By KEVIN HARRIS
CLARKSVILLE — Heading into the 2009-10 season, Providence boys’ basketball coach Lou Lefevre knew he was facing a stiff challenge. He was going to guide a young and inexperienced squad with no seniors, two juniors and a bunch of sophomores and freshmen.
On Friday night at the Larkin Center, the Providence faithful found just how big of a challenge Lefevre has.
The Pioneers’ shooting went cold in the second half and lost 59-57 to a veteran Austin team. The Eagles (2-1), who have four seniors and two juniors on their roster, defeated Providence (1-1) for the second year in a row.
After shooting 12-of-23 in the first half, the Pioneers made only 9-of-27 field goals in the second. They missed 11-of-15 shots in the fourth quarter alone.
“I didn’t think we got the opportunities to score,” Lefevre said. “They went back to man-to-man (defense), and for a while it looked like we were confused. Then we started running our man sets and we didn’t run them well. They were plays that would have led to easy shots, and we didn’t run the plays well.”
The Eagles definitely slowed down Providence guards A.J. Schmidt and Bryce Very. The sophomores combined to score 33 points in the first half, but they poured in only four in the second. Schmidt paced the Pioneers with 19 points, while Very chipped in 18.
Lefevre said Providence struggled to read the Austin defense. The Eagles played man-to-man, box-and-one and triangle-and-two throughout the game.
“What young kids start doing is ‘Oh no, we can’t score against it,’” Lefevre said. “With very young kids who are very inexperienced, the thing that often happens is they don’t value the little details. Until they value those little things, they’re going to lose a lot.”
Despite the cold shooting in the fourth quarter, the Pioneers still had a chance to win in the closing in the final minute.
With Providence trailing 58-51 with 45 seconds left in regulation, Ryan Schmidt and Michael Griffith each nailed back-to-back baskets to trim the Pioneers’ deficit to three. After Austin’s Andrew Clark hit the front end of a one-and-one, Very made his only field goal of the second half to slice Providence’s deficit to 59-57.
Following an Eagles turnover, the Pioneers got the ball with nine seconds to go. After a couple of timeouts, A.J. Schmidt received the inbounds pass along the baseline and prepared to shoot. But Austin’s Kameron Draper fouled Schmidt before the shot, forcing him to go to the stripe for a one-and-one.
However, Schmidt missed the front end with Draper getting the rebound and drawing a foul. After Draper missed both free throws, A.J. Schmidt clanged a 35-foot shot off the rim at the final horn to end the game.
Griffith posted a double-double with 10 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. The Pioneers will travel to Madison tonight.
AUSTIN 14 23 10 12—59
PROVIDENCE 12 23 12 10—57
Austin (2-1) — Raichel 12, Pate 2, Clark 5, To. Winchester 0, Ty Winchester 12, Draper 2, Edwards 21, Deaton 5.
Providence (1-1) — R. Schmidt 2, A. Schmidt 19, Very 18, Wethington 3, B. Schmidt 5, Andres 0, Knott 0, Griffith 10.
3-point field goals — Austin 8 (Raichel 4, Edwards 4); Providence 7 (A. Schmidt 3, Very 3, B. Schmidt).
Rebounds — Austin 26 (Edwards 9); Providence 27 (Griffith 12).
Turnovers — Austin 13, Providence 11.
Junior varsity score — Austin 44, Providence 32.
