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March 8, 2008

Pirates stumble at regional

No. 1 Memorial too much, 64-50

By MATT CRESS

Through the rain, snow, wind and ice, it turned out that actually playing the game wasn’t the problem.

For the Charlestown boys’ basketball team, it was the lack of stoppages that hurt the most.

The Pirates did not attempt a free throw on Saturday, watching Evansville Memorial go 14-of-20 from the stripe in a 64-50 loss in the first semifinal of the Class 3A Washington Regional.

“That was the difference,” said Charlestown coach Sean Smith. “The old adage in coaching is that you make more free throws than your opponents attempt, and they didn’t have any problem with that today.”

Cancellation and postponements ruled the day at regional sites across Indiana, and nearby North Daviess High School held its Class A regional featuring Borden later in the afternoon.

But the decision was made to go on at Washington, leaving Charlestown fans — including Smith’s parents, the regular scorekeeper and the entire student section — stranded at home.

“I’m disappointed for the kids,” Smith said. “We had a decent crowd, but it was only because a lot of our fans decided to come down the night before. There was no real student section.”

The lack of whistles was more damaging.

Class 3A No. 10 Charlestown (20-4) entered the contest with the No. 1-ranked Tigers expecting to pound the ball inside to its power combination of 6-foot-6 Zach Merschbrock and 6-5 Bowman Thrasher.

The Pirates did just that, getting 22 points from Merschbrock and eight from Thrasher, but never could seem to get to the stripe or get Memorial’s starters in foul trouble.

“We figured if we got the ball inside we could either score or draw a foul,” Smith said. “We executed our game plan, but the whistles never came.”

Still, Charlestown jumped out to a 6-0 lead and trailed by only two at the end of the first quarter, 17-15.

Merschbrock was called for his second foul midway through the second quarter, sending the Pirate star to the bench. But Charlestown hung tough, down only 29-25 at the break.

The Tigers (21-1) opened the second half by picking up the full-court pressure and forcing key turnovers to take a nine-point lead entering the final eight minutes.

“They’re an excellent team,” Smith said. “Once they got that breathing room, they spread you out and make you come to them.”

Charlestown did close to within three in the second half, and appeared to draw closer on a tip-in from Merschbrock along with a foul on the play.

But the foul was on Charlestown, and the resulting two free throws changed a potential tie game to a five-point Memorial lead and the Pirates could never recover. Memorial hit 10-of-12 free throws in the fourth quarter, as it advanced to meet Washington in the finals.

Jonathan Shurtz led Memorial with 18 points. University of Louisville recruit Kyle Kuric had 13 in the victory.

Fittingly, all 50 of Charlestown’s points came from its senior class. Clayton Merschbrock had 10 points in the loss, while Stephen Grayson had six and Jordan Copeland scored five.

It was the last appearance for Charlestown’s six seniors, who were the spark for a special year. This season, Charlestown took a share of the Mid-Southern Conference championship and won 20 games for the first time since 1990. It was also the Pirates’ first regional appearance in eight seasons.

“It’s such a special group of kids,” Smith said. “Not just because they are great players, but because they are great people. I’ll never forget them. I hope no one will ever forget them.”



EV. MEMORIAL 17 12 13 22—64

CHARLESTOWN 15 10  8 17—50

Ev. Memorial (21-1) — Isaacs 8, Shurtz 18, Wilgus 9, Kuric 13, Peters 1, Kamp 15.

Charlestown (20-4) — Copeland 4, C. Merschbrock 10, Z. Merschcbrock 22, Grayson 6, Thrasher 8.

Three-point field goals — Ev. Memorial 6 (Kuric 3, Wilgus, Shurtz, Kamp); Charlestown 2 (Z. Merschbrock 2).

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