.png)
BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
Girls basketball: Carroll (Flora) 66, Pioneer 61 (Feb. 8)
Ali Harness scored 26 points, and Madison Wagner made 10 of 10 free throws in the fourth quarter and as part of her 25 to lead the Carroll girls basketball team to a 66-61 win over Pioneer in the Class 2A, Sectional 37 final at Lewis Cass Feb. 8.
Laney Johnson added 10 points. Carroll made 22 of 28 free throws for the game.
Ashlynn Brooke scored 31 of her game-high 37 points in the second half for Pioneer. Kylie Attinger added nine, and Hailey Cripe added six.
Brooke hit five 3-pointers. Her 98 3-pointers for the season ranks No. 1 in the state.
Brooke outscored the entire Carroll team 14-9 in the third quarter as Pioneer cut a 17-point deficit down to 46-38.
Brooke added 17 more points in the fourth quarter.
Pioneer had been 15-0 this season when scoring 60 or more points in a game.
The loss snapped Pioneer’s 10-game winning streak and their streak of three straight sectional titles. It was Pioneer’s first loss in a state tournament game since dropping the 2020 Class 1A state title game to Loogootee and their first loss in a sectional game since falling to South Newton in 2018.
Cripe, a senior, finished with 1,675 points, 309 rebounds and 238 made 3-pointers. All three marks are all-time school records.
Carroll went on to lose 64-52 to Frankton in a regional semifinal at Frankton on Saturday.
PIONEER (61) (21-5)
Macee Baker 1 0-0 3, Ashlynn Brooke 15 2-5 37, Hailey Cripe 2 2-2 6, Brooklyn Borges 1 2-4 4, Kylie Attinger 4 1-1 9, Makenna Strycker 1 0-0 2
TEAM: 24 7-12 61
CARROLL (FLORA) (66) (18-7)
Harness 9 5-6 26, Wagner 5 13-14 25, Johnson 3 3-6 10, Tillman 1 1-2 3, Worl 1 0-0 2, Jones 0 0-0 0, A. O’Brien 0 0-0 0
TEAM: 19 22-28 66
Three-point field goals:
Pioneer 6 (Brooke 5, Baker),
Carroll 6 (Harness 3, Wagner 2, Johnson)
Total fouls: Pioneer 23, Carroll 15
Fouled out: Cripe (PIO), Strycker (PIO), Tillman (CARR)
Score by quarters
Pioneer 9 11 18 23 – 61
Carroll 21 16 9 20 – 66
Girls basketball: Pioneer 51, Wabash 34 (Feb. 7)
Ashlynn Brooke hit five 3-pointers and scored a game-high 27 points, and Hailey Cripe added 13 for Pioneer in a 51-34 win over Wabash in a Class 2A, Sectional 37 semifinal at Lewis Cass on Feb. 7.
Already leading 28-19 at halftime, Pioneer held Wabash to just four points in the third quarter to extend its lead to 37-23.
Brooke outscored the entire Wabash team 16-15 in the second half.
This marked the first meeting between the teams since Jan. 5, 2010.
WABASH (34) (9-14)
Mattern 3 0-0 9, Stumbo 2 0-2 4, Yoakum 4 1-1 10, Cordes 3 2-2 8, Westendorf 0 1-5 1, Province 0 0-0 0, Layne 0 0-0 0, Wilson 0 2-2 2, Jones 0 0-0 0, Long 0 0-0 0, Walter 0 0-0 0, Honeycutt 0 0-0 0
TEAM: 12 6-12 34
PIONEER (51) (21-4)
Macee Baker 3 0-0 7, Ashlynn Brooke 10 2-3 27, Hailey Cripe 6 0-0 13, Brooklyn Borges 1 0-2 2, Kylie Attinger 1 0-2 2, Makenna Strycker 0 0-1 0, Maggie Steffel 0 0-0 0, Mandee Weisenburger 0 0-0 0, Kennedy Corn 0 0-0 0, Allison McGrew 0 0-0 0
TEAM: 21 2-8 51
Three-point field goals:
Wabash 4 (Mattern 3, Yoakum),
Pioneer 7 (Brooke 5, Baker, Cripe)
Total fouls: Wabash 13, Pioneer 14
Turnovers: Wabash 15, Pioneer 8
Score by quarters
Wabash 11 8 4 11 – 34
Pioneer 14 14 9 14 – 51
