win season. Along with fellow underclassmen Murray Becher and Blake Sisley, the Pats are primed to have a successful squad for the future. Heritage Hills (20-3) will play their first game in the Boonville sectional on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. against Class 3A No. 7 Evansville Memorial (18-4) with the winner facing Gibson Southern (11-11) on Friday. The other matchup pits No. 3 Evansville Bosse (19-4) against Boonville (5-17) on Tuesday with the winner facing off against Mount Vernon (1-23) on Friday. reads 0:00.

“It’s been a joy to see them play with such confidence,” he said.

“Our young kids are very talented.

They feel like every time the ball gets thrown up they’re going to win, no matter who the opponent is.”

But they don’t just rest on their talent and confidence, as both of those things would mean nothing without putting the work in during practice to maximize their skills. The players have taken the mandate of their coaches to heart — be better tomorrow than they are today.

“I really think our team’s work ethic has been the number one key to our success this season,” said sophomore guard Murray

Becher, who leads the team with 17 points per game. “Keeping that mindset has really helped us play well and stay together as a team.”

In terms of on the court play, Heritage Hills is a long and fast team that prides itself on playing stout defense and attacking the glass for easy buckets in transition. But another strength in the team’s game is their ball movement. They like to use their passes to spread defenses out and create lanes inside for the bigs, which later will lead to outside shots from the corners.

“When we’re playing our best is if we have 20 field goals made, and 15 or 16 of them may be assisted,” said Sisley. “We’re shar-

ing the ball when we play our best basketball. Multiple people are getting in double-digits scoring.”

It is a formula that has produced two separate streaks where the team has won six in a row, and it will be the strategy the team continues to implement as they march towards their first sectional matchup with Evansville Memorial.

“In order to be successful we need to have all five guys playing at a high energy, high pace style,” said Hawkins. “As loaded as our sectional is, if we do not rebound and defend we will not win. If we can do that, we set ourselves up to make a run at the sectional championship.”

Heritage Hills is prepared to

go out and show that youth isn’t necessarily a factor when it comes to postseason success. Everyone knows their role and they are prepared to execute their game plan and keep the good times rolling on the way to a sectional title.

Perhaps for years to come.

“We’re going to have to stay mentally focused, practice like we play, and give it all we can,” said Becher.

“Playing with these guys has been a lot of fun,” added Scherry.

“It’s been a fun experience knowing we’ll be able to play a few more years together. Sectionalwise, we just need to take care of what we can take care of — communicate, defend and just hit shots. ”

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Tourney Rewind 2014: Tyler Ward, left center, and Gavin Schaefer celebrated among their teammates after Heritage Hills eliminated two-time defending sectional champion Vincennes Lincoln in the 2014 Class 3A basketball sectional at Huntingburg. Ward’s 3-pointer as time ran out was the difference in a 57-55 victory over the Alices, who had beaten the Patriots in nine of the 10 all-time meetings between the teams. The Patriots would go on to beat Washington 41-38 before being defeated by Jasper in the sectional title game, 69-52.

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page 16 ■ sectional

the herald ■ Monday, February 26, 2018

Members of the Heritage Hills boys basketball team are, from left, first row: Cole Sigler, Cade Jones, Grant Lashley, Simon Scherry and Mitchel Becher.

Second row: Grahm Turner, Mark Doyle, Blake Sisley, Carter Meunier, Murray Becher and Dylan Begle. Not pictured: Carson Leibering.

Heritage Hills Patriots

Coaches for the Heritage Hills boys basketball team are, from left, John Becher, Dillion Gregory, Nate Hawkins and Josh Wetzel.

Members of the Heritage Hills cheerleading squad are, from left, first row: Destiny Curtis, Raven Poehlein, Kayley Marchand, Rachel Winner and Payton Roedel. Second row: Emily Forston, Madison Smith, Payton Hopster, Emily Frakes, Tori Hartwig and Rachel Martin.

SEASON RESULTS (20-3) OPPONENT W/L SCORE at North Harrison W 59-43 EVANSVILLE DAY W 53-43 at Northeast Dubois W 66-63 NORTH POSEY W 62-49 at Hancock County (Ky.) W 55-35 MOUNT VERNON W 72-38 at Evansville Memorial L 71-69 vs. North Harrison W 71-41 at South Spencer W 71-56 vs. Crawford County W 44-38 at Gibson Southern L 58-56 WASHINGTON W 66-50

OPPONENT W/L SCORE SOUTHRIDGE W 66-54 TECUMSEH W 75-50 EVANSVILLE MATER DEI W 63-51 at South Spencer W 59-45 BOONVILLE W 64-36 at Jasper W 44-29 FOREST PARK W 69-52 at Pike Central W 62-48 at Tell City W 29-23 PRINCETON L 58-47 at Perry Central W 56-40

STATISTICS PLAYER Murray Becher Simon Scherry Blake Sisley Mitchel Becher Carter Meunier Cade Jones Dylan Begle Cole Sigler Carson Leibering Grant Lashley Grahm Turner

G 23 23 23 23 20 23 22 20 13 11 13

PTS HI AVG FG 3PT FT-FTA 418 30 18.2 158 30 72-100 271 24 11.8 99 35 38-51 247 19 10.7 94 7 52-75 217 20 9.4 77 7 56-83 99 21 5.0 43 3 10-27 46 8 2.0 16 0 14-16 31 6 1.4 13 2 3-6 28 5 1.4 9 0 6-6 12 5 0.9 3 2 4-7 5 3 0.5 2 1 0-1 4 4 0.3 2 0 0-0

Student managers for the Heritage Hills boys basketball team are, from left, Lacey Eaton, Graham Gardner and Sydney Rube.