NDIANAPOLIS – Four Eastern Indiana Athletic Conference basketball stars will team up at the annual All-Star Classic.
The Hoosier Basketball Coaches Association has named the 24 players that will make up the East and West teams on Sunday, April 16 at North Daviess High School.
Playing for the East Team will be Lawrenceburg guard Logan Rohrer, Greensburg guard Ki Dyer, Connersville guard Josh Williams, and Batesville forward Cole Pride.
On the girls side, East Central’s Josie Trabel was selected to be a member of the East team.
All players selected to the All-Star Classic were voted upon by HBCA member coaches.
WEST
Wes Aigner — Castle High School Peyton Bledsoe — Loogootee Peter Combs — Bloomfield Cale Donoho — South Spencer High School Joey Hart — Linton-Stockton Blake Herdes — Evansville Mater Dei Colten Leach — Bedford North Lawrence Jaylen Mullen — North Daviess HS Tyler Myers — Evansville Day School Brycen Neidigh — Washington JaQualon “JQ” Roberts — Bloomington North Logan Webb — Linton-Stockton
EAST
Josten Carter — New Albany High School Jacob Cherry — Eastern Ki Dyer– Greensburg Cooper Horn — Columbus North Casey Kaelin — Providence Owen Law — Jennings County Keegan Manowitz — Jennings County Kaden Oliver — Silver Creek Cole Pride — Batesville Logan Rohrer — Lawrenceburg Caleb Washington — Floyd Central Josh Williams — Connersville
CHARLESTOWN – Many a Rushville Lady Lions’ fan probably heard the name Ava Weber in their sleep Saturday night. Hours earlier, the talented Corydon Central forward had dropped 34 points (13 baskets in 14 tries, 8 free throws) before exiting the game two minutes into the fourth quarter of what would be a 68-40 win for the 25-2 Panthers. The Charlestown gymnasium was a stumbling block for coach Melissa Marlow’s squad for a third straight year as a regional title was not to be. The Panthers, relentless from opening tip, led 17-6 after eight minutes and forced Marlow to call timeout at two intervals. Rushville woke up offensively in the second period but still trailed 39-21 at the midpoint. By the time CC coach Josh Conrad pulled his stars, it was a 65-32 affair. Weber singlehandedly put the Harrison County group up 5-0 with a traditional 3-point play and steal at halfcourt followed by a conversion. Off a Belle Gossett screen, sophomore Leonie Boyer put the Lions in the scorebook at the 5:51 mark. But Weber answered with a bucket off an inbound set and her runout at 4:34 triggered the game’s first timeout. Two free throws by Weber and the senior’s assist to teammate Bailey Orme made it 13-2. Boyer then passed to Briley Munchel for two, though quick responses from Orme and Weber led to another play stoppage at 1:47. A pair of Gracie Buzzard foul shots rounded out the frame.
Corydon scored again in transition to open the next stanza. The senior combo of Munchel to Gossett netted a three and made it a 10-point deficit at 19-9, and Gossett hit 1 of 2 at the line to put RCHS within single digits for the final time. A backdoor cut by Weber sent the Panthers up 11 and sharpshooting Josie Vaughn hit from the arc for a 24-10 CC advantage. Weber then went across the lane, finishing with her left hand. Orme to Weber made it 28-10 and Marlow had no choice but to call time. The lead grew to three touchdowns after three Weber charities. Rushville found the net with frequency in the half’s last 1:14, though first suffering two more triples by Vaughn and 39-14 margin. Boyer had a 1 of 2 FT trip and Gossett sank two more. Freshman Carly Senour popped a jumper and Boyer scooted in from the baseline for a goal. The second half start was nearly identical to game’s beginning as Weber got another and-one chance and a Corydon steal made it 43-21. Boyer was first to score again as she completed a 3-point play. It was soon 47-24, however, with Weber driving in with her off hand. Another Weber field goal preceded a Senour triple. A timeout halted play at 51-28. Vaughn connected for three more at the 3:48 mark of the third, followed by Weber’s fast-break hoop and her impressive fall-away for a 30-point Panther lead. The scoreboard read 61-28 after three complete. A Boyer drive opened the last period and Marlow called time to get her seniors back in for their last rodeo. Senour hit another jump shot, with Boyer, Gossett, Munchel and Kiley Parsley scoring before the final horn. Boyer matched Vaughn’s 16 points to go with six rebounds. Gossett 8, Senour 7, Munchel 5, Buzzard 2, Parsley 2 was other Lion scoring.
RCHS finished at 14-14, Gossett and Munchel exiting the program as major cogs in three postseason runs. Coach Marlow stated “”Our last game does not define what these young ladies have accomplished this season. These ladies have overcome a season of ups and downs this year. They worked hard last summer and have stayed together throughout the season encouraging each other and striving to achieve success. I have always said it is not where you start but where you end in a season that matters. I am nothing but proud of these young ladies! Our seniors (Belle Gossett, Briley Munchel, Regan Padgett and Tracie Stanley) have left their marks on the Lady Lion Program. They have been totally committed and bought into the Lady Lion Basketball Program. It is the job of our young kids to carry on the tradition!”
Your eiacsports.com All-Freshman girls team includes two Greensburg Lady Pirates, two Lawrenceburg Lady Tigers, and a Connersville Lady Spartan. The five players have started for their respective squads all season, and the future of their programs looks to be a bright one.
The Rushville Lady Lions can have a down year, finishing the regular season with a rare losing record (11-13) and still be one of the top teams in the EIAC. They proved that last night by winning their 34th sectional championship with a nine-point win over the Lawrenceburg Lady Tigers. This is coach Melissa Marlow’s 13th sectional title and the third in row for RCHS. Lawrenceburg held with Rushville and even led at halftime, but the Lady Lions used the third quarter to take the lead, and the fourth quarter to go up by 10 put it in cruise control and earn the victory. Rushville is now 14-13 on the season and will take on #6 Corydon Central (24-2) next Saturday at 4pm in Charlestown. The Lady Tigers finished the season with a record of 12-13, the first losing season since 2015-16 for Lawrenceburg.
The Lady Tigers got early baskets from senior Lizzie Redar and Kamryn Ferreira to go up 4-0 to start the game. Rushville got on the board with a three from Belle Gossett, then Natalie Knigga knocked down two freebies and hit a jumper giving the Lady Tigers an 8-3 lead. The squads swapped three-pointers with Leonie Boyer knocking down Rushville’s and Redar hitting Lawrenceburg’s. A 7-0 run for the Lady Lions with Briley Munchel, Gossett, and Boyer all scoring put them up by four-points. Aubree LaBazzo scored pulling it back to a two-point contest to close out the first quarter. Rushville led after the first frame 15-13. The second quarter was a defensive battle with the Lawrenceburg offense doing the only scoring. Knigga scored five of the eight Lady Tiger points in the period to go with a Redar three-point basket, all while shutting down Rushville’s offense and holding them scoreless through the first seven minutes of the period. Lawrenceburg had a six-point lead with under a minute remaining in the half and Boyer was finally able get a basket to fall in for Rushville and the score at the half was Lawrenceburg 21 Rushville 17. After a combined 10 points in the second quarter the teams tallied 20-points together in the first half of the third period. Knigga started the scoring off for LHS, Munchel and Boyer scored for RCHS, Knigga and Redar scored for the Lady Tigers and Gossett hit a jumper for Rushville to make it a three-point game with the Lady Tigers still holding the slim lead. Boyer scored for Rushville and LaBazzo hit a deep ball to make it 30-26 in Lawrenceburg’s favor. Munchel and Gossett put up the next eight-points for the Lady Lions and they had their first lead since the beginning of the second period. Knigga scored again for the Lady Tigers before Munchel hit the last shot of the quarter, a three ball that put RCHS in the lead by five, it was 37-32 after three quarters. Rushville added another 20-points in the final quarter with Munchel scoring 10 of those, Gracie Buzzard, and Kylee Herbert both added four-points each in the frame. Lawrenceburg tallied 16-points in the fourth quarter with Brooklyn Craig hitting twice from deep, and LaBazzo and Knigga each adding four-points in the period. The final score was Rushville 57 Lawrenceburg 48.
The Rushville Lady Lions and Franklin County Lady Wildcats faced off in game two Friday night in the 3/A sectional 29. The Lady Cats led the game until halftime where they went into the lock room up by six-points. A huge third quarter from Rushville where they outscored FC by 18-points put the Lady Lions up by 12 going into the final period. A fast fourth quarter start for the Lady Cats got them back to within a basket of Rushville, midway through the frame. The aggressive Franklin County defense put Rushville in the double bonus and Melissa Marlow’s Lady Lions are one of the best teams from the free throw line in the EIAC. They netted 10 points from the line over the final three minutes of play and claimed a 51-44 victory. The Lady Lions will face the Lawrenceburg Lady Tigers as they look to win their third consecutive sectional championship.
The Lady Wildcats got a pair of three-pointers from seniors Josie Rofles and Kassidy Schell to take the lead in the start of the first period. Briley Munchel and Belle Gossett scored for RCHS and it was 6-5 in favor of FC midway through the first frame. Schell hit another basket and Nicole Mears scored putting the Lady Cats up by five. Gossett scored again to make it a three-point game after the first period, FC led 10-7. Schell and Mears scored for FC to start the second quarter, then Rofles hit from deep and the Lady Cats led 17-9 with Leonie Boyer getting a layup for Rushville being the Lady Lions only basket for the first six minutes of the period. Gracie Buzzard scored for Rushville and Munchel scored off a steal pulling Rushville back within three of FC. Mears scored for the Lady Cats, Olivia Smith knocked down a free throw for Rushville, and with less then a second remaining, Mears sank a shot to give Franklin County the lead at halftime. The Lady Cats led at the break 21-15.
In similar fashion to their round one game against Greensburg, the Lady Lions came out of the break and took control of the game. Boyer scored the first four-points of the quarter, and Munchel sank a three-pointer making it a one-point affair. Kiersten Schell hit from deep putting FC back up by two possessions, but Rushville started a run with Buzzard and Gossett scoring, Boyer and Kylee Herbert chipped in and two minutes later Rushville’s 10-0 run put them on top 32-26. Marcy Crain scored inside for FC to start the Lady Lions run, but Rushville kept the momentum going in their favor and finished the period on a 5-0 run to take a 40-28 lead into the final frame.
Franklin County wasn’t out of the game yet, they started the final quarter with Mears getting two-points, and a Ka. Schell long ball to pull FC out of the double-digit deficit. Ka. Schell then hit another three-point basket and the score was 40-38. The Lady Cats 12-0 run was stopped by a Buzzard free throw, then the next five-points came from Rushville free throw shooters. With a minute to go in the game the Lady lions had pulled back ahead 46-38. Four-points from Mears pulled FC within four, but the Lady Lions held off the FC comeback and secured themselves a spot in the Championship game this evening against Lawrenceburg. The win puts Rushville at .500 on the season with a 13-13 record. The Lady Cats finish the season with a 16-7 record.
1 2 3 4 F
RCHS 7 8 25 11 51
FCHS 10 11 7 16 44
Unofficial Scoring
RCHS- Munchel 17, Gossett 11, Buzzard 10, Boyer 7, Herbert 3, and Smith 3
FC- Ka. Schell 16, Mears 15, Rofles 6, Ki. Schell 3, Crain 2, and Ruby Singer 2
In the first contest of last night’s sectional 29 round two games, the Connersville Lady Spartans and the Lawrenceburg Lady Tigers faced off for a chance to play in the championship game this evening. The Lady Tigers fell behind early to Connersville who went up 17-6 after the first eight minutes of play. Lawrenceburg was able to claw their way back over the next two periods. They overcame the early run by CHS and made their way into the championship after shutting down Connersville’s offense for seven minutes and 50 seconds in the fourth quarter Lawrenceburg claimed a 12-point victory and earned themselves a spot in tonight’s championship game against Rushville. A sectional 29 champion will be crowned this evening, the tipoff is a 7:30 at Rushville’s Memorial Gym.
Connersville pulled out to an early lead over the Lady Tigers after dropping 17-points in the first period. Hailey Sembach led the charge scoring six, Sara Ruble and Addison Jones each added four in the frame, while Lawrenceburg was only able to put six-points on the board and finished the quarter 11-points behind CHS. The second quarter was a reversal of the prior frame with the Lady Tigers posting 17-points. Aubree LaBazzo put up seven of those, with Lizzie Redar adding six and Natalie Knigga scoring the other four-points for Lawrenceburg. Connersville scored 10-points in the quarter on five field goals, four-points from Abbie Schwartz led the Lady Spartans in the frame. The score at halftime was Connersville 27 Lawrenceburg 23.
The third quarter began with a LaBazzo basket, and a Redar put back from an offensive rebound that tied the game up. Ruble and Jacey Wilhelm scored for Connersville to pull back ahead. The period ended with Ruble and Redar each scoring for their respective squads, and CHS was ahead after three quarters 34-31.
A Redar three-point basket tied the game up to start the final period. It also started an 18-0 run for the Lady Tigers with the senior taking over them game and scoring 12-points for Lawrenceburg in the final frame. The Lady Tigers defense came alive and held Connersville scoreless while taking a 49-34 lead. It wasn’t until the final seconds of the game when a three pointer finally landed for CHS to prevent a complete shutout in the frame. Lawrenceburg won the game with a score of 49-37.
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Redar led the Lady Tigers in scoring with a game high of 23, LaBazzo finished with 16, Knigga 5, and Kamryn Ferreira 4. The Lady Spartans senior Ruble led CHS with 10, Ahniyah Bennett 7, Sembach 6, Jones 4, Schwartz 4, Wilhelm 3, and Serenity Pennington 3.
Lawrenceburg will take on the Rushville Lady Lions tonight at 7:30 in the sectional 29 championship game.
The Rushville Lady Lions and Greensburg Lady Pirates faced off in round one of the 2023 sectionals on Wednesday evening. In a game that most thought should be the championship game, both teams displayed why folks thought that the case. Greensburg stormed out to an early lead, but the Lady Lions clawed their way back and took the lead in the third period. The Lady Bucs were able to tie the game up but Rushville held them off long enough to get a two-point win and move on to the next round. Leah West and Aly Powers got the Lady Bucs off to a 5-0 lead in the first two minutes of play. Rushville senior Belle Gossett hit two free throws to get the Lady Lions on the board and Leonie Boyer added a field goal to make it a one-point game. Boyer hit two more shots, but Greensburg’s Mary Harmon landed back-to-back three-pointers and the Lady Bucs were up 13-8. Rushville’s Briley Munchel hit from deep closing the gap, but the Lady Bucs finished the first quarter with eight more points, two Carlee Adams three-pointers and a West two-pointer. Greensburg led after the first period 21-13. Greensburg’s first six points in the second quarter came from West, Gossett was able to hit two more free throws and the Lady Pirates led by 12. Rushville made a run to close the gap before the half ended and outscored Greensburg 6-2 over the last three minutes in the quarter (RCHS-Boyer 4, Gossett 2, GCHS West 2) making the score 29-21 at the half, in favor of Greensburg. Coming out of the break down by eight, Rushville chipped away at the Lady Bucs lead. Munchel scored six-points in the first two minutes, Boyer added a pair of freebies, and it was just a one-point game with five minutes remaining in the third period. An Adams three got Greensburg back up momentarily, RCHS got another Munchel basket, Boyer tied it at 35-35, and Kylee Herbert scored to give Rushville their first lead of the game with 2:30 to go in the third. Gossett and Munchel both scored again giving the Lady Lions a seven-point lead. Powers and West scored back-to-back for the Lady Bucs, but Herbert ended the half with two more points and RCHS led after three quarters 44-40.
West opened the final frame with two points from the charity stripe, the Lady Lions matched that with Munchel sinking her pair. The West hit one of two the next round and Gossett match her output hitting the front end of her pair and it remained a four-point lead for the Lady Lions. West closed it to a one-point lead midway through the frame when she hit from deep, Gossett hit two freebies before West powered in a basket in the paint. Powers followed that with two more points for GCHS and the game was tied at 50-50 with just one minute remaining. The next 50 seconds resulted in four Munchel free throws and another from Boyer to put Rushville up by five. With less than a second left on the clock Powers drained a three pointer for the Lady Bucs, but Rushville claimed the victory with a score of 55-53. The Lady Lions will play the Franklin County Wildcats on Friday at 7:30 in round two of sectional 29 for a chance to play in the championship on Saturday. Greensburg ends the season with a 13-10 record.
1 2 3 4 F
RCHS 13 8 23 11 55
GCHS 21 8 11 13 53
Unofficial Scoring- Rushville– Munchel 17, Gossett 15, Boyer 15, Herbert 4, Olivia Smith 2, Kiley Parsley 2 Greensburg– West 24, Powers 11, Harmon 9, Adams 9
Greensburg (13-9) takes on Rushville (11-13) tonight at 7:30pm at the Memorial Gym in Rushville, in the first round of the 2023 sectionals.
The Coaches
Rushville- Melissa Marlow is one the winningest coaches in the state with a record of 336-221 in her 23 years leading the Lady Lions, just 17 wins from cracking the top 50 of all time. She has won 12 sectionals including the last two, last year over Greensburg and the season before over Lawrenceburg. She also holds three regional championships, and a semi state championship in 2010.
Greensburg- Jason Simpson holds a 159-59 record and his own semi state championship in 2018. He holds a .729 winning percentage good for 16th among active coaches with at least five years’ experience.
The two coaches are even in their head-to-head matchups. Both hold 8 wins each in the 16 matchups the two have faced off in.
The Players
Rushville has two talented seniors with plenty of experience. Belle Gossett and Briley Munchel are both multiyear starters and the combo is one of the best in the EIAC on defense. Munchel is averaging 13.1 ppg and 2.6 steals per game, her 62 swipes this season are good for third in the EIAC. Gossett’s 45 steals place her in the top 10 also. Gossett is the most accurate three-point shooter in the EIAC hitting 39% (29 of 74) of her shots from outside the arc, she is averaging 10.6 ppg and 6.9 rpg to go with her 1.9 steals per game. The Lady Lions also have a post player that can play in the paint and shoot from outside in Leonie Boyer who averages 12.8 ppg and 7.4 rpg.
Greensburg is led by their talented post player Leah West who averages 19.3 ppg (2nd in the EIAC) 8.1 rpg (4th in the EIAC) and 1.3 steals per game. The Lady Bucs also have a talented group of freshmen led by Aly Powers (13.2 ppg, 5.0 rpg) and Mary Harmon (8.3ppg, 3.4 apg) who have stepped up this season.
The last outing for Rushville resulted in a 59-35 loss to Columbus North and Greensburg defeated Lawrenceburg by 24-points last Thursday. The teams met on Dec 10; Greensburg won the contest 48-47.
The two teams over the last 20 years have played 29 times with the Lady Lions winning 21 of those games and the Lady Pirates 8.
Franklin County (15-6) takes on Batesville (12-10) 6pm at Memorial Gym in Rushville in the first round of the 2023 sectionals. The teams played on Dec 13. with FC coming out on top by one point in that matchup, 35-34. The last sectional meeting between the two squads was in 2018, Batesville won 47-38. The Lady Cats last sectional win over Batesville was in 2016. Last year’s sectional saw a first round exit for both teams with FC falling to eventual champ Rushville and the Lady Dogs losing to Greensburg.
The Coaches
Batesville is led by Mitchell Taylor who is in his first season with the Lady Dogs. Kyle VanMeter is in his second season with Franklin County and has compiled a 26-19 record.
The Players
Franklin County is led by a talented pair of sisters, seniors Kassidy and Kiersten Schell. Kassidy is a top five scorer in the EIAC this season averaging 14.1 ppg, she also leads the team in assists. Kierstin averages 7.0 ppg and leads the Lady Cats on defense with 38 steals. FC also has a dominate post player with sophomore Nicole Mears who averages a double double with 11.9 ppg and 10.3 rebounds a game, Mears also has 23 of the Wildcats 54 blocks making her a tough opponent under the rim.
Batesville is a young squad with Alyson Peters leading the team in scoring with 12.8 ppg. Senior Emma Weiler has manned the point position for BHS for the past two seasons and frustrated opponents on the defensive side averaging 1.2 steals per game over her career as a Lady Dog. The return of Makayla Granger-Young is a factor in the game tonight. She is averaging 5.0 ppg in her limited action in five games this season and is shooting 38% from three-point land.
The last outing for Batesville resulted in a 48-34 win over South Decatur and FC lost a tough matchup to an undefeated 19-0 Talawanda (Oxford,OH)
The teams over the last 20 years are neck and neck when playing each other. With Franklin County winning 22 games and Batesville 21.
