Monday wrap: Royal girls fall

Eastern Hancock's girls fell to Centerville 58-35 Monday night on the Royals' Senior Night.

EH fell to 12-7 on the season with the loss, with one game remaining -- Friday against Triton Central at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. The game will tip off at 5:30 p.m.

The Royals fell behind 15-8 after a quarter and 33-15 at halftime to the Bulldogs.

Skyler Overleese led EH with six points. Kristen Eischen had five points and six rebounds. Kaytlin Eastes, Kiersten Schrope, Peyton Neisler and Lauren Harmon had four points and six rebounds each. Schrope also had four steals. Hannah Best had three steals. Elizabeth Carlton, the Royals' lone senior, had a point and a rebound.

EH boys game moved to Saturday
The Eastern Hancock at Tri boys basketball game has been moved to Saturday night to accommodate the girls game at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. The JV game will tip off at 6 p.m.

Wrestling sectional results

Greenfield-Central placed third and New Palestine fourth in the Shelbyville wrestling sectional Saturday, but both schools sent several individuals to the Perry Meridian regional.

Warren Central won the sectional with 212 points, narrowly beating Roncalli (208.5), Greenfield-Central (208) and New Palestine(194.5). NP was comfortably ahead of fifth-place Franklin Central (149) in the 10-team sectional. Mt. Vernon finished ninth (19) and Eastern Hancock 10th (12). 

Several Hancock County wrestlers were sectional champions: five Cougars and three Dragons. Eleven Greenfield-Central wrestlers, nine New Palestine grapplers and one Mt. Vernon Marauder moved on. 

From Greenfield-Central, sophomore Sam Locke at 126 (26-7), junior Josh Farrell at 138 (29-3), senior Dezmen McGinley at 170 (29-4), senior Ian Early at 195 (33-1) and senior Austin Gearlds at 220 (29-3) all won sectional championships.


From New Palestine, Freshman Tommy Cash (106) stayed perfect at 106 pounds, winning the sectional title and improving to 36-0 on the year. Also winning sectional titles were juniors Taylor Fee (113), who is now 29-3, and Nick Ulrey (145), who improved to 30-5.

Also advancing from NP: Junior Robbie Elsea (138) finished second and is 33-5 on his season. Senior Connor Robinson also finished second at 160 (41-6). Advancing by finishing third were sophomore Brian Wagner at 171 (27-7) and senior Cameron Denney at 195 (27-11). Sophomore Rylan McCarty (20-11) advanced at 120, as did junior Willie Bryan at 285 (28-8). They both finished fourth. 


Also advancing from G-C were Taylor Wright at 106 (4th, 24-10), Cole Moore at 113 (4th, 19-10), Joey Muzik at 132 (4th, 10-5), Austin Rose at 152 (3rd, 26-6), Kyle Wilburn at 182 (4th, 22-12) and Tyler Beeson at 285 (3rd, 20-10).

Advancing from Mt. Vernon were senior C.J. Eastman at 145 (4th, 15-7).

GBB pairings

The girls basketball pairings are currently being drawn. We'll pass along the pairings for the Hancock County sectionals as soon as we get them.

The schedule:
Tuesday, Feb. 7: Sectional 1st round (also Wednesday 2/8 for 7-8 team sectionals)
Friday, Feb. 10: Sectional semifinal
Saturday, Feb. 11: Sectional finals
Saturday, Feb. 18: Regionals, 10/11:30 semis, 8 p.m. final
Saturday, Feb. 25: Semistates, TBA
Saturday, March 3: State Finals at Hulman Center, Terre Haute (1A-10:30, 2A-1:30, 3A-6:30, 4A-8:30)

Class 4A sectional at Greenfield-Central
Tuesday, Feb. 7
Pendleton Hts. (13-7) vs. Greenfield-C. (12-6), 6 p.m.
Anderson (15-4) vs. Connersville (13-7), 7:30 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 10

Richmond (12-7) vs. PH/G-C winner, 6 p.m.
New Castle (5-14) vs. Anderson/Connersville winner, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 11
Championship, 7:30 p.m.
Analysis: G-C fell to PH in a close game in November, but both teams have changed a lot since then. A tough 2nd-round matchup with Richmond awaits, but the Cougars were able to handle the Red Devils earlier in December. Anderson has a tough draw, but the Indians had a very big win vs. Mt. Vernon earlier this year and are 4-0 against sectional foes. Anderson beat Connersville in OT on Jan. 17. Minus the bye, this is a pretty solid draw for G-C -- or at least the G-C/PH winner. Both pretty solid teams with a great first-round matchup.


Class 4A sectional at Franklin
Tuesday, Feb. 7
Franklin Central (11-7) vs. Center Grove (8-11), 6 p.m.
New Palestine (10-10) vs. Whiteland (6-14), 7:30 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 10

Greenwood (16-2) vs. FC/CG winner, 6 p.m.
Franklin (10-9) vs. NP/Whiteland winner, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 11
Championship, 7:30 p.m.

Regional (BNL): Franklin vs. Columbus N.; Seymour vs. Evansville
Analysis: This might be the most balanced sectional in the state. Greenwood, at 16-2, is a clear favorite, but the Woodmen are not invulnerable. Both losses were to sectional foes -- Center Grove and Whiteland. FC is a perfect 4-0 vs. the sectional and has had a great season against one of the state's strongest schedules. Meanwhile, New Palestine meets the team rated sixth in the sectional, but Whiteland is very solid. The Warriors live and die by the 3-point shot, which has allowed them to post some big wins (Greenwood) and some puzzling losses (Shelbyville). NP and Franklin played a great game on the sectional floor in December. Matter of fact, all of the Dragons' games against sectional teams were great ones -- the only one decided by more than four points was a 62-50 loss to Greenwood that was close until NP had to start fouling late.


Class 3A sectional at Arlington
Tuesday, Feb. 7
Brebeuf (7-11) vs. #2 Mt. Vernon (17-3), 6 p.m.
Chatard (8-11) vs. Arlington (1-16), 7:30 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 10
Howe (5-13) vs. Brebeuf/MV winner, 6 p.m.
Guerin (13-7) vs. Chatard/Arlington winner, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 11
Championship, 7 p.m.
Analysis: After years of being routed through brutal sectionals often featuring #1 or #2-ranked teams, the Marauders are the top dog in this sectional, as Sagarin has MV rated 25 points better than the rest of the field -- the second-team in the Sagarin ratings is first-round foe Brebeuf -- and only one other team, Guerin Catholic, has a winning record. Brebeuf has been down -- for them -- in recent years, but is still dangerous. Guerin is a dangerous team in a potential title-game matchup.

Class 2A sectional at Cambridge City Lincoln
Tuesday, Feb. 7
Eastern Hancock (12-6) vs. Hagerstown (18-2), 7 p.m.
Wednesday, Feb. 8
Centerville (13-6) vs. Cambridge City Lincoln (7-10), 6 p.m.
Knightstown (13-6) vs. Union County (3-15), 7:30 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 10
Northeastern (6-12) vs. EH-Hagerstown winner, 6 p.m.
Wednesday winners, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 11
Championship, 7:30 p.m.

Analysis: The Royals get a tough first-round draw, as Chris Oliger's Tigers have been playing some good basketball. The winner will be favored to play in the sectional final, as 6-12 Northeastern drew the bye. In the bottom bracket, Centerville -- whom the Royals will host Monday night -- is a solid team, and will be a good end-of-season matchup for the Royals. Knightstown has played some strong basketball. Hagerstown is 7-0 against sectional foes, EH is 3-1, Centerville 5-2. Knightstown has a strong, balanced team. The Royals are in the mist of their best season in nearly a decade under first-year coach Jeremy Powers, and they are young, so this could be the start of a run for them.  

Big Saturday wrap

Lots o' hoops on a big Saturday of basketball. Let's take a peek

BOYS
Eastern Hancock 59, Greenfield-Central 35: Victor Vincz scored 19 points and helped lead a second-quarter run for EH that allowed the Royals to build a double-digit lead. The Royals then pulled away with a 15-4 third quarter. Jared Pyle, the Royals' leading scorer on the season, added 13 points despite missing nearly all of the opening half with foul trouble. Cody Wallace added eight points and D.J. Collis had seven.

EH held a 40-21 edge on the boards and forced 21 turnovers. G-C was led by guard Jordan Keener, who scored 11 points -- all in the opening half, after which EH led 33-21. Mason Irbe scored seven points for the Cougars.

EH is now 8-7 and visits Tri on Friday. G-C is 1-13 and returns to HHC play with a trip to Delta next Friday.

Mt. Vernon 55, Delta 41: The Marauders improved to 4-1 in HHC play and took sole possession of third place in the conference with the home victory.

MV swept a double-weekend and is now 11-4 on the season, having won five straight games. The Marauders return to action on Feb. 6 against Warren Central and IU recruit Devin Davis.

GIRLS
Mt. Vernon 64, Delta 41: Coach Julie Shelton's Marauders won their 20th straight Hoosier Heritage Conference game and clinched their second straight HHC title with the victory. The Marauders are now 17-3 on the season and will likely be No. 1 in Class 3A next week when the new polls come out.  

New Palestine 47, Pendleton Heights 41: The Dragons jumped out to leads of 16-3 and 22-6 and didn't allow the Arabians a field goal for the first 10 minutes in the victory. NP also had good balance, with Bethany Murrell scoring 12 points, Abby Seifert adding nine points and 12 rebounds -- helping her become the HHC's top rebounder for the 2011-12 regular season -- and Emily Curry scoring eight points. Tori Stephenson added four assists.

NP is now 10-10 on the season and has won four of its last five games. The Dragons finish HHC play with a 5-2 record and a three-way tie with PH and Greenfield-Central for second place.

Eastern Hancock 57, Waldron 33: Lauren Harmon scored a career-high 18 points for the Royals, who improved to 12-6 with the victory -- their most wins in nine years. Kiersten Schrope added 11 points and five steals. Alora Marshall and Kaytlin Eastes scored seven points each.

Friday wrap: MV beats Spartans, G-C/NP fall

We saw the Hoosier Heritage Conference race really become a two-horse show with a third team -- Mt. Vernon -- still having a shot tonight, with the big action taking place among our county schools.

Pendleton Heights did what PH does -- pull out to a big lead and beat Greenfield-Central 85-22. Kellen Dunham had 15 points for the Arabians as they built a 48-15 lead at the half. He finished with 18 points, as Matt Wehner's 20 led the Arabians, who now have a 6-0 HHC record and face Yorktown next week with the conference title on the line.

It's on the line because Yorktown beat New Palestine 64-53 at the Tigers' den tonight in the game we broadcast at HancockCountySports.com. Led by Michael Morris' eight first-quarter points, NP jumped ahead 16-9 early, but Yorktown used a 13-2 second-quarter run to take a 30-25 lead, and -- save one tie -- the Tigers would never relinquish it. Seth Cook, the Tigers' leading scorer, had eight of his 20 points in the second quarter, and teammate Brandon Phillips knocked down two big 3-pointers in the third en route to a 15-point night. Morris led the Dragons with 18 points, but he was the Dragons' lone double-figure scorer. Josh Penley and Brandon Jonas added eight each. Yorktown is now 11-3 and 4-0 in HHC play. NP is 10-4 and 3-2.

Mt. Vernon was the lone winner among county teams tonight. The Marauders beat Connersville 51-44 in the Spartan Bowl, rallying with a big second-half run to take the lead and take a 10-4 overall record. MV is back in action Saturday at home against HHC foe Delta. MV is 3-1 in HHC play.

One other county game on tap Saturday night, and it's the game we'll broadcast at HancockCountySports.com: Eastern Hancock at Greenfield-Central. The Royals are 7-7 and were idle tonight, while G-C

Wednesday wrap: Dragons fall to LC

New Palestine's three-game GBB winning streak came to an end Wednesday night as the Dragons fell to Lawrence Central 60-49 on the road.

The Dragons jumped ahead early, but LC used a 17-2 first-quarter run to pull ahead to a double-digit lead. LC forced several first-half turnovers and led 19-8 late in the quarter.

NP's Bethany Murrell hit a half-court shot at the first-quarter buzzer and she had seven of her team's 11 early points. The Bears were able to build a 34-25 lead going into halftime, led by 15 points from guard Kacey Johnson. Murrell had 12 of the Dragons' 25 points in the first half.

Despite falling behind by 12 on the first possesion of the third after a 3-pointer by Calyn Hosea, the Dragons made several runs to cut into LC's lead in the third quarter, and cut the deficit to two on several occasions. LC's McKenzy Telfair hit a 3-pointer out of the corner at the buzzer to give the Bears a 42-37 edge, and LC then scored the first four points of the fourth quarter. NP cut the deficit to four on several occasions, but the Bears were able to stave off each run.

LC had 12 second-chance points -- outrebounding the usually-strong-on-the-glass Dragons 34-29 -- and added and 28 points off NP's 23 turnovers.

Murrell had 14 points to lead the Dragons. Stephenson added 12 points and three assists. Kyleigh Smock had nine points on 3-of-4 shooting and two steals. Abby Seifert -- the HHC's top rebounder -- had eight points and nine rebounds.

Johnson led LC with 22 points, five rebounds and six steals, while Hosea added 15 points nad eight reobunds.

The Dragons are now 9-10 on the year. They will conclude the regular season Saturday at Pendleton Heights. Our friends at WEEM-91.7 will have the live broadcast of that game.

You can listen to the archive of the NP-LC game at HancockCountySports.com. Join us this weekend for boys basketball -- NP at Yorktown on Friday and Eastern Hancock at Greenfield-Central on Saturday. Join our crew at 7:10 p.m. each night!

Tuesday wrap: G-C wins

Greenfield-Central's girls improved to 12-6 on the year and finished HHC play with a 5-2 record after a 68-49 victory at Yorktown Tuesday night.

The Cougars jumped out to a 17-7 lead, and then outscored the Tigers 23-11 in the third quarter to pull ahead 53-34 going into the final eight minutes.

LaRae Cruz continued her high-scoring ways, totaling 22 points for the Cougars. Katie Peters and Sara Jones each added 10 points. Emily Koers had eight and Shelby Oldham six.

G-C finishes play next week with two games: at Whiteland Tuesday 1/31 and at home vs. Greenwood Thursday 2/2.

Listen to HancockCountySports.com this Wednesday for more girls hoops, as the New Palestine Dragons girls visit Lawrence Central. Tipoff is 7:30 p.m.

Hoop update

On Monday night, Eastern Hancock celebrated its Coaches vs. Cancer girls basketball game, but a furious second-half Royal rally fell just short in a 47-41 loss to Blue River.

EH trailed 9-2 after a quarter and 27-9 at halftime. The Royals used a 14-3 third quarter to slash the deficit to 30-23 after three, but the Vikings staved off the comeback.

Kristen Eischen led the Royals with eight points and 10 rebounds. Kiersten Schrope had seven points, seven boards and four assists. Hannah Best also had seven points and four assists. Lauren Harmon and Kaytlin Eastes added six points each.

The Royals (11-5) continue a three-game week this week by traveling to Tri on Thursday and hosting Waldron at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.

Several girls games are on the docket for midweek. On Tuesday, the Greenfield-Central Cougars (11-6/4-2) conclude HHC play at Yorktown. On Wednesday, the New Palestine Dragons (9-9) look to extend their three-game winning streak at a tough Lawrence Central outfit. And on Thursday, the aforementioned EH-Tri game.

The NP-LC game will be broadcast live at HancockCountySports.com. Also, you can catch Friday's New Palestine at Yorktown and Saturday's Eastern Hancock at Greenfield-Central boys games at HancockCountySports.com. All broadcasts begin at 7:10 p.m.

Saturday night

No shattered backboards tonight, just a couple of games where Hancock County teams scored a season-high in points, but only one won.

Greenfield-Central won its first game of the year by beating Shelbyville 66-55. The Cougars scored a season-high 66 points -- matter of fact, it was 23 points more than their high that had been set last week when they totaled 43 against Triton Central. The Cougars were led by Mason Irbe's 24 points -- a career high for the G-C junior.

Tyler Batton had 15 points and Jordan Keener 14 for G-C. Grant Wolfe added seven points. 

G-C jumped up to a fifth-place tie in the HHC with the victory, as the Cougars are now 1-11 (1-3). The Cougars next play Friday at Pendleton Heights, then host Eastern Hancock Saturday in a game we'll broadcast at HancockCountySports.com.

Whiteland 88, New Palestine 81: The Dragons scored a season-high 81 points -- including 38 in a fourth quarter that saw the two teams combine for 70 points -- but fell on the road to Whiteland.

NP fell behind quickly -- Whiteland roared out to a 21-11 lead after a quarter -- and kept chipping back into the game. Whiteland led 33-25 at the half, but scored 23 in the third to take a 56-43 lead going into the wild final quarter. 

Josh Penley scored a season-high 23 points for the Dragons. He hit 8-of-14 from the floorMichael Morris added 20 points, including 4-of-8 from 3-point range. The Dragons hit eight 3-pointers in the game, and shot 49 percent from the floor (30-61). Brandon Collins tied his career high with 18 points, hitting 7-of-10 shots. Reid Clark and Solomon Haynes scored nine each. Clark also had a game-high seven rebounds. Penley had four assists and four steals, while Haynes had three assists.

Meanwhile, Whiteland shot a blistering 65 percent from the floor (25-38) and hit 75 percent from the 3-point arc (12-16). The Warriors also shot 26-of-33 from the line.

The Dragons are now 10-3. Their next game out will be Friday at Yorktown. You can listen to the game at HancockCountySports.com.

Saturday afternoon wrap: NP girls win

The New Palestine girls basketball team used a fast start to build an early lead and race to a 52-35 victory at Rushville Saturday afternoon.

Bethany Murrell scored 17 points to lead the Dragons, and Lauren Tieman added 12 points. The victory for the Dragons was their second victory at Rushville's Memorial Gym in school history -- 19 games total -- and first since 2002. It was their first victory against Rushville on any floor since 2004.

The victory was the Dragons' third straight on the year. They conclude the season with two more road games, Wednesday at Lawrence Central and Saturday afternoon at Pendleton Heights.

The Dragons raced ahead to a 14-7 lead in the opening quarter, using a strong defensive effort that held Rushville to 32 percent shooting in the first half and 27 percent in the second. Rushville's only lead was on the opening possession of the game. NP led 26-15 at halftime and then pushed the lead to 17 points at the end of the third, at 44-27, when Murrell drilled a 3-pointer at the gun to give the Dragons their biggest lead of the game to that point.

Murrell added seven rebounds to her total. Tieman had five boards.

Guard Kyeligh Smock also added a strong all-around game with eight points, eight rebounds, five assists and two steals. Guard Tori Stephenson had eight points on 3-of- shooting from the floor. She also had three assists. Abby Seifert, the HHC's leading rebounder, had eight rebounds.

Forward Casey Yager had a strong start for Rushville, scoring 10 first-half points to keep the Lions in the game. Yager finished with 11 rebounds for a double-double. NP's defense held Rushville's leading scorer -- freshman Sarah Cook -- to six points. Rushville was also without the services of second-leading scorer and strong all-around player Mackenzie Campbell, who was unavailale due to injury.


NP is now 9-9 and 4-2 in HHC play.


Eastern Hancock vs. Waldron: The Royals' game against Waldron was postponed due to weather. It will be played at 3:30 p.m. on Jan. 28, with a varsity-only game.


Swimming
Greenfield-Central competed at Fishers in a dual-meet invitational.


The Cougar boys dropped two narrow meets to Carroll (Allen) and Fishers. Carroll beat the Cougars 101.5-82.5, Fishers defeated the Cougars 95-91 in a close meet.


G-C's girls also fell to both teams, with Carly Fernandes winning events in each meet.

Friday wrap: Flying glass & championships

Big night of hoops Friday in Hancock County as the gyms heated up before the fans had to head home in ice and snow.

Tonight saw Mt. Vernon's girls win their second straight HHC championship -- at least a piece was clinched tonight with the Marauders' 19th straight conference victory. We also saw a shattered backboard at New Palestine, causing the Dragons' 70-45 victory over Triton Central to be moved across the hall for the second half. And Eastern Hancock scored 70 points, but lost to Lapel by 11. 

Let's start with our game:
Mt. Vernon 55, Greenfield-Central 44 (girls): MV used a 9-0 first-quarter run that extended to a 17-3 run in the first half to build leads of 13-6 and 21-9. MV never allowed the lead to slip below six in the victory.

Different players stepped up at different times for MV, which had three players in double figures. Makenzi Reasor had a big first quarter, scoring eight of her 14 points in the opening quarter and then hitting a big 3-pointer in the second.

Erica Moore then scored eight of her 14 points at big moments in the third and early in the fourth quarter as G-C cut the Marauders' lead to six on several occasions. MV kept pushing the lead back to 10 every time the Cougars cut it to six. Jessica Brown then scored 13 of her 19 points in the fourth quarter -- including 9-of-10 from the line -- to put the game away.

Rachel Houck added eight points for MV.

LaRae Cruz finished with 15 points for G-C, including 13 in the second half. Sara Jones added nine points.

MV is now 16-3 and 6-0 in HHC play. The Marauders can clinch the outright title in their final conference game Jan. 28 against Delta. G-C is 11-6 and 4-2 in conference play, moving into third place.

New Palestine 70, Triton Central 45: The Dragons jumped out to a 31-16 halftime lead en route to their 10th win in 12 outings, but that quickly became a sidelight after Boomer, the Pacers' mascot, shattered the backboard on his first dunk attempt of his halftime show.

The game was continued in the auxiliary gym, where the Dragons cruised to the victory.

Justin Ikerd had a season-high 19 points, including five 3-pointers, to lead the Dragons offensively. He also had three rebounds and three steals. Josh Penley also had three rebounds, three steals, a big dunk and 13 points. Michael Morris rounded out three Dragons in double figures with 10 points and five rebounds.


Reid Clark and Brandon Collins had seven boards apiece. Clark also had four assists, a team-high. Collins added seven points. Brandon Jonas scored six.



The Dragons shot 47 percent from the floor and held TC to 32 percent.


The Dragons outscored TC 24-9 in the second to build a 15-point halftime edge, then pushed it to 59-28 at the end of three with a 28-point third quarter.

NP is back in action Saturday at Whiteland, then travels to Yorktown next Friday in a game we'll broadcast at HancockCountySports.com. Join Andrew & Chris at 7:10 p.m.

Lapel 81, Eastern Hancock 70: The Royals jumped out to an early 15-8 lead, but Lapel had a hot-shooting second quarter and kept a slim lead the rest of the night. Victor Vincz led the Royals with 23 points. Jared Pyle had 16 points and 11 boards. Isaiah McCormick and Cody Wallace were also in double-figures for EH (7-7). The Royals next play Saturday, Jan. 28 at Greenfield-Central. Join Andrew & Chris for the HancockCountySports.com broadcast at 7:10 p.m.

Coming up: MV at G-C girls

Join us Friday night, as the Mt. Vernon girls basketball team puts its No. 2 ranking and 15-3 record on the line against the Greenfield-Central Cougars, who come in with an 11-5 mark.

First place in the HHC is also on the line as MV is 5-0 in conference play and can clinch at least a tie for the championship with a victory. G-C can move itself into a first-place tie with a win, as the Cougars are 4-1 in conference play.

Andrew & Chris have the call at 7:10 p.m. Friday night at HancockCountySports.com. Log in and listen!

Also Friday
Two boys games are on tap in the county: Eastern Hancock takes its 7-6 record up to the new Dog House to face former conference rival Lapel. The Royals split last weekend, beating Shenandoah before falling to Union County the following night. Led by Jared Pyle and Victor Vincz, EH is looking for the victory as a springboard into the final weeks of the season, but Lapel is always a tough place to play.

New Palestine hosts Triton Central. The Dragons are 9-2, deep, balanced and playing very well. They hung with No. 5 Pendleton Heights for three quarters before succumbing in the fourth. This is the first half of a double-weekend for the Dragons, who travel to sectional rival Whiteland on Saturday.

Saturday games
In boys action, Greenfield-Central travels to Shelbyville in a matchup of winless teams. New Palestine heads to Whiteland in a matchup of potential sectional foes.

In girls action, Eastern Hancock looks to improve on its 11-4 record against Waldron in a varsity-only game that will begin at 12:30 p.m. New Palestine looks for its first victory at Rushville in nearly a decade as the Dragons head down U.S. 52. Both teams are at around .500 against difficult schedules, but the Dragons enter having won two straight. Rushville beat Batesville 49-39 Thursday night.

Thursday wrap: MV boys, EH girls win again

Mt. Vernon's boys basketball team emphatically extended its winning streak to three with a 67-21 victory over Knightstown on Thursday night.

MV set the tone early with defense, using four steals-turned-layups in the opening minutes to build an 11-2 lead and not looking back. MV also controlled the offensive glass in the victory. MV led 19-4 after a quarter and 37-11 at halftime. Sophomore guard C.J. Coleman had several of the early deflections and finished the game with 19 points. Junior guard Anthony Burnett added 13 points.

All five MV starters scored at least eight points, with Stephen Turner scoring 10 and Alex Payne and Dan Werner eight each. Freshman Zach Spears came off the bench to score seven points. Werner also played strong defense on Knightstown's Clay Ratliff, the Panthers' leading scorer coming into the night. Turner did the same against Knightstown's post players, denying the Panthers the opportunity to get the ball to their big men.

Dakota Smucker led Knightstown with six points. Ratliff scored five.

MV (9-4) is next in action Friday 1/27 at Connersville. Knightstown (1-10) will visit Shenandoah Friday.

Girls basketball
Eastern Hancock 52, Cowan 28: The Royals outscored Cowan 23-1 in the third quarter to pull away to the victory.

Hannah Best and Kristen Eischen each had 11 points to lead EH. Eischen also had seven boards. Alora Marshall had seven points and nine rebounds. Guard Kiersten Schrope also added seven points for EH.

The Royals are now 11-4, and host Waldron at 12:30 p.m. Saturday. The game will be a varsity-only contest.

New Palestine 57, Beech Grove 22: The Dragons used a strong defensive effort, holding BG to 21 percent shooting and 25 turnovers in the contest and winning on Senior Night.

NP also had a big night from all six seniors. Senior guard Kyleigh Smock scored a career-high 19 points, hitting five 3-pointers. She added five rebounds. Lauren Tieman added 15 points and eight rebounds, as well as four steals. Tori Stephenson added 12 points. Bethany Murrell had seven points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals, while Abby Seifert had a game-high 10 boards. Emily Curry had two points.

The Dragons scored a season-high 24 points in the third quarter, outscoring the Hornets 24-5 in the penultimate eight minutes to take a 53-18 lead going into the final quarter.

Swimming
Greenfield-Central's boys and girls swim teams both posted victories over Shelbyville on Thursday evening.
  

Tuesday wrap: MV, G-C ready for showdown

Mt. Vernon and Greenfield-Central both won their girls basketball games Tuesday night, and are headed for a showdown Friday with the Hoosier Heritage Conference title on the line.You can listen to that game LIVE at HancockCountySports.com.

The Marauders posted a 50-23 victory over New Castle. MV jumped ahead to a big lead early and never looked back in cruising to its 15th victory of the year. The second-ranked Marauders are now 15-3 heading into Friday's game at G-C.

The Cougars rolled to a 54-34 victory over Muncie Central. Sara Jones had 15 points and LaRae Cruz 10 for the Cougars, with Katie Peters adding eight. G-C is now 11-5 on the year. The Cougars had a 19-2 lead after a quarter and a 31-11 edge at halftime in the victory.

Swimming
Greenfield-Central's swim teams split a decision with Lawrence Central on Tuesday night. The HHC champion Cougar boys won big, 126-59. The G-C girls fell to LC 92-91 in a close meet. 

G-C, Yorktown win HHC swim titles

Greenfield-Central's boys won their second straight HHC swimming title Saturday afternoon at New Palestine.

The Cougars had seven conference champions in the 12 events. New Palestine and Mt. Vernon tied for second place.

Nathan Graber set a school record in diving, as did the 400 free relay of James Young, Chris Wilburn, Patrick Stutz and Jon McCormick. The 400 free relay won, as did the 200 medley relay and 200 free relay.

Young (200 free/100 fly/200 free relay/400 free relay) and McCormick (200 IM/100 breaststroke/200 free relay/400 free relay) were quadruple-conference champs for the Cougars.

In the girls meet, Yorktown was the champion, with New Palestine finishing second.

Greenfield-Central's Carly Fernandes won the 500 freestyle. No other schools' results have yet been reported.

Saturday hoops: Marauders now 8-4

Mt. Vernon's boys basketball team improved to 8-4 with its third victory in four games in 2012 Saturday night.

The Marauders beat Howe 61-49 on the road. Saturday's game was MV's fourth in the last two weekends, and was the third on the road.

MV is next in action Thursday against Knightstown. The game will be broadcast live by HancockCountySports.com.

Union County 44, Eastern Hancock 39: The Royals met up with a potential sectional opponent at home for the second straight night, but fell to split the weekend.

UC improved to 9-2 with the victory, while the Royals fell to 7-6. EH next plays Friday at Lapel.

Triton Central 79, Greenfield-Central 43: The Cougars had their highest point total of the season, but fell to 0-11 with the loss.

Jordan Keener scored a season-high 17 points to lead G-C. Mason Irbe added seven points. TC is now 4-5 on the year.

The Cougars are next in action Saturday against Shelbyville, which is also 0-11.

New Palestine was idle tonight. The Dragons (9-2) have a double-weekend next week -- hosting Triton Central on Friday before traveling to Whiteland on Saturday.

Girls basketball
Mt. Vernon 76, Shelbyville 21: The Marauders were never challenged in the victory. MV led 43-9 at the half and 65-14 after three quarters. The 76 points were the most scored by the Marauders in a game this season.

MV is now 14-3 and 5-0 in HHC play. The Marauders can clinch at least a share of the conference title next Friday at Greenfield-Central (10-5/4-1). The game will be broadcast live by HancockCountySports.com. Before then, MV will host New Castle on Tuesday.

All of the other girls teams were idle today. New Palestine (7-9) hosts Beech Grove Wednesday, Greenfield-Central (10-5) hosts Muncie Central Tuesday and Eastern Hancock (10-4) hosts Cowan Thursday.

G-C wins HHC wrestling title

Greenfield-Central won the Hoosier Heritage Conference wrestling title Saturday, totaling 268.5 points to lap the field.

New Palestine (217) was second, four points ahead of Yorktown. Mt. Vernon finished eighth (23).

G-C's dominated the upper weights to win the title -- Austin Rose (152), Dezmen McGinley (170), Kyle Wilburn (182), Ian Early (195), Austin Gearlds (220) and Tyler Beeson (285) all won individual HHC championships. Early and Gearlds won by fall, the others were by decision.

In addition, G-C's Taylor Wright (106), Cody Cecil (132) and Josh Farrell (138) were all runners-up. No Cougar placed lower than fourth.

NP's winner was Tommy Cash (106) by fall over Wright. Taylor Fee (113) placed second, as did Gordon Wagner (126), Nick Ulrey (145), Connor Robinson (160), Brian Wagner (170) and Willie Bryan (285).

Friday hoops: PH takes HHC lead

Pendleton Heights used a blistering second half shooting the ball -- hitting 12 of its 14 shots after the break -- to pull away from New Palestine 77-53 Friday night.

The game was close throughout much of the opening three quarters, but PH scored the first nine points of the fourth quarter and outscored NP 24-6 in the final eight minutes to pull away.

Butler signee Kellen Dunham led the Arabians with 31 points, including 10 in the third quarter and the first seven points of the fourth quarter. Brogan Gary had 17 and Matt Wehner 14 for PH. NP was led by Michael Morris and Reid Clark, who had 11 points each. Six different Dragons scored at least six points -- with Solomon Haynes scoring nine, Josh Penley and Brandon Collins eight each and Justin Ikerd hitting two 3-pointers for six points.

Six straight points by Josh Penley helped NP lead 16-15 after a quarter, and tied the game at 34-34 on the opening possession of the second half on Haynes' 3-pointer. The teams traded runs in the third, but Dunham began to take more and more control of the game.

Both teams shot 50 percent (12-of-24) from the floor in the opening half, but PH hit all but two of its second-half shots -- the Arabians were a perfect 9-for-9 on two-point shots -- while the Dragons hit just nine of 23 shots after the break.

NP is now 9-2 on the year and 3-1 in HHC play, moving the Dragons into a third-place tie with Mt. Vernon. PH is 12-2 and 4-0 in league play, a half-game ahead of Yorktown.

You can listen to the archive here.

Mt. Vernon 64, Rushville 44: The Marauders got back on the winning track with a big start and a strong defensive effort against the Lions. MV improved to 7-4 on the year and 3-1 in HHC play.

MV visits Howe Saturday, then will host Knightstown next Thursday. You can listen to a live broadcast at HancockCountySports.com!

Eastern Hancock 73, Shenandoah 61: The Royals had a strong start to improve to 7-5 on the year. Led by Jared Pyle's 25 points, EH had a big home victory in its annual EH vs. Cancer game as the school raised money for the American Cancer Society.

The Royals are back in action Saturday against potential sectional rival Union County at home.

Greenfield-Central was idle.

Boys hoops Friday night

We have a big boys basketball game coming Friday night, as the 4A No. 8 Pendleton Heights Arabians (11-2) visit the New Palestine Dragons (9-1).

We'll see the state's second-leading scorer in Kellen Dunham, who is averaging 29.2 points per game. At just a shade under 15 ppg, Michael Morris leads the Dragons. The two teams make up two-thirds of a three-way tie atop the HHC standings along with Yorktown. All three teams are 3-0.

Join Andrew Smith & Chris Lambert for the broadcast. 7:10 p.m. airtime at HancockCountySports.com.

Also Friday night:
Shenandoah (2-6) is at Eastern Hancock (6-5) as the Royals host their EH vs. Cancer night. The Royals are trying to bounce back from last Friday's loss to Muncie Burris.

Rushville (3-7) is at Mt. Vernon (6-4). The Marauders beat Greenfield-Central and then dropped a Saturday decision at New Castle last week. MV is also looking to make a move into the HHC race, as the Marauders face two of the three teams who are ahead of them later in the season.

Saturday, three of the four boys teams are in action, as Mt. Vernon is at Howe (5-4), Greenfield-Central (0-10) visits Triton Central (3-5) and EH hosts Union County (8-2). Mt. Vernon (13-3) is the lone girls team in action, hosting Shelbyville (6-8) in a 2:30 p.m. game.

Dragons, Royals win GBB games

New Palestine and Eastern Hancock both won close girls basketball games against Shelby County foes tonight.

The Dragons had their first victory over a ranked team this season, beating 2A No. 4 Triton Central 61-55.

NP used a 26-point performance from senior Bethany Murrell -- the Dragons' season-best performance -- and a big first half from 3-point range, to build an early double-digit lead, one they'd never relinquish.

NP hit six first-half 3-pointers and tied its a season high with 42 points in the first half, building a lead that was as high as 13 points, and was 11 before the Tigers hit a disputed 3-pointer before the halftime buzzer.

Murrell scored 18 first-half points. Guard Tori Stephenson had eight points in the opening 16 minutes.

TC used its balance to cut the deficit as close as 2 in the second half, but the Dragons were able to use strong ballhandling -- they committed a season-low nine turnovers -- and free throw shooting to salt the game away.

Abby Seifert had 13 points and eight rebounds for the Dragons. Stephenson finished with eight points and guard Kyleigh Smock had seven.

Both teams shot well early -- both hit 50 percent in the first half. NP shot 43 percent for the game, TC 48 percent.

Heather Mink led TC with 16 points. Emily Alfrey had 13 points. Freshman Samantha Dewey scored 11.

NP is now 7-9 on the season against one of the state's toughest schedules. Knocked from the ranks of the unbeaten, TC is now 12-1. The Dragons' next game will be Wednesday against Beech Grove. It will be the Dragons' Senior Night.

A few miles down U.S. 52, Eastern Hancock beat Morristown 34-32. Lauren Harmon hit a late 3-pointer in the final minute to put the Royals ahead. She finished with seven points and eight rebounds. Kaytlin Eastes led EH with nine points and six boards. Hannah Best added eight points and four assists.

Kiersten Schrope had seven rebounds and eight steals for EH. 

The Royals jumped ahead 11-3 after a quarter, but saw the Yellow Jackets come back and cut EH's lead to 25-24 going into the fourth quarter. 

The Royals are now 10-4 on the season. Morristown is 3-11. EH's next game is Jan. 19 at home against Cowan. It's EH's first 10-win season since 2004.

Cougars beat Knightstown

Greenfield-Central's girls basketball team scored 21 fourth-quarter points to pull away from Knightstown and win 48-35 in the Cougars' annual "Pink Game" to fight breast cancer.

G-C led 10-8 after a quarter, 20-15 at the half and 27-20 after three before pulling away in the final eight minutes. LaRae Cruz scored 15 points to lead the Cougars. Junior Katie Peters added 10. Emily Koers and Regan Lewis both scored seven each.

The Cougars (10-5) are next in action Tuesday at home against Muncie Central.

Tonight, join Chris Lambert & Greg Elkins as New Palestine meets 2A No. 4 Triton Central at 7:10 p.m. at HancockCountySports.com

Then, join Andrew Smith & Chris Lambert on Friday as New Palestine's boys meet 4A No. 8 Pendleton Heights at 7:10 p.m.

New Palestine falls 62-50

New Palestine's girls basketball team used some timely 3-point shooting to build an early 15-point lead, but Greenwood's depth and balance proved too much as the ninth-ranked Woodmen pulled away to a 62-50 victory over the Dragons Tuesday at Greenwood.

NP pulled ahead to leads of 6-0, 12-2 and then used an 11-0 run to start the second quarter that gave the Dragons a 23-8 lead. Kyleigh Smock, Taylor Espich and Bethany Murrell all drained 3-pointers in the run.

But Greenwood finished the half on a 15-2 run that cut the Dragon edge to 25-23 at halftime -- capped by a 3-pointer from Alexis Swearingen at the buzzer -- and then post player Deauna Evans hit a 3-pointer on the opening possession of the second half to give the Woodmen their first lead at 26-25.

After the lead changed hands several times in the third, Greenwood pulled away in the fourth. It was 48-45 when junior Kelsie Ratliff hit her third 3-pointer of the game, giving Greenwood a six-point edge. Deauna Evans scored on the next possession, then a turnover and Greenwood milked a minute of clock before the Dragons had to foul and the Woodmen put things away at the line, hitting 9-of-10 free throws in the final 1:41.

Greenwood had four players in double-figures, led by Ratliff's 19 points. Deauna Evans had 12 points, while senior Kailey Evans had 10 points, six boards and five steals. Point guard Alexis Swearingen had 14 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.

Murrell led the Dragons with 14 points and 14 rebounds. Kyleigh Smock had eight points. Abby Seifert added seven points and nine rebounds.

The Dragons outrebounded Greenwood 35-26, but the Woodmen committed just nine turnovers to NP's 21, and Greenwood held a 28-6 advantage in points off turnovers, including 13 points off seven NP miscues in the fourth quarter, during which Greenwood outscored NP 24-13.

The Dragons, now 6-9 against one of the state's toughest schedules, face 2A #4 Triton Central on Thursday. TC is unbeaten at 12-0 on the year. You can listen to the game LIVE at HancockCountySports.com

Swimming
Cougars fall to Center Grove: Greenfield-Central's boys swim team was close against one of the state's powers, but fell 99-81 in a dual meet.

G-C winners were Patrick Stutz in the 50 free, Jon McCormick in the 100 breaststroke and the 200 and 400 free relays of Stutz, Austin Wilburn, James Young and Cody Wilburn.


CG also won the girls meet 137-48.

The Cougars join their conference brethren in the HHC meet this weekend at New Palestine. Diving gets underway on Thursday, with the swimming events on Saturday.

Gymnastics
Dragons 3rd in opener: The New Palestine gymnastics team opened its season by placing third in a three-way meet. New Castle won with 97.625 points, Connersville had 97.475 and the Dragons 78.5.

The Dragons' top placers were Ciarra Hough, who finished fifth on floor and balance beam, and Julie Hilton, who was sixth on vault. The Dragons were shorthanded Tuesday, competing without four gymnasts who were unavailable due to various reasons.

"We had several girls who are showing some potential to be a key gymnast for the team," NP coach Jenny Musselman said.

"I have very high expectations for this season as well as the team. If we can keep everyone healthy and eligible we will have a great shot at winning sectionals."

 

Coming up
More hoops this week
Wednesday
GIRLS: Knightstown (10-4) at Greenfield-Central (9-5), 7:30 p.m. (G-C's fight cancer night)
Thursday
GIRLS: Triton Central (12-0) at New Palestine (6-9), 7:30 p.m.  (LIVE BROADCAST)
GIRLS: Eastern Hancock (9-4) at Morristown (3-10), 7:30 p.m.
Friday
BOYS: Pendleton Heights (11-2) at New Palestine (9-1), 7:30 p.m.  (LIVE BROADCAST)
BOYS: Shenandoah (2-6) at Eastern Hancock (6-5), 7:30 p.m. (EH's fight cancer night)
BOYS: Rushville (3-7) at Mt. Vernon (6-4), 7:30 p.m.
Saturday
GIRLS: Shelbyville (6-8) at Mt. Vernon (13-3), 2:30 p.m.
BOYS: Mt. Vernon (6-4) at Howe (5-4), 7:30 p.m.
BOYS: Greenfield-Central (0-10) at Triton Central (3-5), 7:30 p.m.
BOYS: Union County (8-2) at Eastern Hancock (6-5), 7:30 p.m.

Doud on Silver Anniversary team

Mt. Vernon graduate and current Pendleton Heights coach Shari Doud was recently named to the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame's Silver Anniversary team.

Doud -- whose maiden name is Shari Clark -- was a standout guard for Tom Earlywine at MV and graduated in 1987. Her team won a sectional her sophomore year and played in the Hall of Fame Classic as a senior. She then played collegiately at Drake University before finishing her degree at St. Joseph's College in Rensselaer.

Doud has served as an assistant coach at Mt. Vernon with head coach Diana Myers, then took over the Greenfield-Central program in 2000. She led the Cougars to a 13-8 record and then took over the program at Pendleton Heights, where her team has won three consecutive sectionals and a regional in 2009. She has a career coaching record of 193-82 and has coached several standout players, including Ellen Hamilton at G-C and Susan Lester, Hannah Douglas and Mur Hagerman at Pendleton Heights.

The Silver Anniversary team is named each year by the Hall of Fame and honors players who graduated from high school 25 years before.

They will be recognized at a banquet April 28 at Primo Banquet Hall in Indianapolis.

Hall of Fame release

This week's polls

Three of the four basketball polls are out this week, and there are a few things of note:

In the ICGSA girls poll, Mt. Vernon remains No. 2 in Class 3A with a 13-3 record, behind Norwell (13-1). The Marauders vaulted NorthWood (13-1).  

In the IBCA girls poll, which does not rank teams regarding for class, MV is No. 18. Unbeaten Penn, HSE and Merillville take the top three spots.

In the IBCA boys poll, New Palestine is receiving votes.

Other notables:
ICGSA girls: Greenwood (which will host New Palestine Tuesday in a game broadcast by HancockCountySports.com) fell from No. 4 to No. 9 in 4A after a loss to Whiteland last week. The Woodmen are also No. 16 in the IBCA poll. Triton Central (which will visit New Palestine in a Thursday game we will broadcast) is unbeaten and is No. 4 in 2A, moving up one spot. North Central, which will visit Mt. Vernon on Feb. 3, is No. 4 in the IBCA poll and No. 5 in the ICGSA 4A poll.

IBCA boys: HHC team Pendleton Heights is No. 9 in the top 20. The Arabians visit New Palestine on Friday for a game we will also broadcast.

Saturday wrap

Just two Hancock County basketball teams were in action today before things really heat up next week, and the two Mt. Vernon basketball teams split the two games.

In the afternoon, the MV girls beat Noblesville 58-46. Center Makenzi Reasor had 22 points, including 12 in the first quarter to stake MV to an early 18-14 lead. Junior guard Rachel Houck added 19 points for the second-ranked Marauders, who are now 13-3 on the year. You can listen to the archived broadcast here.

C.J. Coleman sparked the MV boys early against New Castle, but the host Trojans pulled away in the third and won 64-49. New Castle outscored MV 25-11 in the third to take the lead. MV is now 6-4 heading into next week's double-weekend -- home vs. Rushville Friday, at Howe Saturday.

Wrestling
Dragons 2nd, Marauders 8th at NP Invitational: New Palestine's wrestling team placed second to Roncalli, while Mt. Vernon was eighth at the New Palestine Invitational.

NP totaled 241 points, finishing behind Roncalli (266.5). Martinsville (191) was third and East Central (169) fourth. Columbia City (105), Beech Grove (94), Rushville (84) at Mt. Vernon (63) took the other places.

NP had four champions. Tommy Cash (106) won with a fall and a 10-1 decision over Roncalli's Vance Ellis in the title match. Gordon Wagner (126) also won with two falls and then a 12-4 major decision over Roncalli's Ryan Hammer in the title match. Robbie Elsea (138) defeated MV's C.J. Eastman in the title match 8-2. Nick Ulrey (145) also won, defeating Martinsville's Levi Hess 5-3 in the final match after winning two matches by fall.

Taylor Fee (113), Brian Wagner (170) and Cameron Denney (195) all placed second for NP. Rylan McCarty (120) and Connor Robinson (160) finished third.

Eastman was MV's highest-placing wrestler. The Marauders' Ryan Barker (145) placed third.

The two teams will compete again Saturday at the HHC meet at Pendleton Heights.

Cougars 2nd at North Central Invitational: The Greenfield-Central wrestling team went 4-1 at the North Central Invitational, with a huge 31-26 victory over No. 8 Hamilton Southeastern in the day's fourth match.

The Cougars also beat Southmont 53-9, North Central 59-9 and Westfield 45-21. G-C's loss was to No. 5 Cathedral 40-21.


The Cougars' next match will be the HHC meet next Saturday at Pendleton Heights.

Coming up
Lots of basketball on HancockCountySports.com the next few weeks. This week, we'll feature *three* ranked teams on our broadcasts.

On Tuesday, join us for girls basketball, as New Palestine visits 4A No. 4 Greenwood. Then, join us again Thursday as the New Palestine girls host 2A No. 5 Triton Central, which is currently unbeaten at 11-0. On Friday, New Palestine's boys put their 9-1 record on the line against 4A No. 10 Pendleton Heights, a team featuring Butler recruit Kellen Dunham, and a matchup featuring two of the three teams tied for the HHC lead. All three broadcasts begin at 7:10 p.m. Join us!

Friday wrap: Marauders, Dragons win

Mt. Vernon used a quick 14-point, three-minute first in the first quarter to build a double-digit lead that it would never relinquish in a 52-22 victory over Greenfield-Central on Friday night in our Game of the Week. Thanks for listening -- you can find the archived broadcast at HancockCountySports.com.

Sophomore C.J. Coleman scored eight of his game-high 18 points and freshman Dan Werner added all seven of his points in the first quarter as the Marauders jumped out to a 20-3 lead, scoring 14 points in the final 3:33. Stephen Turner added nine points -- several in the middle quarters. MV led 27-9 at the half, and then outscored G-C 18-8 in the third quarter -- led again by eight points from Coleman -- to jump out to a 45-17 lead after three.

Junior Mason Irbe led G-C with 10 points. While MV was able to get its transition game going, the Cougars' half-court defense was strong and will be a building block for them as they move on during the year.

MV is now 6-3 (2-1 HHC) heading into Saturday's game at New Castle. G-C is 0-10 (0-3 HHC) and will next play Jan. 14 at Triton Central.

New Palestine 58, Delta 34: The Dragons outscored Delta 44-18 in the middle quarters to pull away, including a 21-6 second-quarter that allowed NP to turn an eight-point deficit into a 25-18 halftime lead.

NP had strong balance, led by junior guard Justin Ikerd. He hit 4-of-8 from 3-point range to score a team-high 14 points on the night. Junior forward Michael Morris added 12 points. Senior Josh Penley had six points and six assists, while senior Brandon Collins had six points and six rebounds.

The Dragons won their eighth straight game -- the longest such streak since 1997-98, when NP won 12 straight in the middle of the year. The victory also gave NP a 9-1 record, its best start since going 8-0 and 10-1 in 1995-96 -- a season in which the Dragons went 19-3. NP is also 3-0 in HHC play, setting up a meeting next Friday 1/13 with #10 Pendleton Heights (11-2, 3-0). Of course, we plan to broadcast that game at HancockCountySports.com!

Muncie Burris 71, Eastern Hancock 53: Burris pulled away in a close game by outscoring EH 28-15 in the fourth quarter to pull away at Ball Gym.

Isaiah McCormick and Victor Vincz scored 13 points each to lead the Royals (6-5). EH next plays at home Friday 1/13 against Shenandoah.

With the exception of MV, all boys & girls teams are idle Saturday. MV's boys are at New Castle (6/7:30) and the girls are at Noblesville (noon/1:30). Log on to HancockCountySports.com for the MV girls game at 1:10 p.m. with Chris Lambert.

Schedule changes

Upcoming NCAA legislation that has killed the impending Hoosier Heritage Conference girls basketball classic at Hinkle Fieldhouse on Jan. 21 has also caused changes to our broadcast schedule.

We had planned to broadcast two games from the Hinkle Classic, and several games that weekend. We will continue to broadcast the Knightstown-MV boys game on Thursday, Jan. 19.

However, we have schedule changes for the rest of the weekend.
On Friday, Jan. 20, we will broadcast the Mt. Vernon at Greenfield-Central girls game, which was originally to be played at Hinkle. Because of that, we will not be able to broadcast the Eastern Hancock at Lapel game that was originally on our schedule that evening. We are no longer planning to broadcast any games on Saturday, Jan. 21 as of this time.

We are adding two games to our broadcast schedule that were not originally part of it: 
On Friday, Feb. 3, we will broadcast two games simultaneously. We've added the Senior Night for Mt. Vernon's decorated girls basketball senior class as the 3A No. 2 Marauders face 4A No. 5 North Central. Join Chris Lambert for that game, or join Andrew Smith for the Shelbyville at New Palestine boys game that night.

On Tuesday, Feb. 21, join us as Eastern Hancock's boys team visits Morristown.

Weekend hoops

A full schedule of Friday-night games coming up in Hancock County.

Join Andrew & Chris for the live broadcast of Mt. Vernon at Greenfield-Central. The Marauders come in with a 5-3 mark against the toughest schedule in Class 3A, led by C.J. Coleman, Stephen Turner and a a balanced attack. G-C has improved and is always up for this rivalry game. Join us at 7:10 at HancockCountySports.com

Also Friday, Delta (5-3) is at New Palestine (8-1). The Dragons need an HHC win to set up a showdown with 4A No. 10 Pendleton Heights next week. NP has won seven straight, including the county title. The Dragons have a balanced attack, led by Michael Morris, who scored 26 points against Mt. Vernon in the county final.

Eastern Hancock (6-4) visits Muncie Burris (4-5) at Ball Gym, one of the oldest active gymnasiums in the state. The Royals had a good showing in finishing third at the county tourney, led by Victor Vincz and Jared Pyle. EH has some impressive wins on the year -- especially against Blue River, Frankton and Knightstown. Burris has victories over 3A Yorktown and 4A Portage.

On Saturday
Mt. Vernon visits New Castle. The Marauders boys get a turn at the largest high school fieldhouse in the world. This should be one of the stronger games of the year. Our friends at WMDH will provide a broadcast.

Just one girls game this weekend: 3A No. 2 Mt. Vernon (12-3) at Noblesville, which is slated for 1:30 p.m. Saturday. You can listen to the live broadcast of the game with Chris Lambert at HancockCountySports.com.

Tuesday hoops: Successful night for county teams

Three girls basketball games on the Hancock County calendar tonight as we get back to action.

Class 3A No. 3 Mt. Vernon kept its winning ways going, beating Southport 61-42.

Makenzi Reasor scored 25 points to lead the Marauders in scoring. Jessica Brown added 14 points. Junior Rachel Houck had seven and sophomore Erica Moore added six.

 The Marauders built a 33-17 lead at halftime and then finished the game on a 16-4 run after Southport cut into the lead in the fourth quarter.

 MV is now 12-3, and the Marauders' next game is Saturday afternoon at Noblesville. Listen to the game LIVE with Chris Lambert at 1:10 p.m. Saturday at HancockCountySports.com.

Eastern Hancock 43, Southwestern (Shelby) 38: The Royals had great balance, as four different players scored at least eight points for EH in a victory over Southwestern.

Hannah Best led the Royals in scoring with 10 points and six rebounds. Kristen Eischen had eight points and 11 boards. Kiersten Schrope added nine points, six rebounds and six assists. Kaytlin Eastes had eight points,. Alora Marshall added six points and seven rebounds.

The victory gave the Royals a 9-4 record on the season heading into the Thursday 1/12 game against Morristown.

Greenfield-Central 58, Delta 44: The Cougars improved to 9-5 on the season with the victory. G-C is also 4-1 in Hoosier Heritage Conference play, setting a showdown the weekend of Jan. 20 that could be for the HHC title.

The Cougars were led by LaRae Cruz's 20 points. Katie Peters added 17 and Regan Lewis 9 for the Cougars. G-C outscored Delta 17-12 in the second quarter to take a 24-20 halftime lead, and pulled away in the fourth, outscoring the Eagles 19-9 in the last eight minutes to turn a four-point edge into a double-digit victory.

G-C next plays Thursday 1/12 against Knightstown in the Cougars' annual Pink Game.

New Palestine is idle until 1/10, when the Dragons visit Greenwood in the first of two NP GBB games we'll have on HancockCountySports.com next week. Also log on to listen as the Dragons face Triton Central on Thursday 1/12.