TERRE HAUTE —
“We looked like we’d been playing for awhile,” West Vigo’s Adrien Corenflos said Friday night, which is as good a way as any to summarize West Vigo’s season-opening 72-58 Western Indiana Conference boys high school basketball win at South Vermillion.
The Vikings, one of the later-starting teams in the Wabash Valley thanks to an opening game postponement, did indeed look like a seasoned unit Friday — and with practically a brand new roster to boot.
And Corenflos, seeing his first action in even a longer span of time, was one of the main reasons.
The West Vigo center, who hadn’t even been able to play in the jamboree two weeks ago because of his recovery from a knee injury, not only started the game but hit its first shot, a 3-pointer that got the Vikings off to a good start. It was 16-4 late in the first quarter — the host Wildcats contributing to their demise by missing six free throws in the first eight minutes — and the visitors had double-digit leads most of the rest of the way.
“The kids came out and played really hard; they did a lot of things well,” coach Joe Boehler said after the game. “They were not perfect; there were some bonehead mistakes ... but we came to play, and I thought we played smart.”
“[The Vikings’] extra practice really showed,” coach Michael Byrum of the Wildcats agreed. “They’ve been productive with their time.”
The fast start was vital for West Vigo because the Wildcats — a five-win team last year that lost its leading scorer and rebounder to graduation — showed signs of being an extremely dangerous team, particularly at the offensive end.
The Wildcats forced a quick tempo much of the game, slashed to the basket well enough to shoot 41 free throws, and had the lead down to seven points midway through the second quarter before West Vigo stretched the margin back to 33-19 by halftime.
Then South Vermillion really made a run.
After two straight 3-pointer by Corenflos early in the third quarter put West Vigo ahead 43-25, sophomore guard Jordan Branz got his team back in the game almost single-handedly by stealing the ball to draw two successful free throws, assisting on a layup by Cole Morgan, then stealing the in-bounds pass after that score and hitting a layup. Now the lead was just 43-31, and the home team continued its run to 12-0 when Logan Waldrop, Morgan and Kaden Lawson all used offensive rebounds to score two points.
With the lead cut to 43-37, however, West Vigo got through the Wildcat press for a layup by Kyle Stewart that seemed to stop the bleeding. When Aaron Kirby got an offensive rebound in the waning seconds of the third quarter and swished a 3-pointer from the deep corner just ahead of the buzzer, the Viking lead was back to 50-39. When the Vikings went from 64-53 to 68-53 in the blink of an eye — a basket by Alex West, then a steal and score by Stewart — the hard-charging Wildcats were finally too far behind.
“When you’re a young team like we are, you’re going to struggle with being consistent,” Byrum noted. “We started off the game inconsistent; our shooting struggled, and I think our young players worried about that instead of fighting through it.
“When we do things we’re capable of, they look good,” the Wildcat coach continued. “We have a lot of potential, we just have to be consistent — can you tell what our key word is?”
“They have a lot of guys who can score, and Kaden Lawson is one of the best guards in our conference,” Boehler said of the Wildcats. “They’ve improved tremendously.”
The Vikings have rebuilt well, considering that most of their roster is new and two four-year players graduated from last year’s team.
“We all came out ready to play,” Corenflos said. “Nobody’s a star; this was a team win.”
Stewart led the Vikings with 19 points while West added 17, Corenflos had 12 plus a game-high nine rebounds and Kirby scored 10. Cade Lindsey had seven points, five rebounds and ran the team efficiently, and bench players added help.
“Everybody out there made a significant contribution,” Boehler said. “It’s nice to be a little bit deeper ... we took care of the ball, we rebounded well, and we got good shots when we were patient.”
Lawson had 19 points, seven rebounds and four assists for South Vermillion, while Branz had 13 points and eight rebounds.
WEST VIGO (72) — Kirby 3-10 2-2 10, West 8-11 1-1 17, A.Corenflos 4-7 1-2 12, Lindsey 1-4 5-6 7, Stewart 6-13 6-6 19, Cardinal 0-3 0-0 0, Daley 0-1 0-0 0, Wilson 0-0 1-2 1, Stonebarger 1-1 1-2 3, H.Corenflos 1-1 1-2 3, Maples 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-51 FG, 18-23 FT, 72 TP.
SOUTH VERMILLION (58) — Lawson 4-13 11-14 19, Luft 1-2 0-0 2, Hines 1-2 0-0 2, Branz 2-7 9-15 13, Spivey 3-7 1-2 8, Weyrauch 1-7 2-4 4, Waldrop 0-2 2-2 2, Morgan 2-3 2-4 6, Strayer 1-3 0-0 2, Crouch 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 15-46 FG, 27-41 FT, 58 TP.
West Vigo 16 17 17 22 — 72
South Vermillion 5 14 20 19 — 58
3-point shooting — WV 6-17 (A.Corenflos 3-5, Kirby 2-5, Stewart 1-5, Lindsey 0-1, Cardinal 0-1), SV 1-11 (Spivey 1-1, Branz 0-1, Strayer 0-1, Lawson 0-4, Weyrauch 0-4). Total fouls — WV 23, SV 21. Fouled out — none. Turnovers — WV 14, SV 11. Rebounds — WV 43 (A.Corenflos 9, Wilson 6, Kirby 5, West 5, Lindsey 5), SV 34 (Branz 8, Lawson 7). Assists — WV 16 (Kirby 4), SV 6 (Lawson 4). Steals — WV 9 (Stewart 5), SV 7 (Branz 3, Weyrauch 2). Blocks — WV 1 (Kirby), SV 1 (Morgan).
Next — West Vigo (1-0, 1-0 WIC) plays tonight at Owen Valley. South Vermillion (1-1, 0-1) plays next Friday at Owen Valley.
• West Vigo 41, South Vermillion 22 — In the opener of the Western Indiana Conference doubleheader at Clinton, the visiting Vikings emerged with more than enough offense after playing shutdown defense the entire game.
Ten different Vikings scored, none in double figures, but the key West Vigo player was one who had just four points and three rebounds. McKenzie Little had those numbers, but shut down high-scoring Wildcat senior Bailey Mack on the defensive end.
With Mack unable to get going, the rest of the Wildcats — junior Katelyn Freed plus six sophomores and four freshmen — rarely good a comfortable look; except for back-to-back 3-pointers in the second quarter by Carlie Johnson and in the fourth quarter by Taylor Andrew, in fact, the home team was all but shut out.
Shyanne Elkins led West Vigo with eight points and added six rebounds, while Brittany Voils had six points and six assists and Lexus Elkins grabbed a game-high nine rebounds.
Johnson scored eight, Andrew six and Freed five for South Vermillion, with Jamaica Wright getting seven rebounds.
WEST VIGO (41) — L.Elkins 1-3 1-2 3, Little 2-8 0-0 4, S.Elkins 4-8 0-0 8, Voils 3-7 0-0 6, Lane 2-6 0-0 5, Edington 2-9 0-0 5, Cardinal 0-4 1-2 1, Byrley 1-4 0-0 2, Pointer 0-2 0-0 0, Houser 1-1 0-0 3, Morrison 2-3 0-0 4, Hudson 0-0 0-0 0, Curley 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-55 FG, 2-4 FT, 41 TP.
SOUTH VERMILLION (22) — B.Mack 0-11 1-4 1, Andrew 2-4 0-0 6, Freed 1-8 3-5 5, Vitaniemi 1-6 0-2 2, Johnson 2-7 2-4 8, Spivey 0-5 0-0 0, Hixon 0-2 0-0 0, Wright 0-2 0-0 0, Russell 0-0 0-0 0, Rigsby 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 6-45 FG, 6-15 FT, 22 TP.
West Vigo 15 11 5 10 — 41
South Vermillion 5 7 0 10 — 22
3-point shooting — WV 3-11 (Houser 1-1, Edington 1-2, Lane 1-3, Voils 0-1, Little 0-4), SV 4-17 (Andrew 2-3, Johnson 2-5, Freed 0-1, Hixon 0-1, Spivey 0-3, B.Mack 0-4). Total fouls — WV 16, SV 5. Fouled out — none. Turnovers — WV 22, SV 25. Rebounds — WV 49 (L.Elkins 9, S.Elkins 6), SV 38 (Wright 7, Freed 5, Johnson 5). Assists — WV 14 (Voils 6), SV 4 (Vitaniemi 2). Steals — WV 14 (Voils 3, Cardinal 3), SV 16 (Freed 4, Vitaniemi 3, Spivey 3). Blocks — WV 3 (L.Elkins, Byrley, Lane), SV 6 (Wright 2).
Next — West Vigo (2-5, 1-1 WIC) plays today at Owen Valley. South Vermillion (0-7, 0-3) hosts South Putnam on Tuesday.
High School
West Vigo boys get big road win at South Vermillion
Vikings' girls also victorious
- High School
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Softball sectionals up for grabs
All three Vigo County high schools and Northview appear to have a realistic chance of winning sectional championships in softball this week.
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Vikings win in extra innings at Rockville
West Vigo scored six runs in its first two innings Saturday, then needed a ninth-inning single by Lucas Fagg to escape with a 7-6 extra-inning win in nonconference high school baseball at Rockville.
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TH South beats Northview in Big Four makeup baseball game
Terre Haute South wrapped up a share of the MIC baseball title and finished up the Big Four Classic with an 8-1 victory over Northview in less than 24 hours on Saturday morning.
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Olds pitches South to share of MIC baseball title
Friday night, winning the second game 5-0 and earning a share of the Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference high school baseball title.
Damon Olds was dominant on the mound for the Braves, striking out 14 and walking just one while pitching a three-hit shutout. -
South wins first half of doubleheader against Lawrence North
Host Terre Haute South kept its Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference high school baseball title hopes alive — and clinched no worse than second place in the process — by downing Lawrence North 4-1 in the first game of a doubleheader Friday night.
The second game, which started after Senior Night festivities between games, ended past the Tribune-Star deadline. -
PREP ROUNDUP: Calleja pitches West Vigo past South Vermillion
Brandon Calleja had 13 strikeouts to lead West Vigo to a 5-1 victory against South Vermillion in high school baseball Friday.
Brandon Behringer went 2 for 4 with two RBI for the Vikings, who secured second place in the Western Indiana Conference.
Kaden Lawson had double for South Vermillion (15-7), which finished 4-2 in the WIC. -
Seibert returns from injury to win three events as Braves win sectional crown
His baseball equivalent might be Rick Sutcliffe of the 1984 Chicago Cubs.
When Tyler Seibert returned to the Terre Haute South track and field lineup Thursday for sectional action at Terre Haute North, it was like the midseason trade the Cubs made for Sutcliffe that earned them a playoff spot. -
South switches up lineup to defeat North in tennis sectional
Terre Haute South coach Bill Blankenbaker said two weeks ago that he would change the Braves’ lineup after the 3-2 dual-meet loss to Terre Haute North.
The Patriots knew it was coming, but they couldn’t do anything to stop it. -
PREP ROUNDUP: North slips past Northview in eight-inning baseball game
Colton Pittman drew a bases-loaded walk to score Zach Milam with the winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning as host Terre Haute North edged Northview 8-7 in high school baseball Thursday at Jennings Field.
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PREP ROUNDUP: North and South to face off for tennis sectional title
The winner of the Terre Haute sectional for girls high school tennis will come down to Terre Haute North and Terre Haute South.
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Terre Haute North gets 10 event victories to claim 12th straight sectional crown
Terre Haute North won 10 events Tuesday night while winning the Indiana High School Athletic Association girls track and field section at South Putnam High School for the 12th straight year.
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North, South to meet in first round of baseball sectional
The Indiana High School Athletic Association announced pairings for the baseball state tournament Tuesday and the draw offered up a Vigo County battle in the opening game.
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PREP ROUNDUP: West Vigo softball clinches share of WIC title
West Vigo clinched at least a share of the Western Indiana Conference softball title with a 6-4 victory over Edgewood on Tuesday.
Jacy McClain and Bailee Waters had RBI singles in the fourth inning to break the game open for the Vikings. -
Track sectional titles on the line
Expect one heck of a high school dual track meet Thursday night when Wabash Valley boys visit Terre Haute North for sectional action.
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Prep report: Patriots, Braves favored to advance from tennis sectional 1st round
Persons attending this week’s girls tennis sectional championship match at Terre Haute North might want to pack a lunch.
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Local ADs happy to see spring come to a close
Brian Mancuso is the most experienced of the high school athletic directors in Vigo County — and that’s a very relative term — but even he wasn’t quite ready for the headaches that have accompanied spring sports the last few weeks thanks to rain, rain and more rain.
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South baseball remains in first-place tie with Center Grove
Heading into Saturday’s Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference baseball doubleheader against Center Grove, coach Kyle Kraemer of Terre Haute South wasn’t completely optimistic.
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Kehrt Award goes to Emily Bell, Lee Davis
Emily Bell of Terre Haute South and Lee Davis of Terre Haute North are the 2013 recipients of the Willard M. Kehrt Mental Attitude Award.
Bell and Davis were nominated by their schools and chosen in a vote by the Kehrt Award panel. Both will be recognized at awards assemblies later in the month at the schools.
Bell played varsity basketball four years at South and is competing in track this season, running the 800 and two relays. “I wanted something to do my senior year,” Bell said.
She plans to attend DePauw University and play basketball. DePauw is the reigning NCAA Division III champ in women's basketball.
Bell tore an AÇL playing in a basketball tournament the summer after her sophomore season. She missed most of her junior season but came back to play her senior year and was second leading scorer and leading rebounder her final season.
Bell also was leading rebounder her sophomore year. -
South softball's power display earns Braves share of MIC
The fun that the Terre Haute South high school softball team had Saturday — including those five home runs — was all the result of the hard work the Braves had put in before the game, coach Dwayne Stout said after the game.
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Pirtle takes medalist, leads Sullivan to WIC title
Sullivan took team and individual honors in the Western Indiana Conference boys high school golf championships played Saturday at Idle Creek.
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Prep roundup: Patriots drop doubleheader to Carmel baseball
Host Terre Haute North saw its Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference baseball championship hopes suffer what was probably a fatal blow on Saturday as the Patriots lost a doubleheader to Carmel by scores of 8-7 and 11-8.
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Timely hits: After slow start, Terre Haute North rallies to beat Mooresville
No-hit through three innings, Terre Haute North’s bats came alive — especially Sam Wolf’s — just in time to rally for a 4-2 home victory over Mooresville in high school baseball Friday evening at Jennings Field.
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Linton’s Weber to coach at BNL
Bedford North Lawrence High School has announced that Steve Weber will be the Stars’ head coach for the 2013 season.
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Freshman group adds to Big Four teams' baseball tradition
The Terre Haute North-Terre Haute South high school baseball series wasn’t an inning old last week before T.J. Collett of the Patriots lashed a run-scoring single.
That hit helped the Patriots take a 2-0 lead, but in the top of the second inning a three-run double by Justin Jenkins sparked the visiting Braves to a four-run inning.
North tied the score in the bottom of the second inning, Collett driving in another run. And just before rain caused the game to be suspended, South called Logan Ames in from its bullpen for some solid pitching.
Not bad for a trio of freshmen. And the weekend hadn’t even started yet. -
Pairings drawn for high school softball sectionals
The IHSAA announced Thursday its pairings for the 2013 sectional softball tournament slated for May 20-25.
Regionals will take place May 28. -
North boys make it three consecutive Vigo County golf titles
Terre Haute North made it three in a row in Vigo County boys high school golf championship action Wednesday at Hulman Links.
The Patriots shot 161 to edge Terre Haute South with 165. West Vigo carded 222. -
PREP ROUNDUP: Wolf homers as North baseball wins 16th game
Terre Haute North erupted for seven runs in the third inning on its way to routing visiting White River Valley 14-1 in 41⁄2 innings of high school baseball Wednesday afternoon at Don Jennings Field.
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Northview's Carter strikes out 19 in 10-inning win against South Vermillion
Northview’s Taylor Carter and South Vermillion’s Daphne Dunegan locked into a 10-inning all-star softball pitching duel Tuesday night at Northview High School.
Unfortunately, one of them had to lose. -
PREP BASEBALL ROUNDUP: South Vermillion 4-0 in WIC after 4-3 win at Northview
Jordan Branz won his ninth game of the season, scattering six hits over eight innings to lead South Vermillion to a 4-3 victory at Northview in a Western Indiana Conference battle.
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Thompson going into Indiana High School Football Hall of Fame
Former Terre Haute North High School standout Anthony Thompson is the newest member of the Indiana High School Football Hall of Fame.
- More High School Headlines
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