The Henryville boys’ basketball team redeemed itself in the Christian Academy of Indiana Holiday Tournament on Monday night, defeating the host Warriors in the South pool 51-33. The Hornets’ win came one game after suffering their worst loss of the season in Saturday night’s pool play, a 66-48 setback to Rock Creek Christian.

Skyler Brooks led Henryville (6-4) with a game-high 19 points, while teammates Cory Munk and Steven Mayfield each chipped in 11 points.

The Hornets’ defense was stifling, holding Christian Academy (2-8) to its lowest-point total of the season. It was also the fewest amount of points Henryville has yielded this year.

“We got outplayed,” Warriors’ head coach Joshua Hutchinson said. “I didn’t do a good job adjusting to Henryville’s pressure defense.”

J.T. Taylor led CAI with a double-double, scoring 17 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.

The Hornets will play New Washington in today’s third-place game at 5 p.m. CAI will face Crothersville in the fifth-place game at 3 p.m. today.

• Lions edge Shawe in overtime: Kendrick Dale tallied eight of his game-high 16 points in overtime to lead Rock Creek Christian past Shawe Memorial in Monday’s first pool game of the CAI Tourney, 49-40. The Lions won the South pool with a perfect 3-0 record and will face Austin in tonight’s championship at 7.

Rock Creek (5-3) held a 31-21 lead late in the fourth quarter before the Hilltoppers went on a 12-2 run to tie the game at 33 and force overtime. But the Lions regrouped in the extra session, outscoring Shawe 16-7.

Despite the win, Rock Creek head coach Chris Brown was not happy with his team’s overall effort and free-throw shooting. The Lions were just 11-of-24 at the stripe.

“We came out flat. We made four turnovers to start the game,” Brown said. “We were very much a different team than the one that played Saturday night’s game. I was unpleased with the effort tonight.”

Rock Creek’s Paul Bennett had nine points on three 3-pointers, and teammate Dontale Mayes had eight points and a team-high 11 rebounds.



GIRLS’ BASKETBALL

• Braves win Brown County Tourney: The start of the season has been a bit of a roller coaster for Borden, but the Braves added something over the weekend that may prove to begin evening things out — a championship.

The Braves knocked off Cascade in the first round, 54-45, and then got a lift from freshman Erin Mikel to upend Brown County 46-45 and win the Brown County Tournament last Saturday.

Andrea Rademacher scored 27 points, hitting 17-of-18 from the free-throw line, and the Braves (6-4) led at every stop in beating Class 2A Cascade (4-7). Mikel also impressed in the opening-round win, hitting two 3-pointers and adding 15 points.

Against the Class 3A Eagles (4-10), Mikel played the hero. With the Braves trailing 45-44, Mikel grabbed the rebound after a Rademacher miss and calmly hit two free throws with 0.3 seconds showing on the clock to get Borden the victory. She also hit three 3s and scored a game-high 19 points.

“Erin Mikel had a big, big day,” said Borden coach Charlie Gardner. “She faced a lot of pressure for a freshman and handled it very well.”

Rademacher added 14 points in the win for Borden, which trailed 24-21 at intermission and 37-34 entering the final period. All 14 of her points came in the second half, as the Braves’ star was uncharacteristically held scoreless over the first 16 minutes.

Borden ended 2008 on a three-game winning streak, rebounding after losing three out of four during a tough road stretch. The Braves will host Crawford County this coming Saturday.