Congratulations to the EIAC boys basketball All-Conference selections. Listed below are the MVp’s and players for the 2022-23 season as selected by the coaches.
1. MVP: JOSH WILLIAMS – (CONNERSVILLE) & KI DYER – (GREENSBURG) (81)
3. COLE PRIDE – BATESVILLE (67)
4. RYAN WILLOUGHBY – SOUTH DEARBORN (55)
5. BRAXTON MYERS – CONNERSVILLE (51)
6. JETER EDWARDS – GREENSBURG (47)
7. BRANT ERTEL – FRANKLIN COUNTY (40)
8. LUCAS BARRON – CONNERSVILLE (36)
9. LOGAN ROHRER – LAWRENCEBURG (34)
10. CARSON PIECZONKA – EAST CENTRAL (33)
11. COOPER BOBO – LAWRENCEBURG (31)
12. CADE KAISER – BATESVILLE (21)
12. BRODIE TEKE – SOUTH DEARBORN (21)
BESIDE EACH NAME IS THE TOTAL NUMBER OF POINTS ACCUMULATED IN THE VOTING.
ST.LEON- East Central Indoor Invite got several EAIC teams season started on Saturday. Listed below are the results of the meet.
One of the highlights was Connersville’s Ahniyah Bennett a freshman who set meet records in the 55-meter with a time of 7.23 and in the 200-meter with a time of 26.51.
Boys 55
Carter DeBoard Connersville 6.94
Carson Koelling East Central 7.05
Charles Evans South Dearborn 7.12
Boys 200
Micah Buchanan 25.44
Carter DeBoard Connersville 25.76
Parker Sweet Connersville 25.76
Boys 800
Ayden Potts Milan 2:14:57
Jake Chapman Batesville 2:14:96
Cannon Clark Batesville 2:16:28
Boys 3200
Ayden Potts Milan 10:49:77
Jake Hawkins Greensburg 10:55:03
Bradyn Hatton East Central 10:59:78
Boys 55 Hurdles
Parker Sweet Connersville 8.19
Trevor Perkins East Central 9.14
Gage Pohlman Batesville 9.31
Boys 4×400
Bellman,Koelling,Schutte,Geisen East Central 3:56:21
GREENSBURG – The final score of Wednesday’s nightcap at Sectional 29 is a bit deceiving, though well earned by the host Greensburg Pirates.
South Dearborn senior Ryan Willoughby – the EIAC’s scoring leader for the 2022-23 campaign – had just tied the game at 36 with a little over five minutes remaining. But those would be the Knights’ final points of the contest as the Bucs finished on a triumphant 17-0 note to advance with a 53-36 win.
Greensburg senior Ki Dyer (2nd-leading scorer the conference) hit a three with an assist to classmate Abe Tebbe. The Pirates’ Class of 2023 proceeded in the scoring column, putting in Greensburg’s final 29 points. Grainger Maxwell made it 41-36 and Jeter Edwards completed a traditional 3-point play off a fast break before adding a pair of free throws. The Pirates had built a 46-36 lead.
A Maxwell blocked shot led to a FT trip for Dyer. The latter drove to the rim for two to make it a 49-36 affair. Dyer and Maxwell added two foul shots apiece for good measure.
It was all home team to start out as Greensburg climbed ahead 12-2. Sophomore Jack McKinsey hit twice in the early going (2 and 3) and junior Addison Barnes-Pettit dropped in a trey from the corner and two in transition. SD coach Patrick Cosgrove asked for time at 3:42. Dyer then scored off an inbound pass.
The Knights settled down rather well and gained the lead with 4:19 to go in the first half. A Zander Schwab three sparked the comeback and Willoughby got loose on a break. A runout for Willoughby ended the first frame at 13-10.
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Breckin McCreary opened scoring in the second stanza, but it was Brodie Teke’s triple that put South ahead by two. The Knights’ run would reach 12 unanswered as Teke scored on a runout and Hudson Shackelford maneuvered down the lane for a pair. Dyer stopped the bleeding by hitting a trey.
SD broke down the Pirate defense for two layups late in the half – Shackelford and Willoughby. Edwards connected on a side 3-pointer at the buzzer to make it 23-19 at intermission.
Dyer began the second half by burying a 3 from the top of the key. South then had four looks at the rim, with the last one going in for Adam Kunkel. Two foul shots by Willoughby had SD maintaining a 27-22 advantage. McKinsey cut it to three on a dribble drive and two Tebbe charities tied the game at 27. Two hoops by Shackelford (the second a triple from a Teke pass) aided the Knights in holding their lead as the fourth quarter loomed (32-31).
A cut to the rack by Edwards changed the lead early in the fourth and Dyer followed from distance. Jacob Daugherty’s jump shot preceded an SD timeout at 5:36.
Dyer led all scorers with 23 and Edwards tallied 10. McKinsey had 7, ABP 5 and Tebbe and Maxwell 4 each. Willoughby was tops for SD with a dozen. Shackelford scored 9, Teke 6, Schwab 3 and McCreary, Kunkel and Daugherty 2 each.
Greensburg (18-6) squares off with Lawrenceburg in Friday night’s second game. South Dearborn’s season ended at 15-9, a third consecutive winning campaign.
The Bulldogs and South Dearborn Knights faced off in an EIAC matchup on Thursday. Sam Johnson scored the first basket of the game for Batesville from three-point land and Brodie Teke matched Johnson shot to tie the game up. Both teams battled even until a 6-0 run by the Knights led by Adam Kunkel’s four-points, put SD up 12-7. Johnson and Jack Grunkmeyer scored again for BHS, Teke hit from deep again and Corbin Cassidy did the same putting SD up 18-11 after the first frame. A 5-0 SD run started the second quarter pushing the Knights lead to 12-points. Ryan Willoughby added a three-pointer for SD but the Dogs got hot and went on a 9-0 run with Gus Prickel getting the scoring started. Cade Kaiser and Cole Pride chipped in, and a Pride free throw just before halftime tied the game up at 28-28.
The second half began, and the Dogs got another three-pointer from Johnson, Hudson Shackelford scored for the Knights, the Batesville got hot again. Pride scored the next six-points in the contest, Prickel then hit back-to-back three’s and the Dogs lead was back to 13-points. Kunkel landed a basket for SD before the half ended making the score 43-32 in Batesville’s favor. Both teams traded baskets for the first few possesions in the fourth quarter before Willoughby hit two in a row making it a 10-point game. Johnson hit again from deep, his sixth three-point basket of the game. Prickel and Teke each hit from deep for their respective teams, but Pride finished off the game completing an old fashioned three-point play giving his team a 57-44 win.
Unofficial Scoring-
BHS – Johnson 22, Pride 13, Prickel 11, Grunkmeyer 6, Kaiser 5
The Bulldogs edged the Cubs 15-12 in the first quarter and put up 20 more points in the second to take a 10-point lead at the half. Batesville shutdown the Cubs in the third period, holding them to just three-points, while dropping another 20 to go up 55-28. The Cubs outscored Batesville 19-17 in the final frame, but the Dogs cruised past the Cubs for the 25-point win. The 72-47 win is the highest point total for BHS this season, topping the open game 69-point effort against Jac-Cen-Del. Johnson scored 22-points for the second consecutive game, Pride match his 22, Kaiser 11, Laker and Prickel 5, Drake 4, Luers 2, Grunkmeyer 1.
The Connersville Lady Spartans and South Dearborn Lady Knights faced off on Tuesday evening in the first round of the girls basketball sectionals. Three quarters of basketball produced a low scoring affair but a high scoring final frame from both squads made for an exciting ballgame. Midway through the final quarter the game was separated by just one-point, but the Lady Spartans finished the game off from the free throw line and secured their first sectional victory since 2015. The 52-45 win will pit the Lady Spartans against Lawrenceburg (11-12) on Friday. A slow start to the game had Connersville up by one-point after the first quarter. An Addison Jones three-point basket, and a pair of field goals from Hailey Sembach and Jacey Wilhelm put CHS up 7-6. Bernadette Wismann scored four-points for SD and Natalie Cantrell added two in the first quarter for the Lady Knights. Action picked up in the second period for Connersville, who went on a 6-0 run with Jones scoring five and Sembach added a freebie. Gracie Messmore hit from deep for the Lady Knights and Sembach went down the court for Connersville on the next possession and matched them with her own basket from deep. The Lady Spartans led 15-10. Natalie Rupp scored for SD, but Connersville added five unanswered points that was capped off with another deep ball from Jones putting Connersville up by eight with two minutes remaining in the half. The Lady Knights finished the half with free throws and CHS got a three-pointer from Wilhelm to take a 23-16 lead at the half. The Lady Knights closed the gap to start the third period with a Messmore three-pointer, Kiersten Dixon scored, and Rupp put up two more points. A Jones three ball and a Sembach put back put CHS back up by seven. Dixon and Wissman closed the gap in the final minute of the quarter and the score was 31-27 in Connersville’s favor to start the fourth quarter.
Messmore made it a one-point game 10 seconds into the final period with a deep shot for SD. Abbie Schwartz scored for CHS, Then Wismann and Cantrell scored for the Lady Knights giving them their first lead of the contest with the score 34-33. Schwartz and Jones scored for the Lady Spartans to retake the lead, then Dixon tied it back up with a jumper. The Lady Spartans retook the lead with baskets from Jones and Ahniyah Bennett. Ruble added a three-pointer and Connersville was up 41-37 midway through the fourth quarter. Rupp hit from deep for SD and Ruble hit from the same spot on the opposite end of the floor 20 seconds later keeping the CHS lead at four. Both teams landed themselves in the double bonus and the only field goal for the rest of the contest came from Bennett for Connersville giving them a six-point cushion. The Lady Spartans went to the line five times over the final 1:30 and hit six of their 10 attempts. The Lady Knights went to the charity stripe four times and hit 50% of their shots going four of eight. Connersville rode the six-point lead to the final free throw trip by McKenna Lucas where she was one of two, but it was good enough to lock in the seven-point victory for CHS. The win puts the Lady Spartans at 9-14 on the season. South Dearborn will finish with a 5-19 mark on the season. Unofficial Scoring- Connersville- Jones 16, Wilhelm 11, Sembach 8, Ruble 6, Schwartz 5, Bennett 5, Lucas 1 South Dearborn- Wismann 13, Rupp 10, Messmore 9, Dixon 6, Cantrell 5, Lakota Vincent 1, Talbi Cornett 1.
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.
Five turnovers in the first four minutes of play by Rushville had them behind early and they couldn’t catch up to the Knights. South Dearborn got early offense from senior Corbin Cassidy who scored the first three baskets for the Knights. The Lions got a three-pointer from XxZavien Jenkins and a two-pointer from Kameron Morton to make it a 6-5 game. The Knights outscored RCHS the rest of the first period 11-0. Brodie Teke hit a three, Ryan Willoughby put up six-points, and Hudson Shackleford put up two more before the buzzer, giving the Knights a 17-5 lead after the first quarter. South Dearborn got four more points to start the second quarter before Jenkins hit his second deep shot for the Lions. Another 7-0 run for the Knights put them up by 20. Morton got a basket for Rushville and Jenkins hit again, Adam Kunkel scored for SD and the score was 30-13 with 3:00 to go in the half. The remained of period saw four more points from the Knights and it was 34-13 at the half. The Knights increased their lead in the third period with Teke starting the scoring with a deep three-pointer, and a Willoughby layup. Nick Jarman scored the first four points for Rushville in the half, But another Teke three-pointer put the Knights up 42-17 midway through the frame. South Dearborn added a basket by Breckin McCreary at the buzzer to go into the final frame up 49-17. The Knights outscored Rushville 13-10 in the final period to earn a 62-27 win. South Dearborn moved to 11-6 on the season and earned their first EIAC victory to move to 1-4. Rushville falls to 4-13 on the year and 0-4 in EIAC games. Leading all scorers was Willoughby with 16, SD also got 12-points from both Teke and Jake Daugherty, Cassidy and Shackleford both scored 6, Adam Gainer 2 and Kunkel 2. Rushville Scoring- Jenkins 9, Jarman 9, Morton 4, Dylan Thompson 3, and Adrian Apodaca 2. Next up for Rushville is a Thursday game at Greensburg, and The Knights will travel to Batesville on the same night, both games are EIAC matchups.
The South Dearborn Lady Knights hosted the Lawrenceburg Lady Tigers Saturday afternoon in an EIAC matchup. Lady Tigers senior Lizzie Redar led all scorers with 22-points as her team shutdown the SD Lady Knights in a blowout 67-34 win. Lawrenceburg improves to 11-10 on the year and 3-3 in EIAC games. The Lady Knights are now 0-6 in conference games and 5-17 on the season. SD has one more game on the season, they host Franklin County (14-5) on Tuesday evening. Lawrenceburg has two games remaining, both home contests Brownstown Central (14-7) on Tuesday and they finish the season against the Greensburg Lady Pirates on Thursday.
For the first quarter SD held with the Lady Tigers, Natalie Cantrell put the Lady Knights up 4-2, three minutes in. Lizzie Redar collected an and one, Nicole Houze hit from deep, and it was 8-6 Lawrenceburg. Bernadette Wissman put SD back on top 9-8, an Aubree Labazzo three pointer and a pair of free throws from Natalie Knigga gave the Lady Tigers a 13-9 lead with two minutes to go in the period. The Lady Knights got a three from Gracie Messmore and Wissman scored, Redar had a field goal and Knigga finished the period with a basket for LHS to give them a 17-14 lead after the first period. That was close as SD would get in the game The lady Tigers began the second quarter on a 9-0 run with Redar scoring four of those points. The Lady Knights finally scored with a minute left in the half, Brooklyn Craig scored for LHS and Zoey Heizer finished the quarter with a three making the score 28-19 LHS at the half. A Houze longball started the second half and two minutes later the Lady Tigers held a 15-point lead. Wissman hit the last SD basket in the period and Lawrenceburg finished the frame on an 11-0 run. Redar scored five, Houze hit another three, and Kamryn Ferreira sank a three, putting Lawrenceburg up 48-23 through three quarters. Redar got the first four-points of the fourth period, Wissman scored for SD, and Craig and Labazzo scored to go up 57-25. The Lady Knights got a pair of deep balls from Messmore and Kiersten Dixon, but Ferreira put in six-points giving the Lady Tigers a 67-34 win. Redar led all scorers with 22, Houze got 12, Ferreira and Knigga added 10 each, Labazzo 8, and Craig 5 for LHS. South Dearborn was led by Wissman with 9, Messmore added 6, Cantrell 5, and the Lady Knights leading scorer Natalie Rupp was held to just two-points in the game.
AURORA- South Dearborn junior point guard Brodie Teke tied a school record with 10 three-pointers on Saturday night. Teke hit his first five deep balls in the first period and the Knights jumped out to a 17-8 lead. Jeter Edwards got Greensburg back in the game hitting two from deep to close out the first frame with the score 17-14. South Dearborn got a basket from Adam Kunkel, another from Breckin McCreary, and Teke’s sixth long ball made the score 24-16. The Pirates then went on a scoring run with Jack McKinsey hitting for three, Justin Adkins scored, and McKinsey picked up an old fashioned three-point play, closing the gap to three points. In the last minute of play in the half, both teams traded baskets from outside the arc. Ryan Willoughby hit for SD and McKinsey for the Bucs, and the score was 32-29 with the Knights up by three at the half.
The third period started with Greensburg getting three from Ki Dyer, then SD going on a 7-0 run. Abe Tebbe then got the Bucs on a roll with a basket, Dyer added another, and McKinsey hit a shot while being fouled and went to the charity stripe tying the game at 39-39 with the freebie. Willoughby put the Knights up by two to end the third period.
The final quarter started with SD going up 48-41 before Edwards took over the game for Greensburg and dropped 18 fourth quarter points. The Pirates took the lead with five minutes to go in the game, Teke tied the game back up at 55-55, but Edwards couldn’t be stopped, and the Bucs pushed the lead to six when the game ended with Greensburg getting the 66-60 win.
The win improves the Pirates record to 9-4 on the season and they are now 3-1 in EIAC games. South Dearborn is now 0-3 in EIAC games and 10-5 overall. The Bucs next contest will be on Friday when they host Brownstown Central (9-3). SD has an EIAC game on Wednesday when the travel to St. Leon to take on East Central (3-8) at 7:30pm.
Teke’s 30-points all on three’s led all scorers. Edwards finished with 26 in the game a new career high for the senior. Also scoring for Greensburg, McKinsey 14, Dyer 13, Tebbe 7, Addison Barnes-Pettit 2, Adkins 2, Grainger Maxwell 2. For the Knights Willoughby finished with 13, Hudson Schakelford 6, Zander Schwab 5, Kunkel 4, and McCreary 2.
