CHARLESTOWN — Posting a 4-1 record in high school basketball at this point of the season probably won’t get you any air time on ESPN or any of the other major networks.

But for the Charlestown Pirates and coach Sean Smith, four wins doubles their total from last season and has just cause for excitement in the Pirate camp. Charlestown picked up win No. 4 on Friday with a 60-51 victory over Clarksville at the Bill Dunn Sports Arena.

“We’re off to a good start,” Smith said. “At the start of the season we talked about breaking the season up into four or five different seasons. So ... we’re 4-1. Right now, I’m happy where we’re at and we’re doing some good things.”

Things didn’t get off to a great start for the Pirates as Clarksville didn’t seem to be fazed playing on the road. The Generals jumped out to an 8-0 lead, but Charlestown got back in the game in a matter of seconds. Joe Wilson hit two free throws for the Pirates’ first points, then converted a 3-point play following a turnover.

“The same thing happened (Tuesday) at Henryville — we were down 17-5,” Smith said. “We didn’t defend well, they got some open looks and knocked them down. But we don’t seem to get too rattled.”

Clarksville’s Jacob Carver converted a three point play with 2:11 left in the quarter to build the Generals advantage to 17-9. But the Pirates started to chip away with Kyle Hayes’ buzzer beating three pointer giving Charlestown their first lead of the game at 18-17.

“That wasn’t the play that we had set up, but we’ll take it,” Smith said. “We we’re looking more to go inside.”

Clarksville never regained the lead, although they were still well in the game at halftime, trailing only 26-23. After Wilson scored to open the second half, Aidan McEwen scored five consecutive points to tie the score at 28.

Trailing 46-39 after three quarters, Billy Edelen’s 3-pointer pulled the Generals to within four at 46-42. Tim Hall then hit two free throws for the Pirates, Anthony Lloyd followed with a basket and the Generals would pull no closer than six points.

“We did a lot of good things tonight,” Clarksville coach Scott Matthews said. “Our spacing tonight was good and put us in a position for success. But we squandered some opportunities around the goal. We got off to a good start, but we have to get tougher mentally and the guys have to realize that the games are 32 minutes long.”

Wilson led a balanced Charlestown scoring attack with 15 points. Steven Coyne finished with 13 points and Aaron Daniel had 11 points.

“Balanced scoring, that’s one thing we’ve had every game,” Smith said. “That’s a good thing. Clarksville has a good-looking team though. And McEwen, he’s a great player for a freshman.”

McEwen, just a freshman, led Clarksville and was the games leading scorer with 22 points.

“He’s a pretty solid player,” Matthews said. “And he’ll learn to make plays at the defensive end — and get in a position to help us on both ends of the court.”

Another thing that pleased Smith was his teams’ game management in the fourth quarter.

“Last year, when we needed to hold the ball, we just couldn’t do it,” Smith said. “The experience is paying off.”

Clarksville will return to action tonight when they host Pekin Eastern. Charlestown will remain idle until next Friday when they travel to Providence.

“I’ve always liked playing back to back on the weekends,” Matthews said. “It gives you the experience of a tournament atmosphere.”

“We’ve had some sickness and have some guys banged up,” Smith said. “We’ll try to get healed up. We’ll take the weekend off and then come back to practice on Monday ready to go. We’re ready to get that second stage of the season started. And it will be tougher than this one.”



CLARKSVILLE 17 6 16 12—51

CHARLESTOWN 18  8 20 14—60

Clarksville (2-2, 0-2) — St. Claire 5, Brown 4, Carver 6, Edelen 8, McEwen 22, Masters 6.

Charlestown (4-1, 2-1) — Wilson 15, Hayes 11, Coyne 13, Daniel 5, Lloyd 6, Hall 6, Williams 4.

3-Point Goals — Clarksville 5 (McEwen, Edelen 2, St.Clair); Charlestown 4 (Hayes 2, Coyne, Daniel)

Rebounds — Clarksville 30 (Brown 8); Charlestown 30 (Lloyd 8)

Turnovers — Clarksville 10, Charlestown 9.

Junior Varsity — Charlestown 56 Clarksville 43.