Tuesday county roundup: NP, G-C win CC titles

Cross country

Dragons, Cougars win county titles: New Palestine and Greenfield-Central repeated as the Hancock County cross country champions Thursday. 

NP's girls won for the seventh straight year, while G-C won the boys title for the second straight year on a course at Brandywine Park in Greenfield. 

In the girls race, New Palestine tallied 27 points, Mt. Vernon 59, Greenfield-Central 66 and Eastern Hancock 72.

NP freshman Sarah Schwartz was the individual champion, winning in 19:33, with EH's Kiersten Schrope finishing second in 20:14, five seconds ahead of MV's Elizabeth Cook.

NP had all five runners in the top 10, with Marissa Crosby finishing fourth (20:49), Natalie Shields sixth (21:00), Bailey Wallace seventh (21:02) and Kayla Medaris ninth (21:11).

MV's depth heped it claim second, with Jessica Grubb placing 10th (21:15), Morgan Hayse 12th, Samantha Sanders 16th and Lindsey Eckart 18th. G-C was led by Kara Purvis' fifth-place finish (20:58). Nicole Stephenson was 11th, Rebecca Flora 13th, Emily Dupnick 15th and Katie Wickham 22nd. EH had a pair of top-10 finishers, with Schrope second and Shelby Wyatt (21:06) eighth. Hope Spaulding was 17th, Karlee Gray 21st and Cara Johnson 24th.

In the boys race, NP's Seth Eagleson set a new county record in 16:23 to lead the Dragons to a 1-2 finish in the individual race, but G-C had five runners in the top 11 to win. G-C had 34 points, MV 41 and NP 53. EH fielded an incomplete team.

G-C was led by third-place Syrus Fletcher (17:19) and fourth-place Garrett Benedict (17:19). Taylor Wright was sixth (17:26), Jason LaFord 10th (17:48) and Zach Bishop 11th to round out the Cougars' scoring.

MV was led by fifth-place Brandt True (17:24), with Andrew Thaxton placing seventh (17:32),  Aaron Rush eighth (17:36), Taylor Van Winkle ninth (17:46) and Andrew Boyle 12th. Eagleson and teammate Austin Dodd (16:54) placed 1-2 for NP. Riley Wilson was 14th, Dominic Basciano 17th and Sam Jones 19th for the Dragons.

NP's Mattie Waggoner (21:37) and G-C's Luke Shambaugh (17:53) won their respective JV races.

Tennis

New Palestine 5, Mt. Vernon 0: The Dragons swept their rivals in tennis action Tuesday, giving coach Chris Hardin his 100th career victory as a boys tennis coach. 

Winners for NP were Brent Barrett over MV's Bryce Bobb at No. 1 6-4, 7-6(6) -- rallying from 6-1 down in the tiebreaker to clinch the match -- Stratton Smith at No. 2 over Grant Williams 6-1, 6-2; and Connor Swain at No. 3 6-2, 6-0 over MV's Nick Pham.

At No. 1 doubles, NP's Shayan Khokhar/Evan Poole pulled out the day's closest match, 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 over Chandler Hines/Ben Bobb. At No. 2 doubles, NP's Pete Rusche/David Thompson won 7-6(6), 6-4 over Andrew Noble/Corey Beck.

"The guys played really well tonight despite the wind," Hardin said. "Overall, we played pretty well. I think we're headed in the right direction. Hopefuly, over the next couple of weeks, we'll be able to make improvements."

NP is now 10-3 on the year. MV is 7-6.

MV won the JV match 6-4.

MV travels to Rushville Tuesday. NP next plays Monday at home against Rushville.

Batesville 3, Greenfield-Central 2: The Cougars dropped a close road match at Batesville, winning two straight-set matches. Batesville clinched the match in a close three-set match at No. 1 doubles.

G-C earned victories from Brandon Hull at No. 3 singles and from Luke Vowell/Bailey Hull at No. 2 doubles. Brandon Hull won 6-4, 7-5, while Vowelll/Hull won 7-5, 6-0. At No. 2 singles, Chris Kersey dropped a close 6-4, 7-6(4) decision, and at No. 1 doubles, G-C's Max Holtzclaw/Jake Kauth dropped a tight 7-5, 1-6, 6-3 match.

"We played a really tough match against a strong team tonight, and came up just short," G-C coach Jeff Sincroft said. "After playing four matches last week, we took some time off and I think that may have hurt us a little bit. Hopefully we can bounce back against Yorktown on Wednesday."

The Cougars will wrap up their HHC schedule, and look to finish with a winning record in the conference, as they travel to Yorktown on Wednesday. The Cougars are 13-5 overall and 3-3 in HHC play.

Batesville won the JV match 7-0.

Boys soccer

Center Grove 6, New Palestine 1: Bryson Basaran scored on a free kick midway through the first half to tie the game at 1-1, but No. 5 Center Grove was very strong and pulled away to a 4-1 lead at halftime before adding two quick goals in the opening minutes of the second half.

CG midfielder Gabe Edel had two goals and three assists, while the Trojans' Austin Storm had a hat trick -- including two goals 71 seconds apart in the second half. Edel scored two goals 60 seconds apart in the first half.

Basaran's goal for NP was his seventh of the year -- all coming in the last four games. He nearly scored again on a first-half free kick that was denied on a diving save by CG goalkeeper Dalton Mudd.

Jaron Pridgen made three saves in net for NP, while Kyle Rodebeck made five in relief in the second half.

"Center Grove is a very good team," NP coach Bobby Holden said. "It was good competition and will make us better as we continue to improve our game. We are looking forward to facing another good competitor on Thursday when we play Fishers."

NP is now 7-4-1 on the year. The Dragons host Fishers Thursday and Delta Saturday.

CG won the JV game 4-1.

Brebeuf 4, Mt. Vernon 0: The Marauders dropped a match to a solid Brebeuf team, as the Braves scored twice in each half.

Corban Hartley made three saves in the Marauder net. Brebeuf's Ryan Morelock had two goals and two assists.

MV is now 6-5-2 on the year. The Marauders host Pendleton Heights on Thursday as they look to maintain their hold on first place in the HHC. MV (4-1 HHC) has a half-game lead over New Palestine and Greenfield-Central, who are both 3-1 in conference play. After playing PH, MV has an overtime to play against Greenfield-Central on Wednesday.

Volleyball

New Palestine 3, Morristown 0: The Dragons posted a 25-11, 25-9, 25-21 victory for their 10th victory of the season. 

NP is now 10-12 on the year heading into Thursday's match at Pike.

Eastern Hancock 3, Indian Creek 0: The Royals improved to 5-0 in Mid-Hoosier Conference play with the three-game sweep of the Braves. EH won 25-17, 25-12, 25-22.

Frannie Stephenson had 14 kills, two aces and eight digs for the Royals. Melissa Bedell had 11 kills. Bekah Dickmander had nine kills, while Lauren Harmon had eight kills and three blocks. Jordian Eastes had 38 assists and 11 digs. Hannah Best had a team-high 25 digs, while Lytia Vanderpool had 12.

The Royals are now 11-5 on the year and have won six straight heading into Wednesday's match at Tri.

Wednesday's schedule

Volleyball: Eastern Hancock at Tri, 6 p.m.

Volleyball: Mt. Vernon at Rushville, 6 p.m.

Boys soccer: Greenfield-Central at Yorktown, 5:30/7 p.m.

Girls soccer: Pendleton Heights at New Palestine, 5/7 p.m.

Girls soccer: Mt. Vernon at Rushville, 5/6:30 p.m.

Tennis: Greenfield-Central at Yorktown, 5:30 p.m.

Tennis: Eastern Hancock at Anderson, 4:30 p.m.

Tennis: Mt. Vernon at Rushville, 5 p.m.