CLARKSVILLE — For 2 1/2 quarters, the Providence Pioneers played David to powerful New Albany’s Goliath, battling the Class 4A No. 4 Bulldogs toe-to-toe on Friday night at the Larkin Center.

But this version of the classic tale had a different ending.

The combination of size, strength, skill and athleticism won out, and New Albany (13-2) played virtually flawless basketball over the final 14 minutes and won by a lopsided 62-35 margin.

“You know, they are a scrappy bunch and they played their hearts out,” New Albany coach Jim Shannon said of the Pioneers. “We’d pull ahead and they’d make a nice play and cut the lead back down. There weren’t a whole lot of possessions tonight. But we’re thrilled with the win — it’s on the road and this is a tough place to play.”

New Albany sprinted out to an 11-5 lead following a layup from 6-foot-8 center Donnie Hale at the 3:24 mark of the first quarter. But two free throws from Providence’s A.J. Schmidt and a 3-pointer from teammate Bryce Very within the final minute cut the margin to 11-10 at the end of the first eight minutes.

Offensively, Providence (7-7) spent much of its time attacking Hale, an all-state candidate who is headed to Purdue next year. The senior committed his third foul as he was tangled with Pioneer freshman George Knott under the basket with about six minutes left in the first half.

With Hale on the bench, the Pioneers attacked the Bulldogs with their half-court offense, and only trailed by three at the half, 20-17.

“The kids came out and weren’t afraid to go at them on offense and battle them on defense,” Providence coach Lou Lefevre said. “For a while, it really frustrated them. Our willingness to make every play for them hard was good. But at this point, we just can’t sustain that level of intensity for an entire game.”

Hale returned to the floor after the half and immediately nailed a 17-footer to give the Bulldogs a 22-17 cushion. Following a short jumper by Knott, New Albany point guard Chris Whitehead answered with a drive and a slick spin move in the lane for a layup.

Back-to-back buckets by Knott and teammate Ryan Schmidt narrowed the New Albany lead to 24-23 with 3:22 left in the third quarter. Surprisingly, it looked like the matchup might go down to the wire.

But the floodgates opened for New Albany, which answered the Pioneer challenge by embarking on a 13-0 run that culminated with a buzzer-beater at the free-throw line by Hale. Hale’s basket sent an exuberant Shannon onto the floor, where he playfully jumped up and gave the senior a hug.

“Hey, you’ve got to try different things,” Shannon said in the locker room after the matchup, smiling. “I wanted them to be amped up, so I had to get a little crazy I guess.”

The rout was on during the fourth quarter, as New Albany methodically and surgically found the basket almost every time down the floor. The Bulldogs led 36-23 at the end of the third quarter, and outscored the Pioneers 24-3 at one point through the third and fourth quarters.

But Providence, which is losing only one senior to graduation this year, answered the bell when it came to the physical challenge — a fact that wasn’t lost on Lefevre.

“In the end, when you look at the level of the two teams, we know they’re better than us,” Lefevre said. “The final score showed that. But what I would tell my team is that if you work really hard for a long time, it’s possible for you to be that good too.”

Whitehead, who also played with foul trouble for a significant portion of the contest, led New Albany with 15 points. Hale added 10 points and 10 rebounds and teammate Adam Stotts came off the bench to score 12 points.

A.J. Schmidt led Providence, which will travel to Madison Shawe tonight, with 13 points. The Bulldogs will visit Jennings County in a Hoosier Hills Conference matchup tonight.



NEW ALBANY 11 9 17 25—62

PROVIDENCE 10 7  6 12—35

New Albany (13-2) — Hale 10, Rohlfing 4, Whitehead 15, Benson 2, Martin 9, Stotts 12, McDaniel 3, Tolliver 7, Meyer 0.

Providence (7-7) — A. Schmidt 13, Wethington 0, Very 8, R. Schmidt 6, Knott 6, Crawley 0, B. Schmidt 0, Daly 2, Andres 0.

3-point field goals — New Albany 5 (Martin 3, Stotts 2); Providence 4 (A. Schmidt 2, Very 2).

Rebounds — New Albany 32 (Hale 10); Providence 20 (Wethington 5).

Turnovers — New Albany 11, Providence 14.

JUNIOR VARSITY: New Albany 40 (4-9-16-11) — Newbolt 8, Meyer 6, Threatt 9, Edwards 4, Jones 3, Parrish 2, Kraft 8; Providence 30 (9-9-12-0) — Wimp 4, Shahroudi 13, Cahalan 5, Daly 4, Grantz 3, Kempf 1.