The regular season has come to a close and the sectionals start tonight. Here are your top 30 points per game leaders in the EIAC for the regular season.
The 2023 girls basketball sectionals start on Tuesday evening in Rushville. This will be the first ever sectional matchup between the two teams. Connersville was victorious over South Dearborn on Dec 16. beating them by a score of 49-46. Since that loss CHS has gone 1-8 with a lone win over Richmond (6-15). The Lady Spartans last sectional win was in 2015, a double overtime victory over Anderson.
The Lady Knights last win was a 60-48 victory over Oldenburg on Jan 12. SD’s last sectional win was a two-point victory over Franklin County in 2020.
Tuesday 7pm Game 1 South Dearborn (5-18) vs Connersville (8-14)
Coaches
Darryl Gibbs is in his third year at South Dearborn and has compiled a record of 13-56 . Connersville is led by Michelle Harter who is 21-66 in her 4th year at CHS. Her overall record is 176-159 in 15 years and includes a regional championship with Warsaw in 2013.
Top Players
S.D.- The Lady Knights are led by senior Natalie Rupp who is averaging 11.3 ppg and junior point guard Natalie Cantrell who is putting up 8.8 ppg this season.
CHS- The Lady Spartans are led by junior Haley Sembach who averages 9.9 ppg and 6.9 rpg. Freshman Addy Jones is averaging 7.8 ppg and is sixth in the EIAC averaging 2.1 steals per game.
AURORA – East Central (253 points) captured another IHSAA wrestling sectional title Saturday at South Dearborn while the Franklin County Wildcats (207) battled to second place. The Trojans pushed five champions on to the Richmond Regional with FC, third-place Milan (180) and Connersville sending two each. Lawrenceburg, Greensburg and Union County had the other individual champs. Remaining unbeaten through the first postseason weekend were Milan’s 106-pound freshman Matthew Baylor (41-0) and LHS’ Colton Roth at heavyweight (17-0).
EC’s top guys were Blake Wolf at 126, Dylan Lengerich at 145, Grayson Hylton at 152, Brayden Huber at 170 and Brendin Kolter at 182.
Representing FC atop the podium were Cole Freese at 113 and Colin Troyer one class up at 120. Levi DeGroat (220) and Orlan Foster (195) were Connersville’s toughest, while Milan’s Indians saw Kaleb Wilburn (138) join Baylor in the winner’s circle. Greensburg’s Preston Merritt was the best at 132 and Jordan Takara of UC ran through the 160 bracket. Overall, EC got 11 wrestlers to the regional – top four in each weight class advanced – as FC totaled 10, Milan 9, 4th -place Rushville 7, CHS 5, 6th -place UC 5, LHS 3, 9th -place Greensburg 3, SD 2 and last-place Batesville 1.
Freese (35-3) had a bye and forfeit to the semifinals, then pinned Rushville’s Blake Hunt and earned a 10-1 major decision over EC’s Tyler Stenger in the final. Troyer (35-1) likewise moved into the semis with no early foes, then won by fall over Connersville’s Aiden Maze and took less time to pin Milan’s Lucas Richards in the championship bout. UC’s Landon Myers was 3 rd at 120. Merritt (30-4) pinned CHS’ Gavin Lemen, then won by decision over UC’s Carson Whitley (7-1) and edged EC’s Nyden Euson in the final match. Tuff Tackett of Rushville won by injury default over Whitley in the second period of the 3 rd -place bout. Takara (36-4) made quick work of LHS’ Trey Campbell in the quarterfinals, then majored Cameron Gilb of Milan in the semis (13-5) and took down FC’s Hayden Newell early in the second period to claim the title. Rushville’s Matthew Komlanc won a 3-1 decision over Gilb for third place. FC had two more grapplers join Newell in the runner-up position. Lendon Sizemore pinned Kyle Mellon of SD in the 220 division before duplicating a late pin over EC’s Brady Jones – similar match at the conference meet – and falling to DeGroat in the second period. Breck Bohman at 170 pinned UC’s Matt Wooley and earned a 13-5 major over LHS’ Drake Rorabacher. He was pinned late in the second period by Huber. Rushville’s Sam Pavey was 4 th at 170. Jesus “Chewy” Aquino-Morales took 2 nd at 126 as EC’s Blake Wolf pinned him in the finals. Chewy earlier pinned Landin Shepherd of Greensburg, who ended up third when he pinned 4 th -place Kian Nash of Rushville. In the heavyweight final, Batesville’s Max Amberger fought Roth to the end before losing by a 2-0 count; the 31-6 Amberger earlier pinned Parker Moles of UC and Gotts. FC’s Nathan Noble was 3 rd at 195, narrowly losing to Milan’s Carson Betz but flourishing in the consolation bracket. He pinned Rushville’s Kaleb Amos, won 3-0 over Greensburg’s Will Cunningham, finally avenging his earlier loss by pinning Betz. Wildcat senior Clayton Bolser also took bronze in the 285 class. The big man was pinned by Rushville’s Trey Newman but pinned Milan’s Kyle Gotts and EC’s Matt Mittermeier.
At 106, Zakk Reed of Rushville earned a pin over Greensburg’s Tristan Smith to decide third and fourth placement. UC’s Evan Wolf placed 3 rd at 145, pinning Rushville’s Denver Campbell, losing 7-0 to LHS’ Brayden Tudor, then majoring FC’s Dakota Schwab and Landon Walton of SD. Trevor Bruns of FC placed 4 th in the 138 bracket, falling twice to EC’s Tyson Miller but also getting wins over LHS’ Ben Heath and Rushville’s Pacey Dye. Teammate Cody Bolser was also 4 th at 152, falling to SD’s Nick Wismann before defeating LHS’ Braxton York and Batesville’s Hudson Kohlman. Also taking 4th was FC’s Phoenix Simons at 182; Simons pinned Rushville’s Elijah Biggs, was pinned by Milan’s Mason Green, then pinned LHS’ Patrick Nanz before losing by fall to Biggs in the rematch. The Tiernan Center in Rishmond is host to regional action this Saturday. The other feeder sectional is Shenandoah. Wrestlers must win at least one match to advance to semistate.
Rushville High School will host the 2023 Sectional 29 games. Game one will feature the South Dearborn Lady Knights taking on Connersville on Jan. 31. Franklin County will face Batesville on Feb. 1, and Rushville will face Greensburg in the Feb. 1 7:30 game. Lawrenceburg has a bye and will get their first taste of competition on Feb. 3. The Championship will take place on Feb. 4 at 7:30. Shelbyville will be hosting the 4A Sectional 14. East Central will take on Columbus East in the first round on Jan. 31 at 7:30pm.
The Connersville Spartans hosted an EIAC matchup against Batesville on Saturday. The Bulldogs had the lead after the first quarter, but the Spartans pulled away to win their sixth game in a row.
Cole Pride got BHS on the board to start the game, Lucas Barron scored, then Pride hit a three-point basket, and Kade Kaiser scored twice to put Batesville ahead 10-3. Barron scored the next four points and Josh Williams scored for CHS to tie the game up with less than a minute to go in the period. Pride scored one more time and the Dogs led 12-10 after one period. Connersville started the second quarter on a 7-0 run, but Pride and Kaiser got the Dogs back in the game and it was tied at 17-17. Barron and Braxton Meyers scored, and Barron hit a freebie putting the Spartans up by five. Batesville got another Pride basket and a deep ball from Gus Prickel to tie the game up with two minutes to go in the half. The Spartans scored three more points to end the half up 25-22. Jack Grunkmeyer tied the game up to start the third quarter with a Batesville basket. Connersville then got a three from Williams and Meyers and Barron scored putting CHS up by four with three minutes to go in the period. Grunkmeyer scored for BHS and Carson Laker hit a field goal, but Connersville finished the frame with Meyers scoring again and two baskets from Blaine Hornsby to go up 38-32 through three quarters. Willams started the final period with a basket for CHS and Kaiser and Prickel scored to keep the Spartans from running away with the game. The Spartans finished the game outscoring the Dogs 8-4 over the final two minutes and earned a 51-41 EIAC victory to move to 4-0 in conference play and 11-3 overall. Batesville falls to 9-5 on the season and 2-2 in conference play.
Leading the way for Connersville was Barron who finished with 18-points, Williams added 16, Meyers 10, Hornsby 4, Gavin Pearson 3.
Batesville was led by Pride with 13, Kaiser 12, Prickel 6, Grunkmeyer 5, Sam Johnson 3, and Laker 2.
Batesville will face North Decatur (11-4) on Friday and the Spartans travel to Fortville to take on Mt. Vernon (10-5) on the same day.
LAWRENCEBURG – Although not sporting their most talented lineup in recent years, the East Central Trojans continued to show their superiority in the Eastern Indiana Athletic Conference wrestling realm with another title claimed Saturday at Lawrenceburg. EC scored 279 points with five champions as Franklin County settled for runner-up with 218 and a trio of champs. Rushville’s 195 was good for bronze. Connersville (3 champs), LHS (1 champ), South Dearborn (1 champ), Greensburg (1 champ) and Batesville rounded out the standings.
Colton Roth (285 pounds) of Lawrenceburg remains the league’s lone unbeaten wrestler as his record went to 13-0 with a 5-0 finals decision over Greensburg’s Robert Eisert (22-7). Eisert had narrowly escaped Batesville’s Max Amberger (28-5) in the semifinals, 3-2, after a pin of Rushville’s Justin Foreman. Roth pinned FC’s Clayton Bolser (9-7) in the second period in the other semi.
Colin Troyer of FC is now 30-1 after running through the 120 bracket unscathed. After a forfeit, Troyer earned a pin of Rushville’s Neeko Hodson, then needed 2:38 to pin EC’s Brayden Proctor. Proctor had earlier pinned BHS’ Cade Simonson in the third period.
FC’s Cole Freese won three matches to claim the 113 division and push his season mark to 29-2. Following a forfeit, Freese pinned Blake Hunt of Rushville early before outlasting EC’s Jaxon Carr 13-10 in the title bout.
The Wildcats’ third grappler to stand atop the podium was Hayden Newell at 160. Newell is now 24-6; a forfeit put him into the semis where he secured a third-period pin over EC’s Logan Schott. In the finals, Damien Dance of BHS was no match in a 15-2 major decision. Dance (28-3) had pinned the hosts’ Trey Campbell in the semifinal. Schott pinned Rushville’s Quinn Barada in the first round.
Preston Merritt of Greensburg stands at 27-4 as he was last man standing at 132. Merritt got a takedown in the first overtime period to defeat EC’s Nyden Euson. Merritt outpointed Rushville’s Tuff Tackett in the semifinal round (10-4) after Tackett had pinned Connersville’s Mauro Lopez. FC’s Avery Crouch lost a tough 9-8 battle to LHS’ Javier Payne in the opening round.
EC’s champs came at 126 (Blake Wolf), 145 (Dylan Lengerich), 152 (Grayson Hylton), 170 (Brayden Huber) and 182 (Brendin Kolter).
Kolter pinned FC’s Lane Westerman (21-6) in the finals after Westerman had dropped Elijah Biggs of Rushville, who himself earned a fall over CHS’ Kayden Woods. Huber was an 11-7 winner over the Cats’ Breck Bohman (8-3), the latter getting to the final by virtue of a pin against LHS’ Drake Rorabacher. Huber had pinned Rushville’s Sam Pavey in the semis after Pavey pinned Cash Boulware of CHS. It took Wolf 1:22 to get Greensburg’s Landin Shepherd on his back in the finals. Shepherd had earlier pinned Kian Nash of Rushville and Wolf the same over FC’s Roger Zurborg (9-7); Zurborg had pinned CHS’ Dylan Steele to start his day.
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For the Spartans, Orlan Foster and Levi DeGroat locked down the 195 and 220 brackets, respectively. Foster pinned FC’s Nathen Noble (14-12) in the semis after Noble had pinned BHS’ John Dirkhising. EC’s Brayden Rouse was his finals opponent after Rouse pinned Greensburg’s Will Cunningham; Cunningham had won by fall over Rushville’s Kaleb Amos. DeGroat pinned FC’s Lendon Sizemore (24-5) in the second period of the finals after Sizemore had earned an exciting pin late in his semifinal match with EC’s Brady Jones. DeGroat won 7-0 over BHS’ Andrew Jones in his semifinal. A. Jones had earlier pinned Keilan Abdon of LHS while B. Jones did the same versus Rushville’s Jordan Collins.
Aric Fox has 15 season losses for CHS, but none came Saturday. Fox got by Batesville’s David Maher in the semis, 8-5, before getting a pin in the finals. In other 138 action, Rushville’s Pacey Dye majored FC’s Trevor Bruns 17-6 but was edged by EC’s Tyson Miller 5-3 in the semis.
SD’s Liam Hubbartt won the 106 bracket. Part of his path was a pin over Greensburg’s Tristan Smith, who had pinned CHS’ Audri Turley. EC’s Tyler Stenger pinned FC’s Bryce Bruns and Rushville’s Zakk Reed on his way to the finals.
In other 145 results, BHS’ Brady Wonnell was pinned by Rushville’s Denver Campbell and Greensburg’s Connor Campbell suffered the same fate vs. LHS’ Brayden Tudor. FC’s Dakota Schwab (20-10) was pinned by Tudor after pinning CHS’ Matt Koons. In more 152 action, FC’s Cody Bolser (8-9) pinned BHS’ Hudson Kohlman before being pinned by Hylton. Rushville’s Trenton Dyer lost by fall to CHS’ Jahmel Carter.
A EIAC battle took place at the Spartans Dome last night when Franklin County visited Connersville. The Lady Spartans held with FC for most of the game but a few late runs by the Lady Cats let them pull away to earn 14-point victory. The win is the eleventh on the season for FC and they are now 3-3 in EIAC games. Connersville falls to 1-4 in EIAC games and 8-11 overall on the season.
The Lady Spartans took a 2-0 lead with Abbie Schwartz scoring the first bucket of the game. Kassidy Schell scored for the Lady Cats, then Nicole Mears scored the next six points in the contest, putting FC up 8-2. Connersville’s Jacey Wilhelm and Sara Ruble scored pulling it back to a two-point game. The Lady Cats added five more points in the quarter and led 13-8 after one period.
The second quarter began with Connersville freshman Addison Jones knocking down a pair of free throws and Schwartz scoring to make it a one-point game. Mears landed a field goal for FC but a free throw and a Jones three pointer put the Lady Spartans up 16-15. Kiersten Schell scored for the Lady Cats and the lead bounced back and forth for the next three minutes. Tied at 20-20 FC went on a 6-0 run with Mears scoring four of those points. Jones put up two-points for CHS then Mears scored the final basket of the half and FC led 28-22.
Connersville came out in the second half and cut the lead to two within the first two minutes. Josie Rolfes pushed it back to a five-point game after hitting from deep, then Jones and Wilhelm each added two-points via the charity stripe, and Schwartz powered in a layup to give the Lady Spartans the lead. Wilhelm hit again and it was 37-34 with Connersville leading and two minutes remaining in the third period. Ka. Schell scored and started a 7-0 FC run to close out the frame with the Lady Cats back on top 41-37. Franklin County came out in the fourth quarter and extended the lead scoring four more unanswered points. Hailey Sembach stopped the FC run and the Lady Cats led by six midway through the period. The Lady Spartans soon found themselves down by 10 after two quick FC baskets and were forced to foul. The Lady Cats hit four of their six freebies and pulled away for Connersville to win the conference match 57-43. Connersville will be in action next against Pendleton Heights (9-8) next Friday. Franklin County is back in action tonight for senior night when they host Hagerstown (5-13) at 7:30.
Unofficial Scoring
FCHS– Mears 21, Ka. Schell 14, Macy Crain 8, Rofles 5, Ki. Schell 5, Lauren Stacy 2, Ruby Singer 2
CHS– Jones 16, Wilhelm 10, Schwartz 8, Amy Rowe 4, Sara Ruble 3, Sembach 2
The Spartans put it to the Centerville Bulldogs on Wednesday evening to move to 9-3 on the season. The score was 21-7 at the half then Connersville added 21 more points in the third frame to go up 41-10 through three and to win the game 55-19. Braxton Meyers scored 22-points for CHS followed by Josh Williams with 10, Lucas Barron 9, James Williams 4, Blaine Hornsby 4, Gavin Pearson 3, Jaden Peterson 3.
The Spartans host Noblesville on Saturday evening.
The Lady Spartans traveled to Richmond to take on the rival Lady Red Devils. Richmond led after the first frame 16-13, then Connersville closed it to a two-point game by the half and it was 24-22. The Lady Spartans shutdown Richmond in the second half. They outscored Richmond 9-2 in the third period and 16-4 in the final quarter to earn their eighth win on the season.
The Lady Spartans will host an EIAC battle with Franklin County (10-5) on Friday.
