PAOLI — Providence advanced to Friday night’s Class 2A Paoli Sectional semifinal with an easy 61-29 win over Pekin Eastern in its sectional opener last night, but Henryville bowed out with a 64-49 loss and said farewell to coach Perry Hunter in the process.

Providence’s win sets up a sectional semifinal matchup Friday night against cross-town rival Clarksville (18-2), which defeated the Pioneers 40-38 on Jan. 6.



Henryville-Paoli

The sectional host Rams (9-12) saw sophomore guard Tanner Wroblewski nail four 3-point shots within the first nine minutes of their contest against the Hornets. The 6-4 Wroblewski notched 14 of his game-high 18 points in the first half as they gained a 28-19 lead heading into intermission.

“It seemed like the last five or six games, we’ve been doing nothing but playing catch up,” Hunter, who announced a few weeks ago he was ending his seven-year run as Hornets coach at the end of the season. “We knew (Wroblewski) could shoot, we knew he could score. He came out focused, and our basketball IQ wasn’t very good.”

Twice during the second half the Hornets came within eight points. Andrew Jones, who paced Henryville with 13 points, nailed an 18-footer with Wroblewski in his face to make the score 36-28 with less than four minutes left in the third quarter.

But five quick points — a 3-pointer by Lee Wroblewski and 15-footer from Skyler Stroud — brought the lead back to 41-28 with two minutes left in the third quarter.

The Rams were able to maintain a low double-digit lead for most of the fourth quarter and captured the win over the Hornets, who finished 9-12 on the season.

“We just weren’t mentally tough,” Hunter said. “You see mental toughness when you don’t turn the ball over and when you finish around the basket. We struggled with both.”

Evan Embry and Brad Everage played their final games for the Hornets. Embry, a guard, finished his career with a five-point effort, and Everage added four points and nine rebounds before fouling out midway through the fourth quarter.

As for Hunter, the Henryville mentor will continue to teach U.S. History at Henryville and intends to remain around the game in some capacity.

“I want to be a fan,” he said. “I want to be Henryville’s No. 1 fan and watch some games, and not be held down and going to scout games I don’t necessarily want to watch. But the coaches aren’t going to be able to completely get rid of me. I’ll be around.”



Providence-Pekin Eastern

In the nightcap, the Pioneers used their combination of inside scoring and pressure defense to capture a convincing victory over the Musketeers (8-13).

The Pioneers led 14-7 at the end of the first quarter and 31-18 at the half. A 3-pointer from 6-5 Pekin center Cody Hurst with two minutes remaining in the first half brought Pekin Eastern within seven, 25-18, but 3-pointers on ensuing possessions from Colin Daly and Cory Cahalan gave the Pioneers huge momentum heading into halftime.

“This was a game that worried me because Pekin is a team that’s big and aggressive with the basketball,” Providence (18-3) coach Lou Lefevre said. “It was a game where we got a lot of contributions from a lot of different people. If you’ve followed us all year, you know that about us, we’re a pretty balanced team, and you have to have that at playoff time.”

George Knott, a 6-4 junior center, swung the big stick for Providence inside, leading all scorers with 19 points and aggressively attacking the Eastern interior defense. Ryan Pickerell, a 6-4 junior forward, added nine points and nine rebounds and senior guard Colin Daly added 13 points for the Pioneers.

Reserve guard Cory Cahalan nailed two 3-pointers for his six points, a stat Lefevre pointed to as a key. “We got off to a slow start on the perimeter, but Cory hit a couple of 3s, as did Colin — and that was big for us.”

Providence really clamped down on the Musketeers in the second half, limiting them to 11 points — only two in the second quarter.

“Over the course of the season, we really have played some pretty good basketball,” Lefevre said. “This is a team I’m confident in, but we’re only 1/3 of the way there — now we have to exhale a little bit and get ready for Friday.”

Of Clarksville, he said, “They’re a team that obviously is very good, and they’ve proved it not by just beating us, but by beating other really good teams on their schedule. We have to play better. They have lots of weapons, and we have to be better than we were in January.”



HENRYVILLE    7 12 18 18—64

PAOLI    17 11 16 14—49

Henryville (9-12) — Richey 10, Jones 13, Embry 5, Harrell 0, Everage 4, Collins 15, Reister 2, Guernsey 0. 

Paoli (9-12) — T. Wroblewski 18, L. Wroblewski 4, Burnette 6, Key 10, Eubank 8, Stroud 10, Bosley 4, Axom 2, Phelps 2.

Rebounds — Henryville 28 (Everage 9), Paoli 26 (Eubank, Key 6).

3-point field goals — Henryville 5 (Richey 2, Jones 2, Embry), Paoli 5 (T. Wroblewski 4, L. Wrobleski).

Turnovers — Henryville 15, Paoli 10.

Free throws — Henryville 8-11, Paoli 14-29.



PROVIDENCE    14 17 13 17—61

EASTERN      7 14   9   2—29

Providence (18-3) — Very 8, Daly 13, Knott 19, Duley 2, Pickerell 9, Cahalan 6, Shahoudi 2, Koerner 2.

Pekin Eastern (9-12) — Albertson 0, Howard 8, Jackson 8, Logue 8, Hurst 5, Duncan 0, Churchman 0, Wolf 0. 

Rebounds — Providence 29 (Pickerell 9), Pekin Eastern 15 (Logue 5).

3-point field goals — Providence 5 (Daly 3, Cahalan 2); Pekin Eastern 3 (Howard 2, Hurst).

Turnovers — Providence 9, Pekin Eastern 17. 

Free throws — Providence 16-21, Paoli 2-2.