Receiving special awards Tuesday night at the Crothersville’s basketball-cheerleader awards program were in front, from left, Chandler Nehrt, Kayla Barnett, Brooke Prather, Kylie Hensley, Courtney Killey, Kelsey Hoskins and Wendy Collman; in back Lauren Barnes, Ryan Gabbard, Bradley Gabbard, Cameron Royalty, Zach Elliott, Chase Ackeret and Kaitlyn Hoevener. Not pictured was Joe Sawyer.
This was a special year for Crothersville basketball as both the boys and girls program were under the direction of new coaches. The girls were coached by Kevin Hensley and the boys were coached by Clint Waskom.
However, Tuesday night at the basketball and cheerleader awards program, the evening belonged to a few seniors on the teams as Kylie Hensley, Courtney Killey, Brooke Prather, and Chase Ackeret received special awards.
The trio of Lady Tigers all was given decorated basketballs for their school records they set during the year. Hensley, the coach’s daughter, set a record for 3-pointers made in a season (55) and career (127). She also walked away with the coach’s award.
Killey received her ball for setting the new assists record for a career (461). She also was one part of a duo that scored over the 1,000 point mark. She finishes her career with 1,054 points. She also was given the award for most assists in one season, the rebound award, and the free throw award.
The other part of the duo to surpass the 1,000 point mark was Prather. She was the first one to go past the mark and she leaves her legacy as the school’s No. 1 points scorer with 1,165. She also set a single-season record of 400 points. Prather also earned the mental attitude award.
Prather and Killey were named to the all-Southern Athletic Conference team. Those two, along with Hensley leaves the school with a combined 61-29 record over their four years. They recorded two straight 17-win seasons while in high school.
As for the junior varsity team they were coached by Chris Mains and they were winless heading into their final game of the season, but Karlie Schoenfelder hit free throws with four seconds left to send them out as winners. Lauren Barnes received the JV rebound award, while Kelsey Hoskins won the free throw award, and Wendy Collman captured the assists award.
The Lady Tigers seventh and eighth grade teams were honored as well. Cassidy Mantz won the free throw award, Claudia Henry captured the assists award, and Alisha Basil won the rebound award for the seventh grade team. Winning the eighth grade free throw and assist awards was Ashley Isenhower and Mackenzie Farmer received the rebound award.
For the boy’s team, Waskom guided them to a 4-18 record, but Ackeret was his only senior and he received the coach’s award. The Tigers were in a majority of their games this season, but a bad quarter in each game was their downfall.
Ryan Gabbard won the mental attitude and rebound awards. Zach Elliott won the assists award, Cameron Royalty took home the free throw and 3-point awards, and was the only player named to the SAC first team.
The future looks bright for the Tigers as they have 88 percent of their scoring back and 92 percent of their rebounding coming back next season. Also, they will rely on a few junior varsity players who helped guide their team to a 16-5 record. The JV team was coached by Craig Kilgore.
Joe Sawyer won the JV free throw and assist awards, while Bradley Gabbard won the rebounding award.
Claiming awards for the seventh grade boys team were, Clay Byrd, rebounds; Tyler Luedeman, free throws, and Conner Adams and Luedeman shared the assists award. Eryn West won the rebound award for the eighth grade boys team. Gene Hodge received the free throw and best defensive player awards, and Brian Money won the assists award.
Kayla Barnett was named the top all-around varsity cheerleader for Crothersville and freshman Chandler Nehrt received the spirit award. Leading the way for the JV squad was Lauren Barnes who was the top all-around cheerleader and Kaitlyn Hoevener received the JV spirit award.
Three athletes, Barnett, Anthony Martin, and Chris Walker all received their letter jackets.
Winning awards for the seventh grade cheerleading team were Chelsey Banks, mental attitude award and Samantha Spall, all-around cheerleader award. Tara Bedwell won the mental attitude for the eighth grader cheer team and Mackenzie Farmer won the all-around award.
