NP regional tickets on sale

New Palestine High School has pre-sale tickets to Saturday's Class 4A Shelbyville boys basketball regional on sale through 3 p.m. Friday in the NPHS athletic office.

Tickets are $9 and are good for both sessions.

The Dragons will face Castle in the noon semifinal. The regional championship game will be played at 8 p.m.

Shelbyville regional
10 a.m.: Bloomington South (13-9) vs. Jeffersonville (20-3)
Noon: New Palestine (17-6) vs. Castle (18-4)
8 p.m.: Championship
All New Palestine games will be broadcast by HancockCountySports.com 

Dragons advance to gymnastics regional

The New Palestine gymnastics team finished third in the New Palestine gymnastics sectional Saturday, and advances as a team to Friday's regional at Lafayette Jeff.

 

The Dragons scored 105.975 to nose out Noblesville by four tenths of a point to advance. Roncalli (108.225) and Franklin Central (105.025) finished first and second.

 

Junior Kenzi Hoffman led the Dragons, finishing with a 35.2 all-around score, placing fourth in the all-around competition. Junior Whitney Weileman (32.925) was 11th in the all-around.

 

Hoffman was fourth on vault (9.5), fifth on the floor exercise (8.775), seventh on balance beam (8.425) and ninth on uneven bars (8.5).

 

Weileman was third on uneven bars (9.225) and tied for eighth on vault (9.15).

 

Shelly Huesman was seventh (8.6) on bars. On balance beam, Jessica Marshall placed 10th (8.2).

 

The regional will begin at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Lafayette Jeff. The State Finals are March 17 at Worthen Arena at Ball State University.

Marauders fall in thriller

Mt. Vernon's dream season fell a minute short tonight, as Fort Wayne Concordia hit 67 percent of its shots in the second half and pulled out a 42-39 victory over the Marauders in the Class 3A State Finals tonight at the Hulman Center in Terre Haute.

Jessica Brown scored 17 points -- and factored into all of MV's points in the fourth quarter, scoring nine and dishing two to Anna Olson for a late layup -- but Concordia had an answer for virtually every one, seizing the lead early in the fourth quarter and then keeping the Marauders far enough at arm's length to take the title.

Senior Lauren Marinko scored 17 points for Concordia, and she scored all of the key baskets down the stretch for the Cadets, who won their second title in three years -- beating an HHC team each time. In 2010, Concordia knocked off Rushville in the 3A final.

MV's run ends with a 23-6 record and the first State Finals appearance for the program since 1977. But like that first team 35 years ago, the Marauders took the runner-up trophy.

MV led 30-29 on a Brown jumper early in the fourth, but Concordia's Lauren Marinko -- who scored 15 of her team-high 17 points in the second half -- gave the Cadets the lead back with a layup in traffic, launching a 5-0 run that made it a 34-30 game. Brown scored on a drive on a third-chance rebound and after forcing two straight turnovers, she hit a fast-break jumper from 15 feet to tie the game at 34 with 2:01 remaining. Marinko and Brown each traded two free throws in the next two possessions.

Finally, with 35 seconds left and after two timeouts on the possession, Marinko scored on a drive to give the Cadets a two-point lead. Brown was fouled going to the hoop on the ensuing possession, but split the two free throws, putting MV in must-foul mode. Marinko hit four free throws -- sandwiched in-between an Olson layup -- and Courtney Smith deflected Brown's 3-point shot at the buzzer that would've tied the game to seal it for Concordia.

MV took an early lead and maintained it for much of the first half, with Rachel Houck hitting a big 3-pointer in the final minute of the half to give MV a 16-12 edge going into the break, but Concordia started the third quarter with a 7-0 run -- and hit 9-of-11 shots in the quarter -- to take the lead going into the final eight minutes. 

Brown had 17 points, three steals and two assists for the Marauders. Erica Moore added nine points and four rebounds. Olson had six points and eight rebounds.

Marinko had 17 for Concordia. Breanne Smith came off the bench and hit two big 3-pointers in the third quarter to help the Cadets take the lead. She finished with eight points on 3-of-3 shooting. Courtney Smith had nine points.

Marinko also was awarded the Patricia Roy Mental Attitude Award. 

The game was the final one for Brown, Olson, Makenzi Reasor and Kelsie Owens, who won three county titles, two HHC championships, two sectionals, a regional and a semistate title during their four years -- one of the most decorated classes in county basketball history.

“We had a great year," MV coach Julie Shelton said. "It wasn’t the way we wanted to end it. We battled but we just couldn’t finish. Both teams played very hard. There was great defense. Both teams made runs back and forth but there were never any big leads either way. I thought at the beginning of the third quarter when they hit those three three’s that broke our back a little bit.”

Dragons, Royals both rally tonight

Tonight has to be one of the most memorable nights of sectional hoops in local history, as both New Palestine and Eastern Hancock registered improbable come-from-behind wins to advance to the sectional finals.

New Palestine 61, Whiteland 60: The Dragons had to rally from deficits of 10-0 early and 46-34 late in the third quarter, but did with a huge fourth-quarter run. NP finished with an 8-1 run that allowed them to pull ahead. Trailing 59-53, Josh Penley hit a baseline jumper, then Solomon Haynes forced a steal and fed Justin Ikerd for an open 3-pointer to cut the deficit to one. After Whiteland's Kyle Alford split two free throws, Michael Morris hit a 17-footer from the left wing to tie the game at 60-60 with 25 seconds left.

Whiteland was trying to hold for the last shot, but Haynes stripped the Warriors at midcourt again. He had a breakaway layup, but was fouled from behind with 6.7 seconds left. An intentional foul was called, giving Haynes two free throws and the Dragons the ball. He hit one. NP missed the front end of a one-and-bonus with 3.7 left and Whiteland had an open look from the corner at the horn to win, but Luke Dougherty's shot fell short, allowing the Dragons to pull away with the victory.

Morris scored 16 points -- 14 in the second half -- to lead the Dragons in scoring. Ikerd and Penley each scored 12 -- with Ikerd hitting four of the Dragons' five 3-pointers. Reid Clark hit five shots -- most from outside -- to score 10 points. Brandon Collins added seven first-half points and Haynes scored his four points in the fourth quarter, also adding a key 3-point play midway through the period that launched the Dragons' rally from a double-digit deficit.

Whiteland was led by DeJuan Davis' 17 points and 16 from leading scorer Taylor Robards.

The Dragons advance to face either Franklin Central or Center Grove in the 7:30 p.m. Saturday championship game at CG. FC leads CG 33-16 at halftime.

A full archive of the game can be found here!

Eastern Hancock 71, Cambridge City Lincoln 64: The Royals scored 16 points in the OT session and rallied from a late five-point deficit in an improbable way. Playing without leading scorer Victor Vincz due to an injury, the Royals also had two starters foul out in the fourth quarter. EH trailed 27-18 at halftime and 55-50 in the closing seconds. But Garrett Hancock was fouled on a 3-pointer and in the ensuing melee, a CCL player was called for a technical foul. Hancock hit all five free throws to tie the game up. EH missed a shot that would've sent the game to OT, but pulled away in the extra session.

Hancock had 22 points for EH. CCL senior Zac Rea led all scorers with 34 points.

EH is now 12-10, and will face either Centerville or Union County in Saturday's sectional final at Hagerstown.

Also Saturday: Listen to the 3A girls basketball State Finals: Mt. Vernon vs. Fort Wayne Concordia. Live broadcast begins at 5:30 p.m. from the Hulman Center at HancockCountySports.com!

Huge weekend of hoops!

We have a HUGE weekend of hoops in Hancock County, and therefore, at HancockCountySports.com!

Friday night, the New Palestine Dragons and Eastern Hancock Royals will both be in action, and both be playing at 6 p.m.

The Dragons (15-6) will face Whiteland (10-10) in the first semifinal of the 4A Center Grove sectional, which you can listen to live at HancockCountySports.com. The winner will face either Center Grove or Franklin Central in Saturday night's championship game. The game is a rematch of the Dragons' 88-81 loss to the Warriors on Jan. 21, in which New Palestine's Michael Morris (23), Josh Penley (20) and Brandon Collins (18) all had strong scoring games.

Meanwhile, the Eastern Hancock Royals (11-10) meet the Cambridge City Lincoln Golden Eagles (10-10) in the semifinals of the 2A Hagerstown sectional. EH advanced with a 69-51 victory over Hagerstown in the first round. CCL drew a first-round bye and is playing its first game in the tourney, and has dropped three straight to Centerville, Greenfield-Central and Winchester at the end of the season. The game matches two big scorers, as Victor Vincz is the county's leading scorer, having poured in 23 vs. Hagerstown, and Zac Rea of CCL is capable of putting up big offensive numbers. We will have continuous updates during our broadcast of Whiteland-NP.

On Saturday, the second-ranked Mt. Vernon Marauders (25-2) meet the seventh-ranked Fort Wayne Concordia Cadets for the Class 3A state championship in girls basketball. Our pregame show will begin at 5:15 p.m. at HancockCountySports.com!

Tuesday's games

All four Hancock County teams were in action Tuesday night, and two remain alive in the IHSAA boys basketball tournament.

New Palestine and Eastern Hancock both posted first-round sectional wins and advanced to Friday night. Greenfield-Central and Mt. Vernon both fell in their openers.

New Palestine 51, Franklin 45: Michael Morris had 18 points as the Dragons pulled away from the Grizzly Cubs in the second half. NP improved to 15-6 on the season with the victory. NP trailed 10-4 early and was behind 20-19 at the half before rallying to take the lead in the third quarter and never relinquishing it. Morris hit several shots down the stretch to lead the Dragons. NP outscored Franklin 12-5 in the third to take a 31-25 lead going into the final eight minutes.

Morris hit 8-of-12 shots from the floor to score his 18 points, and also had seven rebounds. Josh Penley had 13 points and nine boards. Brandon Collins had eight points and three rebounds. Solomon Haynes added seven points. Reid Clark had five rebounds inside.

The Dragons will advance to play Whiteland on Friday night, a rematch of the Warriors' 88-81 win on Jan. 21. The game will tip off at 6 p.m., join Andrew & Chris for the play-by-play at 5:35 at HancockCountySports.com.

Eastern Hancock 68, Hagerstown 51: A big second quarter turned a 9-8 lead into a 30-16 halftime edge, and the Royals kept pulling away from there. Victor Vincz scored 23 points to help EH avenge a defeat from Friday night.

The Royals are now 11-10 on the year. They will face Cambridge City Lincoln at 6 p.m. Friday at Hagerstown.

Guerin Catholic 35, Mt. Vernon 28: Both teams' defenses were stifling, holding the opponent to below 35 percent shooting. But the 10th-ranked Golden Eagles used theirs to take a lead in the third quarter, turning a couple of steals by Riley Rapp and a couple of charges taken by Zach Hufford to get the defensive stands, and cashed in on the other end. Guerin turned a 15-13 halftime deficit into a 23-20 lead going into the fourth, and then used a two-minute possession that ended in an Aaron Brennan putback with 4:05 left that made it 25-20.

MV had two open 3-pointers to tie the game in the final two and a half minutes, but both were long and Guerin was able to secure the rebound.

C.J. Coleman had 12 points to lead MV. Anthony Burnett added nine. Stephen Turner had 10 boards. Bryan Hall scored 10 points -- including five fourth-quarter free throws to help put the game away -- to lead Guerin. Brennan, a solid sophomore who has been drawing major college interest, had nine points and seven rebounds.

MV's season ends at 13-8. Guerin is now 18-5 and advances to face Howe in Friday's semifinals.

Interestingly, Tuesday's game was the second-fewest points ever allowed by Mt. Vernon in a tournament game (and the fewest ever allowed in a sectional game). The only game that eclipsed it was a 45-30 regional victory against Greensburg in 2010. The 28 points were the fewest scored by MV in a tournament game.

Connersville 58, Greenfield-Central 27: The Spartans knocked off G-C for the second time in a week. Connersville jumped out to a 33-12 halftime edge and never looked back in the victory. G-C's season finishes at 3-18. Connersville will face #2 Pendleton Heights in Friday's semifinal.

Local sectional glances
Class 2A at Hagerstown
Tuesday's game
Eastern Hancock 68, Hagerstown 51
Wednesday's games
Northeastern (10-9) vs. Union County (18-2), 6 p.m.
Centerville (16-4) vs. Knightstown (1-19), 7:30 p.m.
Friday's games
Cambridge City Lincoln (10-10) vs. Eastern Hancock (11-10), 6 p.m.
Wednesday's winners, 7:30 p.m.
Winner goes to: Connersville regional, will face Broad Ripple sectional winner in first semi. Second semi: Triton Central vs. South Putnam sectional winners.

Class 3A at Mt. VernonTuesday's games
Chatard 67, Arlington 61

Guerin Catholic 35, Mt. Vernon 28

Friday's games
Brebeuf (10-9) vs. Chatard (14-8), 6 p.m.
Howe (8-13) vs. Guerin Catholic (18-5), 7:30 p.m.
Winner goes to: Greencastle regional, will face Beech Grove sectional winner in the first semi. Second semi: Greencastle vs. Frankfort sectional winners

Class 4A at New Castle (Greenfield-Central)
Tuesday's games
Richmond 57, Anderson 55
Connersville 58, Greenfield-Central 27
Friday's games 
New Castle (15-5) vs. Richmond (20-3), 6 p.m.
#2 Pendleton Hts. (21-2) vs. Connersville (13-10), 7:30 p.m.
 Winner goes to: Hinkle regional, will face Northview sectional winner in the second semifinal. First semi: Tech vs. Southport sectional winners
(Tech-Southport--North-view-NC/ BS-Seymour, Evansville-C. Grove)

Class 4A at Center Grove (New Palestine)
Tuesday's games
New Palestine 51, Franklin 45
Franklin Central 59, Greenwood 36 

Friday's games 
Whiteland (10-10) vs. New Palestine (15-6), 6 p.m. (HancockCountySports.com LIVE broadcast)

Center Grove (11-9) vs. Franklin Central (13-9), 7:30 p.m.
Winner goes to: Shelbyville regional, will face Evansville sectional winner in the second semifinal. First semi: Bloomington South vs. Seymour sectional champs.

Sectional week!

It's sectional week. Here are the local pairings. HancockCountySports.com will have broadcasts each night the local teams play! All four Hancock County teams are in action Tuesday. Remember to join us for the live broadcast of Mt. Vernon vs. Guerin Catholic on Tuesday, a semifinal game on Friday (we'll tell you which one Tuesday night!) and the girls State Finals on Saturday, with Mt. Vernon facing Fort Wayne Concordia in Terre Haute.

Class 2A at Hagerstown
Tuesday's game
Eastern Hancock (10-10) vs. Hagerstown (12-8), 7 p.m.
Wednesday's games
Northeastern (10-9) vs. Union County (18-2), 6 p.m.
Centerville (16-4) vs. Knightstown (1-19), 7:30 p.m.
Friday's game
Cambridge City Lincoln (10-10) vs. EH-Hagerstown winner, 6 p.m.
Wednesday's winners, 7:30 p.m.
Winner goes to: Connersville regional, will face Broad Ripple sectional winner in first semi. Second semi: Triton Central vs. South Putnam sectional winners.

Class 3A at Mt. Vernon
Tuesday's games
Chatard (13-8) vs. Arlington (8-13), 6 p.m.
Mt. Vernon (13-7) vs. Guerin Catholic (17-5), 7:30 p.m. (broadcast: HancockCountySports.com) Friday's games
Brebeuf (10-9) vs. Chatard-Arlington winner, 6 p.m.
Howe (8-13) vs. MV-Guerin winner, 7:30 p.m.
Winner goes to: Greencastle regional, will face Beech Grove sectional winner in the first semi. Second semi: Greencastle vs. Frankfort sectional winners

Class 4A at New Castle (Greenfield-Central)
Tuesday's games
Richmond (19-3) vs. Anderson (9-12), 6 p.m.
Greenfield-Central (3-17) at Connersville (12-10), 7:30 p.m.
Friday's games 
New Castle (15-5) vs. Richmond-Anderson winner, 6 p.m.
#2 Pendleton Hts. (21-2) vs. GC-Connersville winner, 7:30 p.m.
 Winner goes to: Hinkle regional, will face Northview sectional winner in the second semifinal. First semi: Tech vs. Southport sectional winners
(Tech-Southport--North-view-NC/ BS-Seymour, Evansville-C. Grove)

Class 4A at Center Grove (New Palestine)
Tuesday's games
Franklin (8-13) vs. New Palestine (14-6), 6 p.m.
Greenwood (4-16) vs. Franklin Central (12-9), 7:30 p.m.
Friday's games 
Whiteland (10-10) vs. Franklin-NP winner, 6 p.m.
Center Grove (11-9) vs. Greenwood-FC winner, 7:30 p.m.
Winner goes to: Shelbyville regional, will face Evansville sectional winner in the second semifinal. First semi: Bloomington South vs. Seymour sectional champs.

This week at HancockCountySports.com

Keep up with the action this week at HancockCountySports.com!

Tuesday night, log on as the Mt. Vernon Marauders (13-7) open sectional play against the Guerin Catholic Golden Eagles (17-5). Andrew & Chris have the call at 7:15 p.m.

On Friday night, our broadcast week continues with sectional semifinal action featuring one of the four county schools. Check this space on Wednesday to see what game we'll do!

On Saturday, we'll be in Terre Haute as the second-ranked Marauders (23-5) play for the IHSAA Class 3A state championship against the Fort Wayne Concordia Cadets. Join our crew at 5:30 p.m. for the pregame and the tipoff at 6 p.m.

Marauders advance to State Finals

Mt. Vernon is advancing to the girls basketball State Finals for the first time in 35 years, as the Marauders beat Madison 70-54 today to win the IHSAA 3A Southport semistate title.

MV had another great start, holding a team to one field goal in the first quarter and building a double-digit lead for the third straight game. MV led 14-3 after a quarter and pushed it to 35-17 by halftime. Jessica Brown got the Marauders started, scoring 12 points in the opening eight minutes and finishing with 25 -- also helping MV salt the game away in the fourth with nine points in the final stanza.

Rachel Houck was the run-killer for MV. She hit five 3-pointers and scored 17 points, and nearly every one in the second half seemed to come as Madison was threatening to make a comeback. The Cubs cut MV's lead to 37-24 in the third, and the Marauders responded with six straight points. Madison got as close as 63-54 in the final two minutes, but MV put it away at the line.

Erica Moore also had a strong game, scoring 12 points. Makenzi Reasor, Anna Olson and Kelsie Owens also had big plays at big moments. Owens hit two crucial 3-pointers -- MV hit eight in total -- and Olson quarterbacked the Marauders' defense.

Kelsey Block had a big offensive game for Madison, scoring 21 points. Cadie Polivari added 10 off the bench, including 8-of-12 from the line. 

As a result, MV (23-5) earned a berth to the State Finals, where the second-ranked Marauders will face No. 7 Fort Wayne Concordia, which beat Western 46-35 today to win the Warsaw semistate. Concordia is 20-5, having knocked off Hamilton Heights and #3 NorthWood to win the regional last week. The Cadets, coached by ninth-year bench boss David Miller, defeated Rushville in the State Finals to win the 3A title in 2010.

The MV-Concordia game will be at 6 p.m. Saturday. Join our crew at HancockCountySports.com for the worldwide broadcast beginning at 5:30 p.m.

Semistate Saturday

We have girls hoops forthcoming on Saturday: Join Andrew Smith, Chris Lambert and Greg Elkins for all of the play-by-play as the Mt. Vernon Marauders (22-5) meet the Madison Cubs (18-7) with a State Finals berth on the line.

The broadcast begins at 12:30 p.m. at HancockCountySports.com

Friday wrap: MV forges 3-way tie for second in HHC

Mt. Vernon emphatically forged a tie for second place in the Hoosier Heritage Conference tonight, knocking off the Yorktown Tigers 61-34 on the road tonight.

MV never trailed, jumping out to leads of 7-0, 13-8 and 28-18 in the first half, before using a 21-4 second-half run to pull ahead 54-26.

As a result, Mt. Vernon, New Palestine and Yorktown all tied for 2nd in the HHC at 5-2. 

On Yorktown's senior night, youth reigned for MV. Sophomore guard C.J. Coleman scored 24 points for the Marauders -- 17 in the middle quarters as MV pulled away. Freshman guard Dan Werner hit three 3-pointers -- MV hit seven as a team -- and scored 13 points. Stephen Turner added seven to go along with strong play on the glass and on defense.

MV began to push the game out of reach in the final 20 seconds of the second quarter. Trailing by six, Yorktown missed an open 3-pointer, Coleman rebounded, drew a foul and hit two free throws. On the ensuing possession, Anthony Burnett turned a midcourt steal into a breakaway layup at the buzzer to push MV's lead to 28-18. It never was cut below eight the rest of the way.

Hogan Crenshaw scored nine for Yorktown. The Tigers finished 14-7, the Marauders 13-7. MV opens sectional play at home Tuesday against Guerin Catholic (17-5) in a game that will be broadcast by HancockCountySports.com

New Palestine 53, Greenwood 37: Michael Morris scored 20 points and Brandon Collins added 14 points and seven boards to lead the Dragons to their 14th victory of the season.

NP jumped ahead 19-7 after a quarter and led 35-21 at the half. They pushed it to 47-33 after three before holding Greenwood to four fourth-quarter points

Reid Clark had nine points for NP. Josh Penley added six points and six boards. Solomon Haynes added four assists.

By virtue of MV's win tonight, the Dragons finished in a three-way tie for second in the HHC with Mt. Vernon and Yorktown. NP is 14-6 overall and opens sectional play at Center Grove at 6 p.m. Tuesday against Franklin.

Hagerstown 53, Eastern Hancock 50: The Royals and Tigers met in the first half of their doubleheader, and Hagerstown took this one in a back-and-forth tussle.

Victor Vincz had 19 points, while Jared Pyle had a double-double with 10 points and 15 boards. Isaiah McCormick (7 points) and Cody Clark (6 points) also had strong games for the Royals, who finish the regular season 10-10.

The scene shifts to Hagerstown on Tuesday for the sectional matchup between the same two teams. Tipoff is 7 p.m.

Greenfield-Central (3-17) was idle tonight. The Cougars open sectional play Tuesday against Connersville

Tuesday wrap: great matchups

All 3 county teams who played tonight fell as the final week of the regular season began tonight, but all three fell in their Tuesday-night contests.

Morristown 80, Eastern Hancock 68: The Royals and Yellow Jackets hooked up in a back-and-forth tussle that saw Morristown pull away in the final five minutes. A big reason why was the play of 6-foot-4 Morristown senior Dylan Langkabel. He had 44 points -- 30 in the second half -- to carry the Yellow Jackets to the victory.

Langkabel scored 15 points in each the third and fourth quarters and helped the Jackets pull away. EH led 31-30 at the half and had a 38-32 lead in the third quarter, but Langkabel led an 8-1 run that saw Morristown take the lead at 40-39. He also hit a 3-pointer and a pull-up jumper on back-to-back possessions to turn a three-point edge into a 65-57 game and essentially put it away midway through the fourth.

Victor Vincz followed up his 52-point game from last week by leading four Royals in double-figures, with 24 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Isaiah McCormick had 13 points, including three 3-pointers. Garrett Hancock also hit three triples -- EH hit 10 for the game -- and scored 11 points. Jared Pyle battled foul trouble but finished with 12 points and five rebounds. Cody Wallace had six rebounds.

You can listen to the archive of tonight's game at HancockCountySports.com

EH (10-9) finishes Friday against Hagerstown.

Westfield 59, Mt. Vernon 52: The Marauders dropped their third straight game -- all against 4A schools -- against a strong Shamrocks team on the road.

Stephen Turner led the Marauders with 19 points and 10 rebounds. C.J. Coleman scored 15. Center Wade Burtron led Westfield with 21 points.

Westfield built an early 10-point lead. MV cut it to one on several occasions, but couldn't get over the hump, as Westfield outscored the Marauders 26-20 in the fourth quarter.

MV is now 12-7 and finishes the regular season Friday at Yorktown. That game will be live at HancockCountySports.com

Connersville 59, Greenfield-Central 29: The Cougars hung tough for a half, trailing 26-23 at the break, but Connersville started the second half on a big run and outscored G-C 33-6 after the break to pull away.

G-C finishes the regular season 3-17, and opens sectional play Tuesday at New Castle against the same Spartan team it played tonight.

New Palestine was idle tonight, and finishes the regular season Friday at Greenwood. NP is 13-6.

Gymnastics
New Palestine posts season-high score:New Palestine's gymnastics team posted a season-high score in a 103.0-85.725 victory over the Shelbyville Golden Bears.

 

Kenzi Hoffman swept the meet, winning first place in all four events and the all-around. She scored 9.05 on vault, 8.85 on uneven bars, 9.225 on balance beam and 9.025 on the floor exercise. Her winning all-around score was 36.150. Senior Jessica Marshall placed second on beam (9.0) and in all-around (32.975). Ciarra Hough was second on floor (8.725) and third in all-around (30.275). Whitney Weileman was second on vault (8.3) and bars (8.6).Maddie Wallace and Julie Hilton tied for fourth on vault (8.15).

 

The Dragons' next meet will be Saturday's Columbus East Olympian Invitational, which will begin at noon.

 

Upcoming broadcasts

HancockCountySports.com will open sectional play on Tuesday, Feb. 28 as the Mt. Vernon Marauders meet the Guerin Catholic Golden Eagles. Join Andrew & Chris at 7:15 p.m. for the live play-by-play of the opening round of the sectional.

HancockCountySports.com will have a broadcast each night a local team is playing in the state tournament. Keep checking here or on our Facebook/Twitter feeds to find out upcoming matchups.

This week, we'll have Eastern Hancock vs. Morristown boys on Tuesday and Mt. Vernon vs. Yorktown boys on Friday. Both broadcasts begin at 7:10 p.m.

Saturday afternoon, log on at 12:30 p.m. to listen as the second-ranked Marauder girls meet the Madison Cubs in the Southport semistate.

HancockCountySports.com is your home for live coverage of high school sports in Hancock County!

Boys sectional draw

We'll fill in the blanks on the boys sectional pairings as we get them.

This year, the county schools will feed into 4 different sectionals.


All championship games will be Saturday, March 3. Big IF here: if Mt. Vernon is playing in both the girls basketball State Finals on March 3 and advances to the boys sectional final, the Mt. Vernon sectional championship game will be played Monday, March 5.

Class 2A at Hagerstown
Tuesday's game
Eastern Hancock (10-8) vs. Hagerstown (10-8)
Wednesday's games
Northeastern (9-9) vs. Union County (16-2)
Centerville (14-4) vs. Knightstown (1-17)
Friday's game
Cambridge City Lincoln (10-8) vs. EH-Hagerstown winner
Wednesday's winners
Winner goes to: Connersville regional, will face Broad Ripple sectional winner in first semi. Second semi: Triton Central vs. South Putnam sectional winners.

Class 3A at Mt. Vernon
Tuesday's games
Chatard (12-8) vs. Arlington (7-12)
Mt. Vernon (12-6) vs. Guerin Catholic (16-5)

Friday's games
Brebeuf (10-8) vs. Chatard-Arlington winner
Howe (7-12) vs. MV-Guerin winner
Winner goes to: Greencastle regional, will face Beech Grove sectional winner in the first semi. Second semi: Greencastle vs. Frankfort sectional winners


Class 4A at New Castle (Greenfield-Central)
Tuesday's games
Richmond (18-3) vs. Anderson (8-11)
Greenfield-Central (3-16) at Connersville (11-10)
Friday's games 
New Castle (14-4) vs. Richmond-Anderson winner
#4 Pendleton Hts. (19-2) vs. GC-Connersville winner
Winner goes to: Hinkle regional, will face Northview sectional winner in the second semifinal. First semi: Tech vs. Southport sectional winners
(Tech-Southport--North-view-NC/ BS-Seymour, Evansville-C. Grove)


Class 4A at Center Grove (New Palestine)
Tuesday's games
Franklin (8-12) vs. New Palestine (13-6)
Greenwood (4-14) vs. Franklin Central (11-9)
Friday's games 
Whiteland (10-9) vs. Franklin-NP winner
Center Grove (11-8) vs. Greenwood-FC winner
Winner goes to: Shelbyville regional, will face Evansville sectional winner in the second semifinal. First semi: Bloomington South vs. Seymour sectional champs. 

Saturday wrap: G-C wins swim sectional; 2 runner-up wrestlers

Wrapup of Saturday's events: 
Wrestling
Two Hancock County wrestlers were state runners-up tonight at the IHSAA State Finals.

Greenfield-Central's Josh Farrell (138) and New Palestine's Connor Robinson (160) both advanced through the quarter and semifinals to the spotlight matches, where each dropped a decision and finished as the state runner-up -- a tremendous accomplishment for both.

Farrell (39-4) lost to unbeaten Devon Jackson of Yorktown (52-0) by a 12-2 major decision in the 138-pound final. He won two 4-3 decisions -- over SB St. Joe's Mitchell Hartman and Evansville Mater Dei's Jake Lannert -- to advance to the spotlight match. A junior, Farrell will likely be a favorite to return to the Fiedhouse next year.

Robinson (39-9) rallied in the third period to defeat TH South's Tsali Lough 8-5, then beat Perry Meridian's Kirk Johnson 3-2 in OT to get to the championship match, which he fell to unbeaten Brian Harvey of Cathedral by a 12-4 major decision.

Two other county wrestlers placed fifth. At 113, NP's Tommy Cash (45-2) lost his quarterfinal match 7-1 to the eventual state champion, Hanover Central sophomore Stevan Micic. Cash's only two losses this season came to the state champ and state runner-up, Nathan Boston of LN at the semistate round. Cash beat Perry Meridian's Jacob Coffey 4-0 and Penn's Zachary Davis 8-2 to wrestle back to fifth. At 195, G-C's Ian Early lost to eventual runner-up Kourtney Berry of Merrillville by a first-period fall in the quarters. Early then beat Westfield's Taylor DeLong 6-0 and Avon's Dylan Jones 3-1 to wrestle back to fifth place.

Boys swimming
Greenfield-Central won the boys swimming sectional title, totaling 433 points to outdistance second-place Mt. Vernon (337) and third-place New Palestine (284). With 50 points, Eastern Hancock placed 10th.

Several local swimmers will move on out of the sectional to next week's State Finals at the IUPUI Natatorium.

From Greenfield-Central, the 200 medley relay of Josh Cummins, Jon McCormick, James Young and Austin Wilburn (1:39.62) moved on. So did the 200 free relay of Patrick Stutz, Cody Wilburn, Young and Austin Wilburn (1:28.50). The same quartet also moved on in the 400 free relay (3:15.71).

Mt. Vernon's David Hantz (100 backstroke, 55.11) and Kenny Gilpin (100 breaststroke, 59.15) will also advance to next week's State Finals.

MV's David Cochran won the diving competition and will join G-C's Nathan Graber and Austin Gaunt at the diving regional next week.

New Palestine's Jake Greig is moving on in two events: the 50 freestyle (22.31) and 100 freestyle (48.32).

Boys basketball
Greenfield-Central 55, Cambridge City Lincoln 51: The Cougars won for the second time in three games and sent senior David Johnston off with a victory on Senior Night.

Mason Irbe scored 21 points and Jordan Keener 16 to lead the Cougars. Grant Wolfe added eight and Drew Dougherty seven for G-C, which overcame a 23-point night from CCL standout Zac Rea.

The Cougars are now 3-16.They close the regular season Tuesday at Connersville.

Upcoming broadcasts
HancockCountySports.com will broadcast three basketball games next week, so log on and join our crew for the live sports coverage!

• Tuesday: Eastern Hancock at Morristown, 7:10 p.m.
• Friday: Mt. Vernon at Yorktown, 7:10 p.m.
• Saturday: Girls basketball semistate, Mt. Vernon vs. Madison, TBA

Marauders win regional title

Second verse, same as the first.

In the morning semifinal, Mt. Vernon held Lebanon without a field goal for the first 7:50 en route to building a double-digit first-quarter lead and cruising to a 20-point victory. In the second game, the Marauders had a similar start, jumping ahead of No. 10 Edgewood and holding the Mustangs without a field goal for the entire first quarter en route to a 56-38 victory.

MV led Edgewood 15-2 after a quarter, built it to 30-15 by halftime despite batting foul trouble, and continued to extend the lead through the rest of the game.

The Marauders won their first regional championship since 2005 and improved to 22-5 on the season. All five of their tournament victories have been by at least 20 points.

Jessica Brown led MV with 17 points, while Rachel Houck added 16 -- 34 for the day -- and Makenzi Reasor scored 12.

The Marauders will play Madison (18-7) in next week's semistate. The time & location will be announced Sunday. We will pass it along as soon as we know it, and we'll broadcast the game live at HancockCountySports.com!

Re-live the Marauders' victory through our archive at HancockCountySports.com!

Friday wrap: Dragons beat MV 61-38

New Palestine was impressive tonight, scoring the game's first 13 points and holding MV without a field goal for the first 4+ minutes of each of the first two quarters. The Dragons then staved off every Marauder run from the end of the first quarter on en route to a 61-38 victory over MV Friday night.

NP's defense was strong, holding the Marauders to 26 percent shooting in the contest. Meanwhile, the Dragons hit 52 percent from the floor (21-of-40).

Justin Ikerd was key in the early run, hitting two 3-pointers to give the Dragons an 8-0 edge, which was later pushed to 13-0. Michael Morris scored seven first-half points and Ikerd nine. NP's lead was never inside double-digits after the quick start. NP led 15-5 after a quarter, and after a Marauder run at the end of the first half, Solomon Haynes hit an off-balance 3-pointer to make it a 25-11 game at the break.

The Dragons continued to get strong balance and defense in pulling ahead 41-21 after three quarters.

Morris had 16 points on 5-of-10 shooting, to go along with seven rebounds. The Dragons held a 32-21 rebounding edge. Ikerd hit four 3-pointers for his 14 points. Solomon Haynes had eight points and four boards. Reid Clark added eight points on 4-of-6 shooting, seven rebounds and four assists. Josh Penley had six points, four assists and contributed strong defense with five steals. Brandon Jonas had five rebounds as New Palestine had contributions from everywhere. Wade Whitaker contributed strong defense off the bench, and Brandon Collins did the same, with five points and four boards.

NP is now 13-6 and 5-2 in HHC play, with a game next Friday at Greenwood. MV is 12-6 (4-2) with two games remaining -- Tuesday at Westfield and Friday at Yorktown. The Yorktown game will be broadcast live by HancockCountySports.com.


Rushville 56, Greenfield-Central 39: The game was close early, but Rushville pulled ahead in the second quarter.

Jordan Keener had 19 points to lead the Cougars (2-16). Dallas Pribble added eight points and Mason Irbe five for G-C. The Cougars are back in action Saturday, honoring senior David Johnston on Senior Night when they host Cambridge City Lincoln.

Eastern Hancock was idle tonight. The Royals (10-8) will next play Tuesday at Morristown. Listen to the game LIVE at HancockCountySports.com.

Wrestling
Seven Hancock County wrestlers competed tonight in the IHSAA State Finals round of 16. Four -- two each from Greenfield-Central and New Palestine -- advanced to the quarterfinals with Friday-night victories at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

G-C junior Josh Farrell, the semistate champ at 138, defeated Franklin's Jacob Stevenson with a 23-8 tech fall to move on. Farrell (37-3) will meet South Bend Clay's Mitchell Hartman (44-5) in the quarterfinals.

At 195, G-C's Ian Early (40-2) defeated Spencer Raypole of Carroll (Allen) 5-4 to advance. Early will face Kourtney Berry (30-0) of Merrilville in the quarters. Berry was the Merrillville semistate champ.

At 160, New Palestine's Connor Robinson -- who has put together a string of big tournament victories -- improved to 37-8 with a 10-5 victory over Leo's Isaac Steury. Robinson will meet Tsali Lough (45-2) of Terre Haute South in the quarters. Lough is the Evansville semistate champ.

At 106, NP's Tommy Cash improved to 44-1 with an 11-4 decision over Evansville Memorial's Damon Kuhn. Cash will meet Hanover Central's Stevan Micic (44-0) in the quarterfinals. Micic is the Merrillville semistate champ.

Three county wrestlers were defeated in their first-round matches. NP's Taylor Fee (113) lost by fall in his first-round match to undefeated Fort Wayne semistate champ Jared Brooks of Warsaw. G-C's Sam Locke (126) fell in a 5-0 decision to Yorktown's Chandler Carroll. G-C's Austin Gearlds lost by fall at 220 to Aaron See of Northview.

Hoops tonight, hoops tomorrow

We have a BIG broadcast tonight as the Mt. Vernon Marauders (12-5) host the New Palestine Dragons (12-6).

HancockCountySports.com is the ONLY place where you can get a LIVE broadcast of tonight's game, and the only place to get live broadcast coverage of all of the county schools.

The Marauders come in having won six of seven and are playing very well. Led by guard C.J. Coleman -- who has topped the 20-point mark on multiple occasions this season -- MV is looking to seal up second place in the HHC. The Dragons are looking to bounce back from Tuesday's 68-64 home loss to a solid Westfield team. Reid Clark posted his second straight double-double and Brandon Collins scored 15 points for the Dragons. Michael Morris had hit double-figures in nine straight games.

Log on at 7:10 p.m. to join Andrew & Chris for the play-by-play.

Saturday, join Andrew Smith, Chris Lambert and Greg Elkins for the play-by-play as the Marauder girls team opens regional play. Join us at 9:30 a.m. for the pregame show as the Marauders meet Lebanon in the opening round, with the tip at 10 a.m. Then, should the Marauders win, we'll be back on-line that evening for the championship at HancockCountySports.com!

Then, on Tuesday night, join us as the Eastern Hancock Royals visit the Morristown Yellow Jackets. The Royals are coming off a week where they've received national attention for Victor Vincz's 52-point game in the 92-91 victory over Alexandria and Mitch Yeagy's 51 points, believed to be the only time in Indiana history where two players have hit 50 in a game. Morristown has its own big scorer in Dylan Langkabel. Join us at 7:10 p.m. for the broadcast at HancockCountySports.com!

Other games tonight:
Greenfield-Central (2-15) at Rushville (4-12): With both teams sitting on one HHC win, conference positioning is up for grabs in Memorial Gymnasium tonight. The Cougars are looking for their second straight victory after last week's buzzer-beater against Knightstown.

Just 1 boys game Saturday: Cambridge City Lincoln (10-8) at Greenfield-Central: The Cougars host Senior Night against Cambridge City Lincoln and big-scorer Zac Rea. Assuming the Marauders are playing Saturday night, we'll have updates during the game.

5 county players in Top 100

Hoosier Basketball Magazine has released its top 100 seniors list this year, and naturally with the strength of this year's senior class, five Hancock County basketball players are on the list:

*-Jessica Brown, Mt. Vernon (1,000 point career scorer, area leader in assists)
*-LaRae Cruz, Greenfield-Central (county's leading scorer)
*-Bethany Murrell, New Palestine (15 ppg, 7 rpg, strong all-around player, Fla. Gulf Coast recruit)
*-Anna Olson, Mt. Vernon (strong defensive player, MV's leading rebounder)
*-Makenzi Reasor, Mt. Vernon (14 ppg scorer, ISU recruit)

Wednesday wrap: NP gymnasts win

The Dragon gymnasts beat Tri 98.675-38.375 Wednesday at NPE. 

 

The Dragons won all four events, with Kenzi Hoffman winning the vault (8.6), balance beam (9.35) and floor exercise (8.85) and placing second on uneven bars (8.025). She naturally took the all-around competition (34.825). 

 

Jessica Marshall was second in all-around (32.025), with a second-place finish on balance beam (8.825) and floor (7.9). Whitney Weileman was third in all-around (31.1), including a victory on uneven bars (8.4). She was second on vault (8.55) and third on balance beam (6.775). 

 

NP swept the top six places in the vault. Also placing in the top three for NP were Julie Hilton (3rd, vault 8.35), Shelly Huesman (3rd, bars, 7.675) and Ciarra Hough (3rd, floor, 7.375). 

 

The Dragons visit Morristown Thursday for a 3-way meet with Richmond.