By JON REITER
CLARKSVILLE — Providence coach Lou Lefevre isn’t always one to give his squad high praise.
But after a 63-47 win over visiting New Washington Friday night, Lefevre took time out to salute his Pioneers — who head into sectional play next week after finishing the season 16-4.
“We played terrific on offense and defense for the first three quarters,” Lefevre said. “You know, for some reason I seem to get a lot of the credit when this team does well, and I think that’s unfortunate. I have zero wins this season. They have 16. They deserve all of the credit, and they have done a great job all year long. No matter what we do next week, I’m proud of them.”
Providence, who faces Pekin Eastern Wednesday night in their own Class 2A sectional, put the Mustangs (12-10) away early with a 20-2 run over the first and second quarters.
The Pioneers made 7-of-10 three-point shots in the first half, and sprinted to a 31-11 advantage with 4:10 left in the second quarter following a 17-footer from reserve guard Bryce Very.
For New Washington coach Jonathan May, it was too much to overcome.
“Providence is by far the best defensive team we’ll play all year,” said May, whose squad takes on Henryville in the opening round of 1A sectional action Tuesday. “When they come out and shoot 7-of-10 from three-point range — we didn’t do a good job of contesting those shots. There were times when we reached, got out of position and they beat us.”
The Mustangs had some success early behind the play of sophomore guard Devin Freels, but leading scorer Vincent Minton was blanketed by Pioneer defenders throughout the night and scored 10 of his 13 points during the fourth quarter.
The five Providence starters — all seniors, combined for 49 of the Pioneers’ 63 points, and were led by David Schellenberger’s 14. Nick Koetter added 12 points and eight rebounds, and Tucker Coots chipped in with 11.
Lefevre said he was pleased with his bench play, however. Sophomore forward Michael Griffith contributed some strong play off the bench, and Very, a freshman, calmly stuck two long-range jumpers during a second quarter that saw both Schellenberger and Coots on the bench for an extended period because of foul trouble.
“When we had Schellenberger and Coots down for foul trouble, the two freshman guards (Very and A.J. Schmidt) were great,” Lefevre said. “When we put in our sophomore post player (Griffith) he did well. Seniors are going to play hard on senior night, but they need help from the younger kids, and that’s what it’s all about.”
Freels matched Minton with 13 points to lead the Mustangs, who fell to 3A Silver Creek and a good Providence team in their last two games to tune up for sectional action.
May said despite the back-to-back losses, the competition was probably good preparation for next weeks’s play.
“We want to be the best, so you have to beat the best,” May said. “Providence and Silver Creek, personnel-wise, they’ve proven this year that they’re two of the better teams in the area. We’ve got to come in (Tuesday) mentally and physically prepared. We know it’s on their (Henryville’s) home court, and it’s going to be a battle.”
New Washington (12-10) 9 10 5 23 -- 47
Providence (16-4) 20 17 11 13 -- 63
New Washington: Minton 13, Freels 13, Bowman 6, Radford 2, Jones 4, Krohn 5, Hughes 2, Wiggam 2, Hobbs 0, Bower 0, Ramer 0.
Providence: Coots 11, Schellenberger 14, Brown 3, J. Koetter 9, N. Koetter 12, A.J. Schmidt 3, Griffith 4, Very 4, Wethington 0, Boone 3.
Three-point goals: New Washington 6 (Minton 2, Bowman 2, Freels, Krohn); Providence 9 (Coots, Schellenberger 3, Brown, N. Koetter 2, A.J. Schmidt, Boone)
Turnovers: New Washington 16, Providence 10.
Rebounds: New Washington 23 (Minton 7); Providence 29 (N. Koetter 8).
Junior Varsity
New Washington 26 (5-4-9-8): Ramer 10, Wiggam 7, Bower 3, Clapp 4, Woods 2; Providence 53 (15-9-16-13): R. Schmidt 16, Dixon 16, B. Schmidt 7, Andres 4, Knecht 2, Shahroudi 2.
