SELLERSBURG — Silver Creek forced visiting Henryville into 32 turnovers on Tuesday night en route to a 75-24 blowout win on opening night of high school boys’ basketball in Southern Indiana.

The Dragons’ full-court pressure forced the Hornets into coughing up the basketball 15 times in the first quarter alone, as the hosts sprinted out to a 32-7 lead and took control of the game almost from the start.

“That’s the way we’re going to be this year,” Silver Creek coach Brandon Hoffman said. “We’re going to have a bunch of enthusiastic, hard-working players and if we can keep it going, we’ll be fun to watch.”

Sophomore forward Gabe Bauer nailed 5-of-7 shots for 18 points in the first half as Silver Creek took a 51-14 lead at intermission. In the meantime, the bigger, more physical guards and forwards of Silver Creek bullied Henryville’s guards, particularly freshman Elijah Weeks and sophomore Jacob Hedrick, who were the targets of most of the full-court pressure.

Henryville coach Dan Carmony, coaching in his first game for the Hornets, said he expected his group to improve following the loss. While he credited Silver Creek’s defense, he said his squad made plenty of unforced errors.

“I think their pressure was good. I think we helped them by not taking care of the basketball and making some poor decisions,” Carmony said. “Anytime you get the press against you, you have to attack the other team and make them pay for it, and we weren’t able to do that tonight.”

Senior forward Tyler Collins was a bright spot for the Hornets, scoring 13 points and grabbing six rebounds. Henryville center Cody Reister grabbed 11 rebounds before fouling out with 4:24 remaining in the contest.

But Henryville struggled to find offense other than those two guys, and Carmony said more experience would help.

“Again, we really have to work on making good decisions with the basketball — work the ball around to get to the open man and not leaving the ground with the basketball when we’re making a pass,” Carmony said.

Meanwhile, the Dragons showed the poise and skill of a veteran team, committing only nine turnovers of their own and having 11 of their 13 players who saw action score. Zach Davidson added 14 points to Bauer’s 20.

Hoffman’s squad has 10 days to reflect upon its strong effort. Silver Creek won’t take the floor until it will host Class 2A No. 8 Clarksville on Friday, Nov. 30.

“We’re nowhere where we need to be,” Hoffman said. “I think we really let up in the second half. We’re going to take these 10 days to work on some things and try and get better.”

Henryville will host Christian Academy next Tuesday.



SILVER CREEK 75, HENRYVILLE 24

Henryville       7   7 2   8—24

Silver Creek 32 19 9 15—75

    Henryville (0-1): Elijah Weeks 3, Landon Guthrie 1, Tyler Collins 13, Braiden Vaughn 0, Cody Reister 4, Bailey Reister 3, Jacob Hedrick 0, Jacob Janek 0.

    Silver Creek (1-0): Shae Durham 7, Zach Davidson 17, Lucas Barnett 7, Gabe Bauer 20, Sam Garr 7, Layne Taylor 4, Trent DeHate 0, Brooks Howell 0, Nick Arbogast 6, Jake Steele 2, Brennan Thompson 3, Alex Tinsley 0, Zach Densford 2.

    3-point field goals: Henryville 4 (Weeks, Collins 2, B. Reister); Silver Creek 6 (Durham, Davidson, Bauer 4).

Rebounds: Henryvile 24 (C. Reister 11); Silver Creek 24 (Steele 5).

    Turnovers: Henryville 32, Silver Creek 9

    Free throws: Henryville 2-7, Silver Creek 7-10.