BY GREG MENGELT
Greg.Mengelt@newsandtribune.com
PAOLI — Early in the Class 2A Paoli Sectional first-round contest between Paoli and Clarksville, Paoli coach Joe Hinton had to beg Logan Laswell to shoot the basketball.
Laswell obliged.
The Rams’ star obliged by shooting, rebounding, passing and stealing the Rams to a 64-50 sectional semifinal victory over Clarksville on Wednesday.
Laswell hit 8-of-14 field goals and 10-of-13 free throws for a game-high 28 points. To top off the performance, the Paoli senior had six rebounds, six steals, five assists and two blocked shots.
“When he gets a wide-open shot, he has to shoot,” Hinton explained after the victory.
“Going in, we knew (Laswell) was a solid player,” Clarksville coach Scott Matthews said. “He can do so many things to hurt you. He’s won a lot of games for them.”
Paoli (11-10) will face Pekin Eastern (15-6) in Friday’s second semifinal. The Musketeers scored 32 fourth-quarter points to earn a 79-64 win over 15-5 Austin in Wednesday’s first game.
In Wednesday’s second game, Clarksville opened the scoring on an Anthony Combs’ 3-pointer, but Laswell countered with seven of Paoli’s first nine points as the Rams went on a 16-2 run for the rest of the period.
Paoli led 30-17 after a second quarter in which the Rams led by as many as 17 points. The hosts shot 50 percent from the field (11-of-22) and turned the ball over just four times in the first half.
“In the first half, we played great defense and took care of the ball,” Hinton said.
In the second half, Paoli only outscored the Generals 34-33 and Clarksville managed to cut the Ram lead to 60-50 with under a minute to play.
“We dug ourselves a hole,” Matthews said. “After the first quarter, I thought we got more comfortable against their 1-3-1 zone.”
Clarksville sophomore Billy Edelen hit all three of his third-quarter shots and went 7-of-11 for the game. He finished with a team-high 16 points.
Combs and Drew Farney — two of four General seniors — had outstanding performances in their final varsity contest. Farney scored eight points and grabbed six rebounds, while Combs had eight points, three assists and a steal.
Clarksville’s season ends with a 9-12 mark, but the Generals won six of their last nine regular-season games.
“They’ve done good things down the stretch,” Matthews said of his Generals. “It’s tough to see (the season) end, but the future is looking bright.”
PAOLI 16 14 18 16—64
CLARKSVILLE 5 12 16 17—50
Paoli (11-10) — Laswell 28, Burnette 10, Smith 12, Springer 12, Brown 2.
Clarksville (9-12) — Masters 2, Brown 2, Farney 9, Combs 8, Edelman 2, Edelen 16, Carver 3, McEwen 8.
3-point field goals — Paoli 3 (Laswell, Smith, Springer); Clarksville 8 (Combs 4, Edelen 4).
Rebounds — Paoli 22 (Laswell, Brown 6); Clarksville 21 (McEwen, Farney 5).
Turnovers — Paoli 10, Clarksville 14.
