Corydon cruises past North

One constant in last year’s state final tournament run by Corydon Central’s girls basketball team was its uncanny ability to put teams away with one solid quarter.
With all but one player back from that bunch, it makes sense why last night’s victory over North Harrison in the Class 3A sectional here had a 2005 feel.
After trailing early, the host Lady Panthers, ranked No. 3 in this week’s coaches’ poll, had an 18-0 blitz in the opening period and led at the first break, 18-4.
From there, Corydon didn’t do much to build on that lead, but it didn’t do much to lose it, either.
Over the next three periods, the Lady Panthers only outscored North by six, 32-26.
While the end result was an easy, 50-30 victory that propelled the squad to Friday’s semifinal against Silver Creek, Corydon head coach Michael Uhl was less than enthusiastic about the effort by his club.
‘We went on a run both offensively and defensively in that first quarter and we just didn’t maintain it. That bothers me,’ Uhl said. ‘Against Brownstown and in parts of the game against Silver Creek we kept it going and maintained the run and we just didn’t do that tonight.’
Another blot on the victory came on field goal shooting, where the Lady Panthers hit just 19 of 51 (37 percent).
The Lady Panthers were 10 of 28 shooting in the first half and dropped to 9-23 in the second.
‘We had nice shots early, they just didn’t fall. But they didn’t fall because they weren’t even close,’ Uhl said. ‘I don’t know what to attribute that to.’
The Lady Panthers (20-1) were led by the 14 points of senior forward Stannye Wolfe, 13 by senior Megan Greer and 12 by Megan Bates, another senior.
Rounding out the scoring column for the winners were Bridgett Decker with three points and Jill Hoehn, Jessie Stansbury and Brooke South, all with two points apiece. Cheyenne Wright and Bethany Shewmaker scored one apiece.
The win was the team’s 28th in a row on its home floor, which ranks as one of the best in the state. The last loss by Corydon on its own turf came on Nov. 22, 2003 against New Albany.
North Harrison coach Hal Pearson said his club had nothing to lose coming into the affair.
‘As bad as I thought we played, I told my team at halftime that we were only down 16 and we’d taken just nine shots and had 16 turnovers. We should have been happy to only be down 16 at the half,’ North coach Hal Pearson said. ‘Still, we came away with a lot of positives.’
Freshman Wynn Shroyer scored 10 points and was 6-8 at the line, freshman Kayla Lambert added nine points and Jessica Mosier rolled in eight for the Lady Cats (7-15).
Brandi Auberry scored one, and Leigha Bowyer ‘ who was the team’s lone senior ‘ scored two in her high school final’.
After setting the pace in the first period, 18-4, the Lady Panthers pushed the lead to 28-12 at the intermission and 44-22 heading into the fourth period.
From three-point land, Corydon was 6-23 overall and it sank 6-10 from the foul stripe.
The Lady Cats were 7-28 (25 percent) shooting on the night and missed all nine tries from beyond the arc.
While Corydon won the battle of the boards, 33-24, and forced seven more turnovers (17-24), the Lady Panthers got to the line just 10 times, hitting six. Conversely, North Harrison was 16 of 27 on foul shots.
‘They got to the line 27 times and that just can’t happen,’ Uhl said. ‘They get there that many times and that means they are getting free shots at the basket and also, you are in foul trouble.’
In the night’s first bout, Silver Creek disposed of Salem, 65-50.
Four players reached double-figures in scoring for the Lady Dragons (15-6).
Stephanie Steele scored 15, Kelsey Page put in 14 and Kaci Holland and Donna Ferree added 12 apiece.
Salem (6-14) was led by sophomore sensation Shaylee Brown, who put in 16.
‘We’ll have to come out and maintain on both ends of the floor or it’s going to be a long night,’ Uhl said.
— In Class 2A action at Tell City, Southridge (17-4) was upset by Forest Park (13-8), 43-42, in overtime.
Play continues tonight at 6 as Tell City (10-10) battles South Spencer (18-3). Crawford County takes to the court to face North Posey (5-14) at approximately 7:40.