HIGH SCHOOL BOYS BASKETBALL: Floyd's defense fuels 44-26 win over Providence

BY CHRIS STONER

CLARKSVILLE — Before the season started Floyd Central head coach Randy Gianfagna said his team’s defense was its strength. After this weekend, the coach looks like a prophet.

The visiting Highlanders held Providence to 23 percent shooting en route to a 44-26 win Saturday night and only its second double-weekend win in the last five years.

“I thought our defense was pretty good tonight. I’m pleased. Anytime you get a victory in a rival game like this you’re excited,” Gianfagna said.

Floyd (3-2) held Columbus East to 35 percent shooting in a blowout win over the Olympians Friday night.

The Pioneers (2-4) struggled to find the bottom of the nets all night.

“We didn’t get very many good chances to score,” Providence head coach Lou Lefevre said. “I think the difference was the discipline of the two teams. I thought they were much more disciplined in carrying out what they were trying to carry out. We didn’t show much discipline especially on offense in being smart. We weren’t tough enough to work for something really good instead of just hoping for luck and throwing up anything we could throw up.”

Both teams struggled to find the basket in the first period as the scored was tied at 7-7 at the end of the frame. The hosts put together a 7-2 run to open the second quarter, grabbing a 14-9 advantage on a George Knott bucket with 3:51 before intermission.

However the Highlanders responded and finished the period with an 8-0 spurt capped by a Cody Banet three as time expired and held a slim 17-14 lead at halftime.

“At half we told the kids we kind of played their game and we’re up three so I didn’t think we played too badly. We were playing defense forever and then went to the other end and jacked it and never got any ball reversal,” Gianfagna said.

The Pioneers defense held Floyd to just 28 percent first half shooting but their head coach was disappointed by poor decision-making that resulted in the halftime deficit.

“We were ahead 14-9 half way through the second quarter and then we just took terrible shots the rest of the quarter and didn’t score. Crashing drives and very undisciplined plays that allowed us to get no more points the rest of the half,” Lefevre said. “We turned it over on a silly play with 9 seconds left and they hit a shot and that momentum is hard to turn around.”

The third frame was more Highlanders defense and another Banet long-range buzzer beater. Providence managed just six points in the period while Banet buried another triple as the horn sounded to give his team a 27-20 lead heading to the final period.

“Cody hit those big threes at the end of the second and third quarters. Those are big threes,” Gianfagna said. “We got contributions from everybody tonight. Barrett (Crone) was huge on the boards.”

Ryan Schmidt buried two threes in the first 90 seconds of the fourth to pull his team within 31-26 with 6:30 remaining. However Providence would not score the rest of the game.

Floyd finished the game with a 13-0 run as the Pioneers hit just 2 of 14 fourth quarter shots.

“We got exactly what we deserved. They deserved to win pretty. I’m glad they won the game. If we had won the game I would have felt terrible because we didn’t do anything to deserve to win the game,” Lefevre said. “Defensively we did a pretty good job for a while but offensively was just so undisciplined. If that doesn’t change we’re going to have a tough time.”

Floyd next hits the hardwood December 29-30 in the Richmond Holiday Tournament. Providence will play in the Silver Creek Holiday Tournament those same dates.



VARSITY

FLOYD CENTRAL 7 10 10 17—44

PROVIDENCE 7  7  6  6—26

Floyd Central (3-2) — Verhoff 0, Mitchell 4, Nieoff 0, Banet 14, O’Neil 0, Allen 7, Crone 5, Schellenberg 0, Knight 0, Je. Thompson 10.

Providence (2-4) — R. Schmidt 12, Daly 0, Duley 0, A. Schmidt 2, Very 8, Wethington 0, B. Schmidt 0, Andres 0, Knott 4, Johnson 0, Griffith 0, Crawley 0.

Three-point field goals — Floyd Central 3 (Allen, Banet 2); Providence 4 (R. Schmidt 2, Very 2).

Rebounds — Floyd Central 40, Providence 27.

Turnovers — Floyd Central 10, Providence 10.

Junior Varsity: Floyd Central 46 (10-14-10-12) Wortham 4, Miller 9, Bomersbach 12, Missi 0, Peters 2, Knight 11, Jo. Thompson 0, Peters 2; Providence 36 (9-8-5-14) Wimp 4, Shahroudi 7, B. Schmidt 2, Crawley 2, Cahalan 6, Daly 10, Grantz 3, Knott 2.

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