BORDEN — The Providence girls’ basketball squad advanced to the Class 2A Eastern Sectional semifinal against Paoli with a gritty, 40-31 win over Henryville Tuesday.

It may not have been a thing of beauty, but Providence coach Brad Burden’s squad notched the win by doing two of three things the coach said is important to win basketball games. They outrebounded the Hornets (13-10) 31-18, and clamped down defensively, holding them to 9-44 (20 percent) shooting from the field.

“We didn’t take care of the ball that well,” said Burden, whose squad committed 20 turnovers. “But we’ve not been a very good free-throw shooting team this year, and I was proud of the way the girls came together and sank their free throws down the stretch. That was what won the game.”

The game was very tight throughout, but Providence led 12-8 after the first quarter after making 4-of-6 3-point attempts during the first eight minutes of play. The Pioneers (9-12) led 18-15 at the half after Henryville’s Jasmine Harrell rimmed out a 3-point attempt at the first-half buzzer.

The Hornets hung in there and found some success under the basket with 5-10 center Jenna Harrell leading the way. Harrell scored six consecutive Henryville points and gave the Hornets the lead, 20-19, after they scored in close over a couple of Providence defenders with five minutes left in the third quarter.

Henryville would lead again, 26-25, after a 3-pointer from guard Chelsea LaMotte with just over a minute left in the third quarter. Two free throws from Mary Graf gave the Pioneers the lead for good on Providence’s next possession.

The Pioneers held a 28-26 lead at the end of the third quarter. But maybe more importantly, they held an edge on fouls over Henryville, 9-2, heading into the fourth quarter. And Providence took advantage. Aside from a putback basket by Alex Stiner early in the fourth quarter, all of Providence’s points came from the free-throw line.

The Pioneers were 10-10 in the fourth quarter from the charity stripe and controlled the matchup throughout the fourth quarter.

“I think they were 19-21 from the free-throw line in the second half, and it is hard to compete when another team is able to do that,” Henryville coach Josh Conrad said. “I don’t know if they did a good job, or we did a bad job, but that was the big difference tonight.”

Conrad’s squad says goodbye to four seniors in Allison Knox, Sarah Richey, Hannah Gilstrap and Harrell, who led the Hornets with 10 points.

“These are girls who have been good role models for the community and have meant so much to our basketball program,” Conrad said. “We are going to miss them for sure.”

Mary Graf led the Pioneers with 14 points and 13 rebounds, and was one of four Providence players who had at least six rebounds. Leah White added 11 points for Providence.

The Pioneers face a stout opponent in No. 15 Paoli Friday night.

“The problem with playing a game like we did tonight is that every turnover is magnified,” Burden said. “Credit Henryville with being aggressive on us — we’ll go back to work tomorrow and get ready for Friday.”

PROVIDENCE    12 6 10 14—40

HENRYVILLE    8 7 11 5—31

Providence (9-12) — Wilson 8, Graf 14, White 11, Stiner 3, Tucker 3, Swartz 2, Huber 0.

Henryville (13-10) — Knox 3, Jas. Harrell 3, Gilstrap 8, LaMotte 3, Jen. Harrell 10, Burgin 2, Richey 3.

Rebounds — Providence 31 (Graf 13); Henryville 18 (Jen. Harrell 7).

3-point field goals — Providence 4 (Wilson 2, White, Tucker); Henryville 2 (LaMotte, Richey).

Turnovers — Providence 20, Henryville 13.

Free-throws — Providence 21-25, Henryville 11-13.