Springs Valley Community High School

Maci Eckerty stepped up to the free-throw line. The Springs Valley girls’ basketball team led 54-47 in the closing minutes against Crawford County and though the Blackhawks weren’t exactly in danger, they knew they quickly could be. They’d gotten out to a 24-0 lead in the first quarter, then spent the rest of the game trying to keep the Wolfpack at arm’s length and a bevy of 3-pointers had made things interesting. So, without much time left to finish its comeback, the Wolfpack fouled Eckerty. Usually that would mean two made shots and two points for the Blackhawks — after all the freshman guard has been known to go to the line at the end of practices and hit dozens and dozens of free throws in a row — but she was in the midst of a slump. Between Dec. 8 and Tuesday, she’d hit just three of her nine attempts from the line across seven games. The 2-for-3 performance she’d put together at Vincennes Rivet on Saturday was promising, but then she only hit one of her first four attempts against Crawford County including the front end of a one-and-one earlier in the fourth quarter. Her confidence wasn’t shaken though. After all, she was still shooting when given the chance. So she stepped to the line, drained the first, drained the second, and the Blackhawks won 56-50. “I wasn’t trying to stress too much about it. I was just trying to breathe and knock them down,” Eckerty said. “I was very relieved that I made them.” Those clutch foul shots were a welcome sight for the Springs Valley bench. After starting the season hitting 16 of her first 20 free throws (80 percent) across nine games, Eckerty had hit just four of 13 (31 percent) since. The Blackhawks’ coaching staff knew she would find the touch again in games, even putting her at the stripe after a Crawford County technical foul on Tuesday. “That was great. Boy, we needed those,” Springs Valley coach Marty Niehaus said. “Early in the season, Maci was always money. We knew it would come back to her, so it was great that it did right when we needed it most.” Just as important as the way the Blackhawks closed the game was the way they opened it. They turned the Wolfpack over again and again, stifling them completely for the first six-plus minutes of the game. Crawford County would finally score with 1:36 to play in the first quarter, but by that time the Blackhawks had already used a bevy of fastbreak opportunities to build a 24-0 lead. It was something rarely seen at the varsity level, particularly in conference play: pure and utter domination. “In all my years of coaching, I’m pretty sure that I’ve never had a team get up 24-0. If I did, it was the team that went to state,” Niehaus said. “It was just great, the way we were clicking. The thing that’s been frustrating here on and off is that we would show signs of really being the kind of team that can score and do things the right way and then we would slump and hardly do anything right. “I’m glad to see everybody playing well and playing well together. Hopefully we can keep building on that.” One of the big beneficiaries of those early runouts was Maddie Carnes. The freshman forward proved to be the best athlete on the floor time and time again, piling up 10 first-quarter points before getting into foul trouble and hitting the bench for the second quarter. Even after Crawford County stopped giving away the ball and settled into the game, Carnes was effective. In the second half she scored 14 points to finish with 24 for the evening on 7-of-12 shooting from the field and 8-of-10 shooting from the free-throw line. “It’s great. It’s impressive, too, because Crawford is pretty athletic,” Niehaus said. “I thought they might handle Maddie pretty well, but she got the best of them tonight for sure. She was on and even hit a three or two. That’s hard to guard so that was a big boost for us tonight for sure.” The win kept Springs Valley (10-7, 4-1 PLAC) alive in the race for the Patoka Lake Athletic Conference title. This marks the first time they’ve won at least four of their first five games in the league since the 2015-16 season when they memorably went undefeated all the way to the regional final. The win also sets them up for an opportunity to do something else that hasn’t been done since 2015-16, win the conference championship. If the Blackhawks can beat Paoli at The Hawk’s Nest on Thursday they’ll clinch at least a share of the crown. Beating the Wolfpack gives them some belief that they can do it. “I think it boosts our confidence in ourselves,” Eckerty said. “If we just go out there and play as hard as we did tonight we might pull it off.” CRAWFORD COUNTY WOLFPACK 50 3P;AFG;FT;R;PF;Pts Sturgeon, g;3-12;5-16;0-0;1;4;13 E. Stroud, f;0-1;3-7;0-0;11;2;6 Kerce, f;4-12;5-15;4-4;3;4;18 N. Stroud, f;0-0;1-2;2-3;1;2;4 Rickenbaugh, f;0-0;0-1;0-0;2;2;0 Howell;1-1;2-2;0-0;2;1;5 House;1-4;1-4;1-2;0;2;4 Wolf;0-1;0-1;0-0;0;2;0 Mauck;0-0;0-0;0-0;0;0;0 Ash;0-0;0-0;0-0;0;0;0 Totals;9-31;17-49;7-9;20;19;50 Shooting;.290;.347;.778 SPRINGS VALLEY BLACKHAWKS 56 3P;AFG;FT;R;PF;Pts Buchanan, g;3-7;5-11;0-0;4;1;13 Eckerty, g;1-1;1-3;3-6;0;1;6 Carnes, f;2-3;7-12;8-10;5;2;24 Hall, f;0-0;1-1;0-2;9;1;2 Nottger, c;0-0;4-7;2-6;5;2;10 Bonta;0-0;0-0;1-2;0;0;1 Shipman;0-0;0-1;0-0;4;1;0 McCormick;0-0;0-2;0-0;0;0;0 Totals;6-11;18-37;14-26;27;9;56 Shooting;.545;.486;.538 Crawford County (12-7);8;13;21;8—50 Springs Valley (10-7);24;9;17;6—56 TO: Springs Valley 18, Crawford County 17.