BY MIKE RILEY
SELLERSBURG — You've heard it before. It's not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog. Or, perhaps, size doesn't matter.
Lacking in size, but not in heart, Providence captured the championship of the 48th Silver Creek Holiday Tournament on Tuesday with a 54-36 win over the host Dragons.
With three starters standing under 6-feet tall, and playing three freshman in its rotation, coach Lou Lefevre's team played almost error-free ball in handing Class 3A No. 8 Silver Creek its second loss of the season.
Leading just 19-14 at halftime, five quick points by Tucker Coots, a 3-pointer by freshman A.J.Schmidt and a basket by Nick Koetter got the Pioneers rolling on a 10-5 run as they built the lead to double digits.
Nick Townsend, who scored nine of his team-high 15 points in the third quarter, kept the Dragons in striking distance at 36-27 entering the fourth quarter, but eight points would be as close as they would get.
Ironically, David Schellenberger, the smallest player on the floor at 5-7, led the Pioneers with a game-high 19 points. Schmidt finished with 13 points while Coots had 12.
Coots, the Pioneers’ senior point guard, was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player and received a load of praise from his coach.
“Tucker Coots has played this way all season,” Lefevre said. "He's done as great a job as you can have, he doesn't force things and is why we win.”
Lefevre also had praise for his team’s defense and the job they did overall on the 6-7 Townsend, 6-4 Will McCall and Dragons’ star Spencer Robinson, who finished with 10 points after lighting up Charlestown for 25 on Monday night.
"Size is what it is — you can't change that," Lefevre said. "But where we did a great job tonight was in pressuring their guards and we did it without sacrificing help on their inside players.
“I've watched Spencer Robinson for three years and he's a great player. And once in awhile a great player is going to have an off night. But you can't just cross your fingers and hope for it. You have to do the things to make it happen.”
After his team’s performance on Monday against Charlestown, Silver Creek coach John Bradley couldn't see this coming.
“It was a good ball game for a half, but give Providence credit,” he said. “Two good defensive teams locked up tonight and they shut us down. Their defense makes it hard to get a good look and we showed no patience. They got all of the loose balls and all of the rebounds where you had to jump.”
And what a difference the past month has meant for the Pioneers.
“After our game with Austin ( a 38-32 loss on Dec. 5) I thought that we weren't very good,” Lefevre said. “But the players, I think reality hit them and they realized how hard they were going to have to work.
“No one is looking at us and saying we are a great team. But for these seniors, they haven't had much success at the other levels, so winning this tournament is nice for them.”
Clarksville vs. Charlestown
Coach Scott Matthews probably didn’t plan it this way, but regardless, Clarksville is going into the new year with a win, taking the consolation game over Charlestown, 56-45.
Clarksville led 18-7 early on, trailed 31-24 at halftime and then put the game away with a 19-0 run after trailing 41-35 early in the fourth quarter.
Jon Bramer hit three 3-pointers to lead the Generals with 16 points. Robert Noe added 11 points and Stephen Reeves, back after a two-game absence, finished with 10 points.
"Now we've got time to get organized, we've had trouble doing that with the players on Christmas break," Matthews said.
"Tonight, we played with some passion and enthusiasm in the third and fourth quarters which allowed us some energy. We knew that if we got after them (Charlestown) that they tend to get in a hurry, but if you lay back that (Terry) Crenshaw can hurt you."
Crenshaw led the Pirates with 12 points. Alex Shepherd had 10 points.
"Right now we’re 4-4, but it doesn't matter if we're 8-0 or 2-6, I'm really looking forward to having these next three or four days to get back to work," Matthews said.
SILVER CREEK 10 4 13 9—36
PROVIDENCE 8 11 17 18—54
Silver Creek (7-2) — McCall 6, Eckert 0, Townsend 15, Bradley 2, Robinson 10, Bonniville 0, Jackson 3, Everage 0, Coats 0, Meyer 0.
Providence (7-1) — Griffith 0, J.Koetter 0, A.J. Schmidt 13, Coots 12, Schellenberger 19, N.Koetter 8, Wethington 0, Very 2, Boone 0, Brown 0, R.Schmidt 0, Dixon 0.
Three-point field goals — Silver Creek 0; Providence 5 (A.J. Schmidt, Schellenberger 2, Coots).
Rebounds — Silver Creek 27 (Townsend 11); Providence 27 (N. Koetter 8).
Turnovers — Silver Creek 10; Providence 9.
CHARLESTOWN 12 19 9 5—45
CLARKSVILLE 20 4 11 21—56
Charlestown (0-8) — Crenshaw 12, King 0, Coyne 9, Shepherd 10, Lloyd 2, B.Williams 3, Vest 4, J.Williams 0, Poteet 2, Wyatt 1, Thonstad 2.
Clarksville (4-4) — Merchant 9, Masters 4, Noe 11, Bowens 6, Bramer 16, Reeves 10.Carver 0, Edelen 0.
Three-point field goals — Charlestown 0; Clarksville 6 (Bramer 3, Noe 2, Merchant).
All-Tournament Team
Tucker Coots — Providence
A.J. Schmidt — Providence
David Schellenberger — Providence
Spencer Robinson — Silver Creek
Nick Townsend — Silver Creek
Tyler Merchant — Clarksville
Jon Bramer — Clarksville
Steven Coyne — Charlestown
