Corydon scores win over SC

The pre-Christmas schedule for the Corydon Central and South Central girls’ basketball teams is a grind. When the teams came together Dec. 14 in Corydon, each was looking for a win and some momentum.
Pivotal to the outcome was a stellar second quarter by the Corydon Central defense, which held South Central to a single field goal ‘ a bucket from Shelby Miller ‘ while pulling out to a 28-15 halftime lead.
The lead was enough to hold off a handful of Lady Rebel charges in the second half and to take a 47-36 victory.
‘So much of that first half was when they got shots; we didn’t allow any offensive rebounds,’ Corydon Central coach Michael Uhl said. ‘We left Shelby open way too many times early. She put us in a hole, but we were able to dig out of it.’
In the opening quarter, Miller knocked down a pair of treys, forcing the Lady Panthers to call a time-out to regroup. Corydon Central got on the board with single free throws from Katlyn Whelan and Marie Rothrock but weren’t able to assume the lead until late in the quarter.
A 3-pointer and a 2-point field goal from Kelsey Miller pressed South Central ahead, 11-8. Corydon Central responded with a Whelan basket, followed by a long ball from Kayla Uhl, giving the Lady Panthers a 13-11 lead. South Central’s Kayla Lewis hit a field goal to tie the game after one quarter.
Momentum swung the way of the Lady Panthers in the second quarter, as they ripped off 11 unanswered points.
Corydon Central took the lead when Heather Uhl buried a trey. Kayla Uhl added four points, and Savannah Eschbacher tossed in six points during the run. South Central was forced into eight turnovers while finding difficulty in solving Corydon Central’s zone defense.
‘Teams are going to play zone and try to stop Shelby until we can find other girls to score consistently,’ South Central coach Randall Schoen said. ‘There have been games this year where she has carried us, scoring 30 or more points. When she does that, we’re OK. Our offense has got to get better.’
Eschbacher continued her output in the second half, eventually finishing with 14 points off the bench. The sophomore is coming along, according to her coach, a year after suffering a then-season- ending knee injury.
‘This was her fourth straight game with eight or more rebounds,’ Michael Uhl said. ‘The first couple of games you could see she was timid with her knee. The last few games, you can see her confidence coming back.’
South Central pulled down 13 rebounds in the third quarter to pull within 11, 37-26, after the quarter.
In the fourth quarter, the Lady Rebels went on a 9-2 run to close the gap to 41-35. Shelby and Kelsey Miller tallied all nine points during the outburst. During the final 3:30, Corydon Central was able to effectively manage the clock.
A Marie Rothrock field goal, along with points from Kayla Uhl and Eschbacher, helped seal the Lady Panther win.
‘For both of us, we really haven’t had easy schedules,’ Michael Uhl said of the match-up between the county rivals. ‘We should step out there to win every game, but this was one we were able to step up and get it done. We didn’t do a lot of good things early, but now we have to get our offense playing a little more consistent.’
Kayla Uhl reached double-figure scoring with 12 points and was followed by her sister, Heather Uhl, with nine. Rothrock contributed nine rebounds, and Justice Avery had eight. Symphony LeJeune dished four assists for the winners.
South Central was paced by sisters Kelsey and Shelby Miller with 15 and 14 points, respectively. Katie Saylor chipped in five points and nine rebounds. Jessica DeWeese had eight rebounds for the Lady Rebels.
‘It’s going to take this group a lot longer than I expected to play to the level we need to be,’ Schoen said. ‘This year, more than ever, the conference is balanced. We’re going to keep working at it. We need shooters to step up to get us going.’
Both teams will participate in holiday tournaments in the coming week.
South Central will play in the Floyd Central Holiday Tournament on Dec. 29 and 30, and Corydon Central will face the team that knocked South Central from the Class A Regional last year, No. 1 Vincennes Rivet, in a tournament hosted by the Patriots. The event will take place Dec. 28 and 29.
‘It’s a good, solid tournament,’ Michael Uhl said. ‘We hope to go there and be competitive. We need to continue to take steps forward.’