CLARKSVILLE — The Providence Pioneers boys’ basketball squad won its sixth consecutive season opener under coach Lou Lefevre on Saturday with a 57-26 trouncing of visiting Indianapolis Metropolitan at the Robert L. Larkin Center.
The Pioneers overcame a size disadvantage against the Pumas with 11 of 25 shooting from beyond three-point range and by forcing them into 16 turnovers. The Pioneer halfcourt defense was also stingy, holding Metropolitan to 11 of 36 shooting from the field.
Still, Lefevre found some fault with his squad’s effort, saying he felt his team lacked awareness on the offensive end and relied too much on perimeter shooting.
“We’re still just very unsure of when to attack, where to be and when to be ready,” he said. “We have a problem with kids who are just not ready — not on defense, and on offense, not ready to catch the ball.
“I think that kids that are young have that problem where they will just watch the game and not be ready to make plays.”
The Pioneers put the game away early against the Pumas, going on a 12-2 run to begin the matchup over the first four minutes. The Pioneers led at the half, 28-14 and 38-19 at the end of the third period.
Sophomore guard A.J. Schmidt scored 15 of his game-high 26 points during the fourth quarter, nailing four-of-four from beyond the arc. Bryce Very’s 12-point night included 3-of-8 shooting from 3-point range and guard Ryan Schmidt made 2-of-4 3-point attempts.
Lefevre said he wasn’t too impressed with his squad’s perimeter shooting, claiming it was due to the reluctance of his post players to go towards the basket.
Metropolitan forward Anthony Jackson, a 6-foot-2 junior, proved to be troublesome for the Pioneers interior players, scoring 12 points and grabbing 13 rebounds. Two other Metropolitan players topped 6-4.
“If we’re going to be a perimeter-oriented team, we’ll be terrible,” Lefevre said. “If that is your goal, to be a perimeter-oriented team, we’ll win five games. You have to have guards that will get into the lane. We have to have our big guys want the ball inside and score. We looked like we didn’t want to go inside, and were content to pass it around the outside and jack up shots.”
The Pioneers will face a much tougher chore on Friday night, when they host Austin, which handed Providence a 38-32 road defeat in their matchup last season.
Metropolitan 4 10 5 7 - 26
Providence 12 16 10 19 - 57
Metropolitan (0-1) — Teague 0, Beam 0, Kelly 3, Williams 6, Jackson 12, Harris 5.
Providence (1-0) — R. Schmidt 8, A. Schmidt 26, Very 13, Wethington 4, Griffith 4, B. Schmidt 0, Knott 2, Andres 0, Crawley 0.
Turnovers — Metropolitan 16, Providence 8.
Rebounds — Metropolitan 29 (Jackson 13), Providence 25 (Griffith 7).
Three-point goals — Metropolitan None. Providence 11 (A. Schmidt 6, R. Schmidt 2, Very 3).
Junior Varsity
Metropolitan 16 (2-7-4-3) — Bilodeau 7, Henderson 6, Edwards 3, Stepp 0, Wilson 0.
Providence 23 (8-4-5-6) — Knott 6, Grantz 5, Wimp 4, Andres 2, Crawley 1, Shahroudi 1, Cahalan 4.
Clark County Sports
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Photo by Stan Denny
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