2013-14 JV

 

 

News and Tribune - All Area Team
3/212014 by Greg Mengelt (Evening News)

CHARLESTOWN — Charlestown junior guard Kaitlynn Henning averaged 19.8 points per game, shot 54 percent from the field and 44 percent from the 3-point line. She’s a strong defender and a revered teammate.

There’s only one thing holding Henning back from being greater and helping the Pirates reach new heights, first-year Pirate coach Michael Prichard said. She needs to be a little more selfish.

“I’m hoping next year she [averages] 25 to 28 [points],” Prichard said. “She won’t take bad shots, but she needs to take more shots. She averaged 13 shots a game. I’d like her to take 18 to 20.”

“I think she likes to get everyone involved,” senior teammate Megan Brooks said. “She’s not cocky at all. She’s a leader. She’s amazing.”

The problem is Henning would prefer to get other Pirates involved in the offense.

“All kinds of people tell me that I need to shoot more, but I like to get the ball to my teammates,” she explained. “I guess I do need to work on shooting more.”

Despite her coach’s criticism, Henning is the News and Tribune’s choice as the 2013-14 Player of the Year.

“I think it’s a great big accomplishment,” Henning said of the honor. “I’ve been working for this my whole life. It’s an experience that I like to live and I’m just grateful that I got this.”

Henning was outstanding all season, scoring in double-figures in every game but one. She was at her best at the end of the year.

With the exception of a Feb. 4 win over Rock Creek in which she only played a few minutes, Henning scored at least 18 points in 13 consecutive games. She shot over 50 percent in 13 of her final 14 games of 2014 with the exception being an 8 for 18 night in a 65-58 loss to New Albany.

“She’s the best shooter I have seen when wide open,” Prichard said.

“She’s the spark to everything,” Brooks added. “When the ball’s in her hands, I know it’s always taken care of.”

Henning didn’t only shine on the offensive end. She averaged 2.9 steals per contest and had some standout defensive performance, including holding Corydon Central star Marie Rothrock to seven points.

“She’s an undervalued defender,” Prichard said. “Kaitlynn can defend.”

“Defense is something you have to work hard at,” Henning said. “It’s toughness. A big key to it is getting into passing lanes. Once you do, you likely will get some steals and some easy layups.”

Henning rose to the occasion in the Pirates’ biggest games. In their first signature win of the year — a 76-62 upset of Scottsburg — she went 13 for 18 for 33 points. She knocked down three of her four 3-point attempts, had four steals and a pair of assists. She went over 1,000 points with 7 for 12, 20-point performance in a 59-45 win over North Harrison in Charlestown’s regular-season finale.

In the sectional, Henning had games of 28, 20 and 18 in helping Charlestown into the championship game before the Pirates fell to Madison in the title game.

“The pressure is something I like to put on myself,” she said. “The big games are exciting. That’s when I like to perform my best.”

“She’s a competitor,” Prichard said. “She wants to do well and I think she’s conscious of her performance and she knows when games are big. She really doesn’t get caught up in the moment. Her demeanor is almost always the same.”

In Henning’s three seasons, the Pirates have gone from four wins her freshman year to 10 last season to 15 in Charlestown’s first campaign under Prichard. Although Prichard certainly gets his share of credit for the turnaround in 2013-14, he said the process was made easier by having a player like Henning who he could count on every night.

“It’s nice to have someone who’s pretty dependable,” Prichard said. “It was nice to have someone who can put points on the board and you can always count on that. You’re almost always going to get about 20 [points] with her. It’s a reassuring feeling, from that standpoint.”

Charlestown will lose several key players to graduation this spring, including Brooks, but with Henning and classmate Justice Burdin returning next season, Charlestown expects to have a Mid-Southern Conference and sectional contender in 2014-15.

“We want to continue to improve on what we started this year,” Prichard said. “The expectations are still high.”

“We’re losing some big seniors,” Henning noted. “I’m going to have to become more of a voal leader and leader on the court.”


NEWS AND TRIBUNE 2013-14 ALL-AREA TEAM

FIRST TEAM

• Kaitlyn Henning, Charlestown Jr. (Player of the Year)
• Aurreeshae Hines, Jeffersonville, Sr.
• Ashley Johnson, New Washington Sr.
• Natalie Ruedinger, Borden So.
• Haley Vogen, Jeffersonville Sr.

SECOND TEAM

• Justice Burdin, Charlestown Jr.
• Emily Hollis, Henryville So.
• Madison Kaiser, Floyd Central Jr.
• Brittany Knight, New Albany Sr.
• Claire Rauck, Providence Fr.

THIRD TEAM

• Katie Ernstberger, Eastern Sr.
• Brooke Hinton, Floyd Central Sr.
• Riley Kaiser, Floyd Central, Sr.
• Shelby Kirchgessner, Borden Sr.
• Taylor Sykes, Jeffersonville So.

Honorable mention: Brooke Abbott, New Washington; Courtney Amick, New Washington; Alexis Barnett, Silver Creek; Megan Brooks, Charlestown; Allison Burch, Christian Academy; Lauren Camm, New Albany; Carson Casey, Borden; Abby Ellis, Borden; Rachel Hamilton, Eastern; Claire Hirsch, New Albany; Haley Huddleston, Henryville; Haley Jenkins, Clarksville Sr.; Chelsea Lewis, Jeffersonville; Brooke Rodewig, Eastern; Kelsi Scott, Silver Creek.

 

Season Ends for Hornets
2/6/2014 by Matthew Cress (Evening News)

PEKIN — It was just one of those nights for local teams at the Class 2A Eastern Sectional.

The postseason ended just asa quickly as it began for both Henryville and Clarksville on Tuesday night, and the losses ended up following very similar scripts.

The Hornets let an early lead slip away and a late rally came up short in a 45-40 defeat at the hands of Paoli. Meanwhile, Clarksville likewise led throughout the first half before falling victim to a third-quarter surge and couldn’t fully recover in a 49-42 loss to Crawford County.

The tough luck of Tuesday leaves Providence as the last Clark County team standing. The Pioneers, who drew a bye to the semifinals, will meet Paoli on Friday night. In the other semi, the host Musketeers will play Crawford County, with the winners to meet for the championship on Saturday night.

Photos by Christopher Fryer

PAOLI 45, HENRYVILLE 40

It may have come down to a single shot.

Down 34-31 with less than six minutes left to play, Henryville sophomore Emily Hollis launched a 3-pointer from the left side. It bounced hard off the rim, high into the air and halfway into the basket before popping out and into the arms of Paoli.

Although the Hornets would eventually get within a point moments later, it was that chance that seemed to be Henryville’s best.

Paoli soon answered with driving baskets from Olivia Brewster and Morgan Kingston that pushed the lead to five at 38-33 and seemed to finally deflate a Henryville team that pushed Paoli (15-7) to the limit.

Still, Henryville made it tight to the very end.

Back-to-back baskets from Lesa Dallas and Hannah Nunn — both assisted by Hollis — pulled the Hornets to within 40-38 with than two minutes left in regulation. Following a Paoli layup earned by breaking the Henryville press, a jumper by Haley Huddleston again pulled the Hornets to within a possession with 50 seconds to go.

Paoli again managed an easy basket and, down four points, Henryville could get no closer and finally ran out of time.

“It was good to say we played hard,” said Henryville coach Josh Conrad, “but in this situation, obviously, you want to finish it out and win the game. I’m glad we competed after we lost the lead and we could have folded it up. Paoli is a very good team.”

Seemingly aware it was in the underdog role, Henryville started fast, getting good looks at the rim and finishing enough of them to take an 8-3 lead after a Hollis layup on a long outlet pass from Tami Burgin. A Burgin putback gave Henryville a 12-7 edge after the first eight minutes.

Once the Rams heated up from outside, the Henryville lead wasn’t going to last long.

The Hornets still led 14-9 when the first 3 from Brewster fell through the net. Henryville would quickly answer on a drive from Hollis, but that would be the Hornets’ last basket of the first half.

It came with 5:26 still on the clock.

In the meantime, Paoli ran off the next 10 points, getting another trey from Brewster and one from Kingston. A pair of baskets off offensive rebounds staked the Rams to a 26-16 edge at the intermission.

“There was about an eight-play stretch where we just missed every shot we took in the paint,” Conrad said. “In a game where you get a bit of a lead, you can really build it by hitting those shots right there. And when we missed, it lead to them getting into their transition offense.”

A 3 and a free throw from Paoli’s Kelsey Smith gave Paoli its largest lead at 31-22 with 4:23 left in the third quarter. Henryville hung tough, cutting the deficit back to two, at 32-30 early in the final quarter on two more baskets from Hollis.

Brewster led Paoli with 16 points, while Kingston added 10.

It was the final game for two seniors on the Henryville roster in Burgin and Sadie Spears. The rest of the roster, led by sophomores Hollis (14 points) and Huddleston (eight points, four steals) will return to do battle next season.

“Those two seniors have been a great asset to our program,” said Conrad of Burgin and Spears. “They showed what it is to work hard. We have a good core coming back, and if they make the decision to build their skills — and I think they will — we’ll be ready for next October.”

 

Hornets beat Crawford on Senior Night
2/6/2014 by Greg Mengelt (Evening News)

After falling behind 15-7 after one quarter and 20-17 at halftime, Henryville picked up its defense and earned a 46-37 win over Crawford County (7-13) on Senior Night.

The Hornets outscored the Wolfpack 12-4 in the third to take a 29-24 lead into the final period.

“The second and third quarter, our defense was a lot better,” Henryville coach Josh Conrad said. “We had girls moving with the basketball and getting to passing lanes. We played better as a group in those quarters and that set us up for the fourth.”

Haley Huddleston scored 13 points to lead Henryville. Teammates Lesha Dallas and Emily Hollis finished with eight apiece.

“It was a good effort tonight from everyone who stepped on the floor, so that is a nice positive heading into the sectional,” Conrad said.

Tylynn Allen had a game-high 14 points for Crawford County.

 

Braves are SAC champs again
2/3/2014 by Matthew Cress (Evening News)

BORDEN — Thus far, it’s been quite a season for the Borden boys’ basketball team, sitting at 11-3 and ranked eighth in Class A as it defends last year’s Class A state championship.  

The Borden girls aren’t doing too bad, either. And now, they’re adding hardware to the school’s trophy case.

After a slow start, Borden kicked it into another gear in the second quarter, outscored visiting Henryville 16-4 in the frame to blow it wide open and cruise to a 53-31 win over the Hornets on Monday night. The victory gave the Braves (15-2) the outright SAC championship as they finished with a perfect 5-0 record. It was Borden’s second SAC crown in the past three seasons.

“You always want to win your conference,” said Borden guard Shelby Kirchgessner, a senior who has gotten somewhat accustomed to her team’s success in the SAC. “But really, we like to just take them one at a time. That’s our big thing. Now we go onto the next game.”

Photos by Joe Ullrich

Even if they say they’re looking forward, it’ll be hard not to look back on a dominant conference season for the Braves.

In its four SAC games besides a narrow 52-51 win at South Central last Saturday, Class A No. 10 Borden won by an average margin of 26.25 points and have not lost to a fellow Class A team this season. The Braves’ only losses came to Class 3A Salem and Class 4A Seymour, and it took the Owls overtime to shake off Borden.

Meanwhile, Henryville (10-9, 4-1 SAC) quietly ran through the SAC itself, turning Monday’s game into a de facto championship.

And the Hornets were up to the task in the early going.

Neither team could get a foothold in the first quarter, and it took three minutes for the Braves to open the scoring on a 3-pointer by Abby Ellis. Henryville came right back with baskets from Sadie Spears and Emily Hollis to lead 4-3, and grabbed a 6-5 edge on a nifty dish from Emma Hendricks to Hollis for a cutting layup with 2:02 remaining in the period.

That would be the last time Henryville held the advantage.

Ellis scored the next four points, while Borden turned up the effort on defense with full-court pressure. The results were immediate, as the Hornets committed four turnovers in the first 1:47 of the second quarter, which led to a basket from Natalie Ruedinger and a three-point play from Carson Casey for a 14-8 Borden lead.

Spears found teammate Abbi Robertson for a jumper from the elbow to cut it to 14-10 with 2:41 left before the intermission. The Hornets would not score again for nearly five minutes and Ruedinger was just getting started.

“That stretch was probably the difference in the game,” said Henryville coach Josh Conrad. “They got more physical at that point, and we stood straight up and weren’t ready to take the shot or make the next pass. Borden got aggressive and pounded on us a little and we didn’t do the things we needed to do to deal with that.”

Ruedinger, a sophomore, proved eager to put the Hornets away. The sophomore, who wasn’t on the team the last time the Braves won the SAC, scored four points as part of Borden’s closing kick before halftime and repeatedly got in the lane for short, uncontested jumpers. She scored Borden’s first two baskets out of halftime, as a 14-10 lead ballooned to a 27-10 spread.

“I’ve never done it in my high school career,” said Ruedinger, who finished with a game-high 19 points to go with six rebounds. “I think it’s awesome to win it. But our goal is to win a sectional.”

Henryville got a 3 from Reagan Hensley to cut the deficit to 31-17 with 4:16 left in the third period, but the Hornets would get no closer. From there, Ruedinger went back to work with five quick points, while Casey added two baskets as part of an 11-0 run that left no doubt as to whom would walk out with the title. The Hornets fought Borden to a stalemate in the final period, but never seriously threatened.

“This is a good conference and we’re happy to win it,” said Borden coach Terry Rademacher. “We have played good basketball [during conference]. We did an excellent job on defense and, after the first quarter, had both sides [offense and defense] playing pretty well. We did a solid job from beginning to end.”

Ellis had 18 points for Borden and went 2-of-3 from the 3-point line, while Casey also reached double figures with 10 points. With one championship down, the Braves move on to focus on their third game in four days tonight, when they travel to Clarksville.

Haley Huddleston came off the bench to lead Henryville with seven points. Eight different Hornets found the scoring column and gave Conrad a bit of a bright spot to focus on. Henryville will travel to Madison Shawe tonight. Conrad stressed that with just two seniors on the roster, the loss should serve his team will when it comes to future clashes in the SAC.

“We did a good job early on, but we kind of dropped our heads and let ourselves get into a hole,” Conrad said. “But we’re young and we’ll learn to keep our heads up and keep playing.”

  

Henryville defeats CAI
2/1/2014

The Henryville Lady Hornets defeated CAI, 47-32.
 

Clarksville tops Henryville in OT
1/28/2014 by Hanson Crafton (Evening News)

CLARKSVILLE — The Clarksville girls’ basketball team picked up its fourth win of the season on Tuesday in a hard-fought game against Henryville.

In a tight game the teams needed overtime to decide the outcome. The host Generals got the best of the Hornets in the extra quarter and won 46-45.

“It was a good game, a real fun game to play in,” said Clarksville coach B.D. Ledbetter.

Despite 26 points by Henryville guard Emily Hollis, the Generals were able to hold the rest of the Hornets (9-8) at bay by allowing the rest of the team to score just 19 points.

“Our girls really stepped it up on defense. We played great team defense and it probably was the best job we have done all year,” said Ledbetter.

Both teams struggled scoring in the first half, holding each other under 15 points. Henryville took a slender 12-11 lead at halftime.

Both teams got going offensively in the third quarter, where Henryville was able to build up a four-point lead heading into the final quarter at 26-22.

Clarksville rallied in the fourth and were able to tie the game forcing overtime.

“We were aggressive on offense the second half. We had good ball movement and everyone was getting involved,” said Ledbetter.

In overtime, the Generals hung on to the momentum to collect the one-point victory.

Clarksville had three players score in double figures. Haley Jenkins led the Generals with 17 points. Bailey Sharp added 13 and Gabby Evans scored 10.

Henryville’s Emily Hollis was the game’s leading scorer with 26 points, and Emma Hendricks had 10 for the Hornets.

 

Lady Rebs unable to cap rally
1/20/2014 by Brian Smith (Corydon Democrat)

Photo Gallery 

Trailing by as many as 15 points Monday against Henryville, South Central cut the Lady Hornets' lead to five with six minutes to play.

The rest of the way, South Central was held to two additional field goals, while Henryville put on a shooting clinic at the charity stripe. Netting 13 of 14 free throws in the final four minutes, the Lady Hornets defeated South Central, 57-48, in Southern Athletic Conference action in Elizabeth.

"We were pretty consistent offensively across four quarters, but we didn't play enough good defense," South Central coach Randall Schoen said.

Henryville went ahead, 44-32, when Tami Burgin scored a field goal.

Surging with its closing run, South Central tried to get going when Sabra Walker hit a 3-pointer. Her effort was coupled with scoring inside on a pass from Chelsey Kaiser. The South Central run grew to 7-0 when Kaiser scored on a put-back.

Seven unanswered points brought the Lady Rebels withing five points, 44-39, the closest margin since the early stages of the contest. From that point, the Lady Rebels went cold from the field.

Henryville hit six straight freebies, including four from Emma Hendricks, to go ahead by 11. Walker broke the drought for South Central with a triple with 1:40 to play, helping cut the margin to 50-43.

At the line, the Lady Hornets were nearly masterful in the final quarter. They sank 13 straight before the final attempt by Emily Hollis rimmed out.

The Lady Hornets were able to break South Central's press for easy buckets in the opening quarter.

Hollis, who finished with 24 points, dished a trio of assists to Hendricks for lay-ins in the early going on the breaks. Hendricks scored 12 of her 17 points in the opening quarter, mainly benefiting from beating the Lady Rebels down the floor for points in the paint.

"We started out trying to press with a 1-2-1-1, and they scored layup after layup because we weren't sprinting back," Schoen said. "They'd throw over our initial trap, and we didn't recognize we needed to get back. We dug a hole early and couldn't get out of it."

Henryville took a 10-1 lead early before a run of field goals by Kelsey Miller and Jasmine Nalley brought the Lady Rebels within five, 12-7.

For the game, Henryville hit only two 3-pointers, but those came at key times. To end the first quarter, Hollis swished a trey at the buzzer to make the score 19-9. In similar fashion, Sadie Spears made hers at the end of the second quarter to maintain a 10-point lead (31-21).

"Giving up the three before the half was big for them," Schoen said. "I felt like we were getting some momentum at the time."

Henryville led by as many as 15 in the third quarter before South Central started its comeback attempt.

South Central put four players in the score book, led by Miller's 17. Nalley and Walker had 11 points each, while Kaiser chipped in nine.

Kaiser was a bright spot for the Lady Rebels; she pulled down eight rebounds in the post.

"We've always been more of a perimeter-oriented team, and now we're starting to look to the post more in practice," Schoen said. "I really think Kaiser can finish, but we're struggling to get her the ball in right spots."

Schoen said part of developing more of an inside game is to counter the defenses they've seen in an attempt to slow 1,000-point scorer Miller.

"We're going to see a lot of junk defenses to try and take away the things we want to do," Schoen said. "We talked in practice to look for Kaiser more, but we'll have to get better at swinging the ball to find those spots."

Henryville moved to 4-0 in SAC play, while South Central slipped to 1-1. It was the third straight win for the Lady Hornets over South Central.

The game was part of a Coaches vs. Cancer benefit with coaches wearing specially made cancer awareness T-shirts. Players from South Central wore pink breast cancer awareness socks along with bright pink shoelaces.

Prior to the varsity tip, those who had been affected by cancer gathered at mid-court along with players and coaches.
 

Southwestern holds off Henryville
1/16/2014 by Hanson Crafton (Evening News)

Henryville suffered a tough home loss at the hands of Southwestern (8-9) on Thursday, falling 46-41.

“Our awareness in the third quarter hurt us on both ends of the court,” Hornet coach Josh Conrad said. “We struggled at times offensively by not taking shots and making the extra effort to finish the play off whether a pass or a shot. Defensively, we didn’t move our feet and put them of the free-throw line a bunch in the second half.”

With the game tied at halftime at 20, Henryville was outscored by seven points in the third, which ended up being a hole the Hornets couldn’t climb out of.

Emma Hendricks led Henryville with 13 points. Haley Huddleston added 11. 

Hollis leads Henryville over Orleans
1/11/2014 by Chris Stoner (Evening News)

Behind Emily Hollis’ 20-point performance, Henryville dominated Orleans 50-26 on Saturday.

“We played with more energy on both ends of the court,” Hornet coach Josh Conrad said. “Defensively, we did a better job recovering. Offensively, we did a good job moving the basketball and being ready to score.”

The Hornets led 20-8 after one quarter and never looked back.

Along with Hollis’ 20, the Hornets received 12 points from Haley Huddleston and nine from Emma Hendricks.

Hornets stay perfect in SAC
1/8/2014 by Chris Stoner (Evening News)

CROTHERSVILLE — Henryville moved to 3-0 in the Southern Athletic Conference with a 50-32 victory over Crothersville on Wednesday.

The Hornets are now tied with Borden atop the league standings. Henryville goes to South Central on Jan. 20 before a showdown with the Braves on Jan. 23 to conclude its SAC slate.

Lesha Dallas scored a game-high 15 points to help Henryville (7-6) end a four-game losing skid. The Hornets outscored the Tigers 12-2 in the second quarter to take a 27-13 lead into the halftime break.

“I thought we played better as a group,” Henryville coach Josh Conrad said. “?We had times where we looked good on both ends of the court.”

Emily Hollis added 13 points points and Haley Huddleston added eight for the Hornets. Crothersville (5-6, 0-2) was led by Katrina Christian’s 12 points.

West Washington Dominates Henryville
12/28/2013 by Hanson Crafton (Evening News)

West Washington (7-2) took advantage of Henryville’s shooting woes on Saturday and beat the Hornets (6-6) in the Washington County Invitational consolation game at Henryville, 41-19.

“West Washington outworked us. We had open looks and missed. We didn’t handle that very well which affected us defensively,” said Hornet coach Josh Conrad. “We left shooters open around the 3-point line and they knocked those shots down.”

Musketeers, Lions move into Washington County title game
12/27/2013 by Greg Mengelt (Evening News)

HENRYVILLE — Eastern will face rival Salem in tonight’s Washington County Invitational championship at Henryville after the Musketeers avenged an earlier loss to West Washington and the Lions came back to beat the host Hornets.

The Musketeers, who won at Salem 51-38 on Nov. 30, outscored the Senators 30-14 in the second half for its spot in tonight’s championship. Salem outscored the Henryville 24-12 in the fourth quarter in the second semifinal.


DAVIDSON LEADS LIONS BACK

Salem junior Alex Davidson finished with 20 points and 19 rebounds and led the Lions’ furious fourth-quarter comeback.

Davidson went 4 for 4 from the field and 3 for 4 from the foul line and scored the Lions’ first six points of the final period. She scored 16 of her game-high 20 points in the second half.

The Hornets (6-5) led by as many as 12 at 31-19 early in the second half. They still led 39-33 with 5:45 left when Emily Hollis knocked down one of her three 3-point shots.

However, Davidson swiped one of her four steals and went the other way to get Salem within four. After her coast-to-coast bucket off of a rebound that tied the game, Sadie Soliday knocked down a 3 for the Lions’ first lead since 6-4 midway through the opening period.

Huddleston then tied the game on her second 3 of the contest, but Salem finished on a 6-0 run with six free throws.

Hollis led the Hornets with 17 points and also had a team-best four assists and three steals. Huddleston finished with 15 points and Lesha Dallas scored all six of her points in the second quarter and had a Hornet-high seven boards, four of which came on the offensive end in the second period.

Soliday scored 11 of her 13 points in the second half for Salem, which improved to 3-8 with the victory.

Scott's clutch shots leads Dragons by Hornets
12/17/2013 by Greg Mengelt (Evening News)

HENRYVILLE — Silver Creek may have found its go-to player.

Dragon center Kelsi Scott has had a great junior season when she’s been able to stay out of foul trouble. She did that on Tuesday and helped lead Silver Creek to its second win of the season, 50-47 over Henryville.

Trailing 47-45 with 1:14 to play, Scott hit the game-tying and go-ahead buckets. She finished with a team-high 14 points and eight rebounds.

Scott said she’s not sure she could have come through in the clutch a year ago — or perhaps even earlier this season.

“I have a lot more confidence than I have had,” she said. “I was wanting to get the shot, get a stop and come back and do it again, and that’s what I did.”

“She’s a hard matchup for anybody we’re going to play,” Silver Creek coach Scott Schoen said of Scott. “She’s starting to understand what it takes to become ‘that’ player.”

After Scott’s second clutch field goal — a pullup jumper with 27 seconds left — Henryville had a chance to tie or win the game. However, with 4.5 seconds to go, Morgan Knies stole a Henryville inbound pass and was fouled.

“That was huge steal,” Schoen said. “To get in there and get in the mix, she just went and got it. She came through big.”

Knies missed the front end of her 1-and-bonus attempt, but again, the Dragons came through when Alexis Barnett tracked down the rebound in the corner with 1.8 seconds left.

Barnett made her first free throw to make it 50-47 for her first point of the second half after scoring 12 in the first. She missed the second free throw, but an Emily Hollis desperation heave from beyond halfcourt hit the backboard and bounced away.

“We came through,” Schoen said. “We came up with a good offensive rebound and won the game.”

Behind Barnett, who hit four first-half 3-pointers, the Dragons built a 15-3 lead after one quarter.

Hollis led the Hornet back, scoring nine of 14 points in the second quarter to get Henryville to within 29-28 at the break.

“Offensively, we came out stagnant, but we fought back,” Henryville coach Josh Conrad said. “That was good to see. That’s a good sign.”

In the third quarter, it was fellow-sophomore Haley Huddleston whotook the reigns for the Hornets. She scored nine of her game-high 16 in the third quarter to give Henryville a 42-41 lead heading into the final period.

“Emily Hollis, man, she’s a great player,” Schoen said. “And Haley Huddleston, she’s a heck of a player, too.”

“Emily is a very confident player and Haley’s confidence is growing,” Conrad said of his sophomore duo.

Another Henryville sophomore, Emma Hendricks, added 12 points.

Rauck, Pioneers outlasts Henryville
12/13/2013 by Hanson Crafton (Evening News)

Providence’s Claire Rauck scored 17 points and grabbed nine rebounds for a tight 36-33 victory over visiting Henryville.

“It was a hard-fought game from both teams,” Providence coach Brad Burden said. “I’m proud of my young girls and how we were able to pull it out at the end.”

Hollis leads Hornets past Cougars
12/5/2013 by Kevin Harris (Evening News)

HENRYVILLE — Emily Hollis scored a game-high 23 points on Tuesday night to lead the Henryville girls’ basketball team to a 62-43 home win over Trinity Lutheran. The sophomore guard knocked down three 3-pointers.

Hornets’ sophomore forward Emma Hendricks chipped in 13 points, while teammate Haley Huddleston scored nine.

Henryville (6-2) bolted out to a 24-10 lead after the first quarter. The Hornets increased their advantage to 53-28 at the end of three periods by outscoring the Cougars (2-3) in the middle two quarters, 29-18.

“Offensively, I thought we did a better job getting going early and getting into the flow of the game,” Henryville coach Josh Conrad said. “Defensively at times, we played better. We have to do a better job rotating and getting ourselves in position to defend. Overall, we did a much better job tonight.”

Hornets defeat Lanesville
12/5/2013 by Hanson Crafton (Evening News)

Haley Huddleston and Emily Hollis each scored 22 points to lead visiting Henryville past Lanesville on Thursday, 56-40.

“Offensively, we are pleased with the shots and spacing that we had tonight,” Hornets’ head coach Josh Conrad said. “As a group, we did a good job getting the basketball to the right areas. We just have to finish. Defensively, we did a nice job in the third quarter minus back-to-back possessions. We lost them and they knocked down open shots. Overall, I thought our effort was better tonight and that generally helps your chances.”

Pirates bounce back to beat Henryville
11/30/2013 by Greg Mengelt (Evening News)

CHARLESTOWN — After an ugly 56-38 loss to New Washington earlier in the week, Charlestown needed a strong comeback performance on Saturday.

The Pirates overpowered Henryville — a team that earlier upset New Wash — in a 58-39 victory at the Charlestown Sports Complex.

 Photos by Greg Mengelt

 “It was very important to come back out and prove to ourselves that we could be a better team than we were against New Wash,” Charlestown junior guard Kaitlynn Henning said.

“Our players just needed to bounce back,” Charlestown first-year coach Michael Prichard said. “If we played like we did against New Washington, it was going to be a long season. It was hard to watch. I’m glad we bounced back.”

Henning led the 2-1 Pirates with 22 points, running the fast break with efficiency and knocking down a pair of 3-pointers in the fourth quarter when Charlestown outscored Henryville 16-8 to clinch the victory.

“I like to set the tempo fast and get the offense going,” Henning said. “If I have to slow things down, I will. But I like the up-tempo.”

“She’s really important on our team,” senior Megan Brooks said of Henning. “She sets the tempo. You can always count on her to finish.”

Henryville coach Josh Conrad said Henning leading the Charlestown fast break — and his team’s inability to stop her — was the key to the game.

“We gave up 16 points in transition, layups,” he said. “It’s blatant that we’re not getting back on defense and they’re just shooting layups. Whenever you go into a game with two good teams competing against each other, that puts you at a disadvantage right away. We didn’t get back very well.”

The Pirates led from start to finish, grabbing an early 7-4 lead on a Justice Burden 3-pointer. They pushed the lead to 13-7 before Henning nailed a 3-pointer at the first-quarter buzzer.

“It was important to us, as a team, to get off to a good start,” Prichard said. “In the first two games, we were terrible in the first quarter.”

Charlestown got the lead up to as many as 14 in the second quarter at 26-12 on a Henning fast-break layup. Haley Huddleston and Emily Hollis led an 8-0 run late in the second quarter to pull the Hornets to within 26-20. Charlestown junior Shelby Goedeker hit a pair of free throws to give the Pirates a 28-20 halftime lead.

Hollis scored 19 points, including a game-high four 3-pointers, and Huddleston added 16 as the sophomore duo finished with 35 of Henryville’s 39 points.

After a Hollis 3 early in the third quarter cut the deficit to five points, Charlestown put the game away with an 8-0 run, which included four points from Burden, as the Pirates outscored the Hornets 14-11 in the quarter.

A Henning 3-pointer early in the fourth gave Charlestown a 46-31 lead and her second 3 of the period made it 49-33 with 4:52 remaining.

“[Henning] did some nice things today that made me really proud of her,” Prichard said.

“As my shot started to fall, I started to feel it,” Henning said.

2013-24 Basketball Preview
11/26/2013 (Evening News)

News and Tribune 2013-14 High School Basketball Preview (Click on image to view)

Henryville stuns New Washington in comeback win
11/22/2013 by Hanson Craftton (Evening News)

HENRYVILLE — Henryville shocked New Washington with a strong second-half comeback, 36-31 on Friday.

Throughout the first two quarters, both New Washington and Henryville were locked up in a defensive battle. Neither team was able to get anything going offensively and turnovers were a issue for both sides.

New Washington’s Ashley Johnson got off to a fast start and helped the Mustangs out to a 11-5 lead after the first.

New Washington continued its solid defense in the second quarter and was able to control the pace of the game. Both teams struggled to score and New Washington ended the second with just nine points in the quarter.

With under a minute left in the second quarter, Henryville had just scored one point before sophomore Emily Hollis connected for back-to-back 3s, stopping the Hornet drought and getting them within 20-12 at the break.

“We didn’t play the last minute of the half.” Mustang coach Terry White said. “Hollis is a good ball player. We didn’t want to give her any good looks, but her dribble-drive was there and we were not hedging on the ball screens.”

The third quarter was the start of what would be a reverse of the first half.

Holli,s who sent the Hornets into the half with the momentum, now had her swagger and came out guns blazing. New Washington struggled to get anything going and found itself searching for answers.

Henryville, who came out of the locker room a different team, kept rotating pressure on New Washington and played an intense style of defense, holding the Mustangs to eight points in the quarter to get within 28-24 heading into the final period.

The fourth quarter was a repeat of the third, but Henryville had all the momentum. Its tight defense and a raucous crowd forced New Washington into bad shots and the Mustangs were unable to stop the run.

The Mustangs were held to just three points in the fourth, while Hollis made play-after-play giving Henryville the lead early in the final stanza.

From there, Henryville never relinquished the lead and won its Southern Athletic Conference opener over the defending SAC champions.

“Defensively, we played a really nice game.” Henryville coach Josh Conrad said. “We were able to make New Washington take some tough shots and we competed for rebounds. Offensively, we struggled in the first half but did a much better job being ready to shoot in the second half. This was a very nice win for us, New Washington is good, well coached team.”

Hollis led Henryville with 20 points on which 12 were in the second half. Haley Huddleston had nine points, three rebounds and two steals for the Hornets and junior Lesha Dallas chipped in with six points and two rebounds.

“Emily is a really good player when she plays under control and takes balanced shots.” Conrad said.

Ashley Johnson finished with 14 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals. Senior Caroline Ricks added seven points and 10 rebounds in the Mustang defeat.

“We didn’t stay focused again,” White said. “We didn’t maintain our intensity, and when they made their run, we didn’t make any adjustments.”

Pioneers Win Tip-Off Title
11/16/2013 by Hanson Craftton (Evening News)

HENRYVILLE — The Providence Pioneers took home the Henryville Tipoff Tournament championship Saturday taking down the tournament host Hornets, 63-37.

Providence used a swarming defense and put constant pressure on the Hornet ball handlers and was chasing down loose balls and rebounds.

 Photos by Christopher Fryer

 “Providence completely out-worked us the entire game.” Henryville coach Josh Conrad said. “They were getting defections, offensive rebounds and wide open shots while we settled for lob passes and contested running jumpers.”

The first half was a back and forth battle. The Pioneers kept a small lead for most of the half but were never able to distance themselvesfrom the Hornets.

Henryville stayed in the game with a couple of runs in timely situations.

At the end of the first half, Providence took a slim 24-22 lead to the half despite two big 3-pointes from Hornet sophomore Emily Hollis that appeared to give Henryville the momentum heading into the second half.

Hollis finished with a team-high 15 points and hit three 3-point baskets.

“We were trying extend our lead before the half,” Pioneer coach Brad Burden said. “Hollis made some key shots right at the end of the half, so we were a little heated at halftime.”

Providence came out and grabbed the momentum right at the start of the second half with defensive tenacity. The Pioneers’ tempo appeared to wear down the Hornets.

“I’m so proud of the girls,” Burden said. “Our defense plays with speed and intensity. We have so many bodies that it allows us to put a lot of pressure on teams and it wears them down.”

Providence took control of the game when junior Michaela Hoke had four steals on consecutive Hornet positions ending a third quarter. Providence outscored Henryville 21-10 to jump out to a 45-32 lead.

The fourth was much of the same as Providence continued to attack and made it difficult for Henryville to shots off. Pioneer freshman Claire Rauck started to catch fire along with senior Taylor Smallwood to put the game out of reach.

Smallwood finished with a game-high 19 points to go along with seven rebounds and three assists. Rauck scored 14 and fellow-freshman Bayley Wade finished with nine.

Henryville sophomore Emma Hendricks led all players with 10 rebounds in the Hornets’ first loss of the season.

Henryville rolls past Clarksville, 58-28
11/15/2013 by Kevin Harris (Evening News)

HENRYVILLE —  The Henryville girls’ basketball team clinched a spot in tonight’s Henryville Tipoff Tournament championship game with a 58-28 home victory over Clarksville on Friday night in pool play.

Sophomores Haley Huddleston and Emma Hendricks each led the Hornets with a game-high 15 points. Henryville guard Emily Hollis chipped in nine, while teammate Tami Burgin scored eight.

“I thought defensively we played a lot better tonight,” Hornets’ coach Josh Conrad said. “We did a good job applying pressure and a better job rotating at times. Offensively, I thought we did a good job attacking the basket.”

Bailey Sharp was the Generals’ top scorer with seven points. Teammates Haley Jenkins and Gabby Evans each poured in six.

Henryville rolls past Medora
11/14/2013 by Kevin Harris (Evening News)

Host Henryville stayed undefeated in pool play of the Henryville Tipoff Tourney on Thursday, defeating Medora 75-22.

Sophomore guard Emily Hollis paced the Hornets with a game-high 20 points. Junior Lesha Dallas was Henryville’s other double-figure scorer with 17. Hornet sophomore Haley Huddleston poured in nine.

“We played hard and got a little better defensively,” Henryville coach Josh Conrad said. “In the second half, we had better ball movement and shot selection.”

Henryville crushes Irvington in Tip-Off Tourney, 68-22
11/12/2013 by Hanson Crafton (Evening News)

HENRYVILLE —  The Henryville Hornets took down visiting Irvington Prep Academy in dominant fashion on Tuesday on its way to a 68-22 victory in pool play of the season-opening Henryville Tip-Off Tournament.

“It was nice to be able to see the girls play someone else,” Hornets’ coach Josh Conrad said. “I feel like we had a good game effort-wise. We need to work on defensive positioning and shot selection, but overall it was a good night. We were able to play a lot of girls and we did see a lot of good things.”

Photos by Joe Ullrich

Sophomore guard Emily Hollis led the Hornets with 15 points along with six rebounds, four assists and four steals.

The Hornets, using an up-tempo pace, forced 19 turnovers that resulted in a Henryville layup drill. Henryville played a tight on-ball trapping defense that had Irvington pressing on offense, which led to several steals.

Along with Hollis’ four steals, Henryville received five steals from Abbi Robertson and four more from sophomore guard Haley Huddleston.

With the turnovers, Henryville stayed in transition leading to the easy fast-break points.

Huddleston had 13 points, four steals, two rebounds, three assists and two blocks. Along with her five steals, Robertson finished with eight points and 11 rebounds. Henryville junior Lesha Dallas had six points and six rebounds. Also for the Hornets, Sadie Spears scored 10 points.

Irvington’s Lauren Pressley was the Ravens’ top performer with 10 points, eight rebounds and seven blocks. Irvington senior Mariah Brown had five points, three rebounds and three steals in the lopsided loss.