CLARKSVILLE — The Providence boys’ basketball team has not had a lot of great memories over the years in its annual rivalry with New Albany.

But on Friday night at the Larkin Center, the Pioneers made up for those bad memories in a major way.

For only the 15th time in program history, Providence defeated the archrival Bulldogs by a record-setting score, 50-20. The 30-point margin is the widest Pioneer victory margin in the 54-year history of the rivalry.

“I’ve coached a long time, over 600 games in my career, and I have never been so proud of a team,” Providence head coach Lou Lefevre said. “People will say, ‘Well, Coach Lefevre just scouted them well.’ That’s …. We just played well.”

Providence’s unbelievable winning margin was not only thing that shocked the sold-out crowd at the Larkin Center.

According to John Harrell, creator of the Indiana high school basketball website, the Bulldogs’ 20 points were the fewest “in his lifetime.” Harrell’s website has records of each team’s seasons since the 1993-94 campaign, and none of those games had New Albany scoring less than 20 points.

“I thought it would be a closer game than it was,” Providence junior center George Knott said. “Beating them by that much was great.”

The Bulldogs (9-6) simply could not hit the broad side of a barn on Friday night. They shot a porous 7-of-34 from the field (20.6 percent), including 3-of-17 from 3-point range (17.6 percent). At the free-throw line, New Albany was only 3-of-12 (25 percent).

The Bulldogs scored a season-low five points in the first half and failed to score in double figures in each of the first three quarters. Not one New Albany player scored in double digits.

“Give them a lot of credit. They were incredibly good tonight,” said Bulldogs’ head coach Jim Shannon, who lauded the Pioneers’ defense. “It was a dismal game for us. They were way more up for the game than we were.”

Shannon said his team’s offense lacked movement, as the Bulldogs failed to set effective screens and make hard cuts against Providence’s man-to-man defense. Plus New Albany hardly tried to beat the Pioneers off the dribble throughout the contest.

“We were standing around and we were hesitant,” Shannon said. “We did nothing offensively.”

Providence (13-3) was ready to play right from the outset. The Pioneers led 13-2 after one quarter and were up 27-5 at halftime. New Albany only hit one field goal in the first half, which it did not put through the net until the 5:40 mark of the second quarter.

Nobody was more proud of the Pioneers’ start than Lefevre.

“Starting strong in a big rivalry game is not one of the things we do well,” Lefevre said. “But what a performance. We did what every team wants to do. We frustrated them.”

Knott scored a game-high 14 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Teammate Colin Daly tallied 10 points, while Providence’s Bryce Very and Dalton Duley each scored eight. Pioneer junior Ryan Pickerrell grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds, while Very had seven boards.

Lefevre praised Knott’s and Pickerrell’s work on the glass, especially on the offensive boards.

“Early on, we got some putbacks and those putback finishes kill a team,” Lefevre said. “When you can offensive rebound, that’s a good insurance policy.”

It was rough return for New Albany twin brothers A.J. and Blake Schmidt, who transferred from Providence to New Albany in the offseason after playing for Lefevre at Providence for three seasons.

A.J. Schmidt was the Bulldogs’ top scorer with eight points, six of which came in the final quarter. Blake Schmidt got ejected in the first quarter after committing a flagrant foul on Providence’s Aaron Shahroudi.

Shannon thought the Pioneer fans would be fired up with the Schmidt twins coming back to the Larkin Center.

“It played more to their advantage than it did for us,” Shannon said. “They seemed very intense and purpose-driven.”

Lefevre said he got the Pioneers ready for A.J. Schmidt like he was just another high-scoring player.

“I prepared for him like I prepare for anybody,” Lefevre said. “He was a good player that we had to stop.”

Providence will travel to South Central on Thursday. New Albany will attempt to keep its Hoosier Hills Conference title hopes alive tonight when it visits Jennings County.

NEW ALBANY   2  3 5 10—20

PROVIDENCE 13 14 8 15—50

New Albany (9-6) — A. Schmidt 8, McBirth 4, Arnold 3, Parrish 3, Byrne 1, Edwards 1, Cochran 0, Donastorg 0, King 0, Peavler 0, B. Schmidt 0, Stubbins 0.

Providence (13-3) — Knott 14, Daly 10, Duley 8, Very 8, A. Shahroudi 5, Pickerrell 4, Cahalan 1, Goad 0, Grantz 0, Hayes 0, Koerner 0, B. Shahroudi 0.

3-point field goals — New Albany 3 (A. Schmidt 2, Arnold); Providence 2 (Duley, A. Shahroudi).

Rebounds — New Albany 18 (Parrish 5); Providence 38 (Pickerrell 11).

Turnovers — New Albany 15, Providence 14.

Free throws — New Albany 3-12, Providence 16-28.

Junior varsity — New Albany 36, Providence 27.