Local Sports Headlines: June 21, 2022

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Kentucky Cardinals hold Off the Indiana Cutters 24-20 in Martinsville
The Kentucky Cardinals beat the Indiana Cutters Semi Pro Football Team 24-20 Last Saturday Night at Martinsville HS. The Second regular season meeting this season as the team split the series with the visiting team winning both contests. The Cardinals got on the board first with a 20-yard touchdown pass as the PAT Failed to take a 6-0 with 9:36 left the first quarter. The Cutters came back with a 3-yard touchdown run by Dontae Hart and Dre Adkins Kick gave the Cutters the 7-6 lead in the First quarter with 1:20 left. The Cardinals would score on a 92-yard touchdown pass and Interception Return for a touchdown to take an 18-7 lead into the locker room.

The Cardinals scored with 4:03 left in the 3rd quarter on an 8-yard touchdown pass to make it 24-7. Kenny Martin would take over at Quarterback for the Cutters and he found Isaiah Moore for two touchdown passes. Martin hooked up with Moore on a 39-yard touchdown pass with 2:19 left in the third quarter and Adkins Kick made it 24-14. Martin and Moore hooked up again on 19 Yard touchdown pass but Adkins missed the extra point as it 24-20 with 1:46 left in the game. The Cardinals ran the ball three times and took a knee on third down but a turnover on downs gave the Cutters two more chances to take the lead. Kenny Martin scrambled and got out of bounds at 50 with just 2 seconds left and then fired the ball down field and it was knocked down at the goal line as time expired.

Martin was 6-11 passing for 120 yards, 2 touchdown passes and an interception. Starting quarterback Travis Griffey was 9-17 for 112 yards and 2 interceptions. Isaiah Moore caught 4 passes for 106 yards and two touchdowns. The Cutters Defense had 3 interceptions and 2 fumble recoveries. Nick Land, Marcus Dunbar and Jaden Evans got the picks while Tyrell Anderson and Dontae Hart got the fumble recoveries. The Cardinals (2-2) were 9-20 passing for 207 yards with 3 touchdowns and 3 interceptions along with 95 yards rushing on 29 carries.

The Cutters are 1-2 on the season and will host the Cin City Buccaneers this Saturday at Martinsville High School to wrap up a three game homestand.

Indiana University Women’s Basketball Head Coach Teri Moren wins Gold Medal with USA Basketball U-18 Team
Indiana University Women’s Basketball head coach Teri Moren helped USA Basketball’s U18 women’s team to a gold medal with a victory over Canada in the final at the FIBA U18 Americas Women’s Championships on Sunday night. USA defeated Canada, 82-77, as Moren served as an assistant for the team, who played in the event in Buenos Aires, Argentina from June 13-19. The United States finished 6-0 as they beat Mexico 77-41 in the Quarterfinals and Brazil 84-40 in the Semifinals. The Americans Qualify for the 2023 FIBA Under 19 World Championships in Madrid Spain. It marked her first official stint with USA Basketball after serving as a court coach during trials in 2021. She joins her current student-athlete and support staff members to earn a gold medal as senior guard Grace Berger (2021 Pan American games) and team and recruitment coordinator Ali Patberg (2015 FIBA U19 World Championships) each have gold medals through USA Basketball.
 
Entering her ninth season with the Hoosiers in 2022-23, Moren has guided the program to four NCAA Tournament appearances and seven consecutive 20-win seasons. IU finished the 2021-22 season by tying a program-record 24 wins and advanced to its first Big Ten Tournament championship game in 20 years. In her eight seasons, Indiana is 172-89 as she is the program’s second all-time winningest coach as she has advanced to back-to-back Sweet Sixteen Rounds, an Elite Eight appearance in 2021, and a WNIT championship in 2018. All five starters garnered All-Big Ten honors in 2021-22 and junior forward Mackenize Holmes and Grace Berge hauled in a combined four All-American honorable mention honors. In addition, Indiana was ranked as high as No. 4 in the Associated Press and No. 5 in the WBCA/USA Today Coach’s poll in 2021-22.

Indiana Fever beat Chicago Sky at home
The Indiana Fever overcame a 13-point halftime deficit to win 89-87 against the defending champion Chicago Sky at Indiana Farmers Coliseum on Sunday. Indiana improved to 5-13 this season, while Chicago fell to 10-5.  Fever rookie forward NaLyssa Smith led the team in scoring and rebounding with a career-high 26 points and 11 rebounds. She now has four career double-doubles and 11 games with double-digit points scored.

The Fever had the highest-scoring and most efficient first quarter of the season, opening the game with a season-high 28 points on 11-of-17 shooting. The Sky would respond in the second quarter, going on a 25-9 run while holding the Fever to 4-of-13 shooting to take a 50-37 lead into the locker room. Sky guard Kahleah Copper scored 16 points and went 3-of-3 from the three-point line in the first half. She would end the game leading all scorers with a season-high 28 points. The Fever came out aggressive on offense in the third quarter, opening the second half on an 18-6 run, including eight points from Kelsey Mitchell after only scoring two in the first half. Mitchell finished with 13 points and tied her career-high nine assists. Rookie guard Lexie Hull scored five of her career-high 10 points in the third quarter as Indiana went on to score 35 in the quarter — the most in a third quarter this season — and take a 72-70 lead into the final frame.

Indiana led the majority of the fourth quarter until Sky guard Courtney Vandersloot scored a lay-up with 1:54 left to tie the game at 84. Off a missed free throw by Vandersloot, the Sky hit a three-pointer to take their first lead of the quarter. As time was ticking away, Smith hit a tough jumper, drawing a foul and converting the and-one opportunity to take an 88-87 lead with 39 seconds left in the game before ultimately securing the victory. Indiana outscored Chicago 33-21 in bench points, led by Hull and forward Emma Cannon’s season-high 11 points. With this win, the Fever have now defeated the Sky 37 times in the regular season, the most regular season losses for Chicago against any other franchise. Sunday was also Indiana’s best shooting game making a season-high 35 field goals. Vandersloot finished with 13 points and seven assists for the Sky, while forward Emma Meesseman ended with 12 points and eight rebounds.

The Fever will head to take on the Dallas Wings at 8pm on Thursday at the College Park Center in Arlington, Texas. and the game will be streamed on the official Indiana Fever Facebook page in Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio.

Indiana University Men’s and Women’s Basketball announce Big Ten opponents for 2022-23 season
The Big Ten Conference released opponents for the 2022-23 men’s basketball season with league play beginning in December with two games, followed by 18 more matchups from late December to early March. A full schedule with dates, times and television designations will be announced in the coming months. The Hoosiers will play seven conference opponents in a home and home series including Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Northwestern, Purdue and Rutgers. IU will only play one game against the remaining six members of the league.  At home, the Hoosiers will take on Nebraska, Ohio State and Wisconsin, while IU will travel to Maryland, Minnesota and Penn State.
 
Indiana returns four starters from a team which advanced to the NCAA Tournament and the Big Ten Tournament semifinals. In addition, its recruiting class is ranked as high as eighth in the country. The 2023 Big Ten Tournament will be held in Chicago after spending the last three years in Indianapolis.
 
Indiana Men’s Basketball 2022-23 Big Ten Opponents
Home & Away Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Northwestern, Purdue, Rutgers
Home Only Nebraska, Ohio State, Wisconsin
Away Only Maryland, Minnesota, Penn State

The Big Ten Conference announced the 2022-23 single play and two-play conference opponents for Women’s Basketball. League play will feature an 18-game format once again this season. Each team will play five opponents twice, four opponents only at home and four opponents only on the road. Times, dates and TV designations for the matchups will be announced at a later time.
 
Indiana is coming off its second-consecutive Sweet Sixteen appearance in 2021-22 and are led by ninth year head coach Teri Moren. The Hoosiers went 24-9 overall last season and earned a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament. All-Americans guard Grace Berger and forward Mackenize Holmes, the team’s 1-2 scoring punch from a season ago, will also return for the upcoming campaign.
 
Season ticket deposits are being accepted through the IU Ticket Office with full season tickets to go on sale at a later date. A $15 deposit will secure your seat and be put towards your final purchase of your 2022-23 season ticket.
 
2022-23 Indiana Women’s Basketball Big Ten Conference Opponents
Home & Away – Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Ohio State, Purdue
Home Only – Maryland, Nebraska, Rutgers, Wisconsin
Away Only – Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Penn State

Indianapolis Indians Coverage

Indians Return Home to Host Memphis

The Indianapolis Indians return home to Victory Field this evening as the Memphis Redbirds come to town for a six-game series. The Indians and Redbirds will play at 7:05 pm tonight along with Thursday through Saturday and 1:35 pm Wednesday and Sunday afternoons. The Indians have three big promotions this week Colts at Bat and Friday Fireworks on Friday. MARVEL’s Defenders of the Diamond™ Night on Saturday and Purdue Day on Sunday that highlight the homestand. The Indians are 32-32 on the season after losing four out of six games at Gwinnett. Memphis is 38-28 on the season after splitting a six-game series at home with Nashville winning three games.

The Pittsburgh Pirates announced Monday that they have recalled the #22 overall prospect in baseball (MLB Pipeline), shortstop Oneil Cruz, and selected the contract of outfielder/first baseman Bligh Madris. This will be Cruz’s first big-league stint of the 2022 campaign, and Madris will become the ninth Indianapolis Indian from the 2022 squad to make his major league debut this season.

For more local news . . .
Check out our archived episodes of What’s Happenin’ and Talkin’ Sports with Nick Jenkinson here