Spartans remain undefeated in EIAC games

The #12 ranked Connersville Spartans hosted the East Central Trojans last night in an EIAC hardwood matchup. The game was a low scoring affair with the Spartans taking the first quarter, EC held Connersville to just two-points in the second quarter and led by three at the half. An even third period had the Trojans up by one-point going into the final period. The Spartans outscored EC by 11-points in the fourth quarter and secured their second win in a row.  

The first quarter started with the Spartans jumping out to a 4-0 lead with Lucas Barron and Braxton Myers each scoring. Cole Wheat got the first East Central basket, and Dylan Maxwell added the next field goal to tie the game up at 4-4. Myers scored again for CHS and that started an 8-0 run for the Spartans, Gavin Pearson scored two from the charity stripe, Josh Williams scored, and Blaine Hornsby hit the final basket in the frame to put Connersville up 12-4 after one period. Carson Pieczonka opened the second quarter with a three-point shot, Maxwell added a three ball, and then went to the foul line twice in a row hitting all four freebies and putting EC up 14-12. Myers scored again for the Spartans, but Rhys Hofer ended the half with a three-pointer for EC and giving them a 17-14 lead at the half. Pieczonka started the third frame off with a deep ball and Wheat hit a free throw putting the Trojans up 21-14. Connersville got a basket from Myers and a three pointer from a wide-open Pearson to pull the game back to just a two-point lead for EC. Pieczonka hit his third deep ball with three minutes to go in the quarter. Connersville closed out the period with Myers scoring and collecting a free throw to make the score EC 24 CHS 22 after three quarters. The final frame started with both teams scoring Barron for Connersville and Hofer for EC, then the Spartans went on a 7-0 run (Myers 5, Barron 2) to retake the lead. Pieczonka collected two-points from the charity stripe for EC, then Pearson collected four freebies for Connersville, Brayden Pearson got in the scoring column with a free throw and CHS was up by 10. East Central got a final free throw from Pieczonka with 18 seconds remaining and that was the fnal point scored in the game. Connersville got the win 38-29 and improved to 14-4 on the season. They remain undefeated in EIAC games at 5-0. The Trojans fall to 5-14 on the season and 3-2 in EIAC games. The Spartans will have their hands full in their next contest, they host #10 New Palestine (17-1) on Saturday evening. East Central will have a matinee game with EIAC foe Batesville (13-6) on Saturday at 1:30pm.