CHARLESTOWN — The Floyd Central girls’ basketball squad utilized accurate perimeter shooting early and a deadly inside game late to best host Charlestown, 72-40 Wednesday at the Charlestown Sports Arena.

“(Brooke) Hinton hit three 3-pointers in the first quarter and it got their girls a little bit on their heels,” Floyd Central (3-5) coach Kirk Hamsley said. “I thought we defended them very well in the first quarter and kept their quick guards from getting in the lane and scoring. We did a pretty decent job taking that away from them.”

Behind the hot early shooting of sophmore guard Hinton, it looked like the Highlanders ran away with the contest.

Hinton scored 11 of her 18 points during the first frame, nailing 3-of-4 3-point attempts as Floyd Central built a 20-3 lead.

“They were the aggressors early, they took it to us, and we were fighting an uphill battle for most of the game,” Charlestown coach Sam Terrell said.

Alternately, the Pirates (1-7) shot poorly from the field, only converting one of their first 13 field goal attempts. But back-to-back baskets by guards Kaitlyn Henning and Taryn Moore opened the second quarter for Charlestown, who narrowed the lead to 15, 33-18, at intermission.

Floyd Central opened the second half by sending 5-9 guard Kelsey Mayfield into the post. The versatile senior scored inside baskets on three consecutive possessions for the Highlanders, drawing the ire of Terrell, who benched his starters for most of the third quarter after being unhappy with their defensive effort.

“If that’s as hard as we’re going to play, then we need to find five who are willing to play hard,” he said. “That’s all I’m asking of these kids — that they play hard, that they remember what they need to be doing and play to the best of their ability. They weren’t doing any of that.”

Mayfield led all scorers with 19 points and also grabbed six rebounds for Floyd Central. The Highlanders also received 15 points from freshman Madison Kaiser. Kaiser, a 5-9 freshman, notched 12 of her points in the second half.

“We wanted to get our bigs some work inside, and I think that really made a difference for us,” Hamsley said.

Henning and Moore, Charlestown’s backcourt duo, led the Pirates with 12 and 10 points respectively.

The Highlanders host Hoosier Hills Conference foe and defending Class 4A state champion Jeffersonville on Saturday, while Charlestown hits the road Saturday and heads to Mitchell to face the Bluejackets.



FLOYD CENTRAL    20 13 20 19—72

CHARLESTOWN      3 15   4 18—40

Floyd Central (3-5) — Mayfield 19, Smith 2, Hinton 18, M. Kaiser 15, Bruno 2, K. Kaiser 2, Kingsley 6, R. Kaiser 8.

Charlestown (1-7) — Henning 12, Moore 10, Burdin 3, Young 0, Thrasher 2, Brooks 6, Farmer 6, Goedeker 1. 

Turnovers — Floyd Central 13, Charlestown 21.

Rebounds — Floyd Central 27 (M. Kaiser, Mayfield 6), Charlestown 20 (Brooks 5).

3-point field goals — Floyd Central 4 (Hinton 3, Mayfield), Charlestown 3 (Moore 2, Henning).

Free throws — Floyd Central 14-24, Charlestown 11-19.