GIRLS’ HOOPS: Fatigue plagues Pioneers in 40-26 loss to South Central

By GREG BURTON

Special to Southern Indiana Preps

CLARKSVILLE — Providence played Class A No. 5 South Central even except for about six minutes of the game Tuesday night at the Larkin Center.

Those six minutes pretty much made all the difference in the game. South Central scored the first 11 points of the game in the first five minutes to build a lead it would never surrender. The end of the game the Lady Rebels added a few extra points on as the Pioneers were forced to foul.

Everything in between was pretty much dead even. In the end, South Central bested Providence 40-26.

Providence coach Brad Burden thought the reason for the slow start was obvious.
“Tired legs,” he said. “The girls had tired legs. We’d played two really tough games over the weekend, and they were tired.”

Providence (4-4) got the shots it wanted, but they were shot in vain, especially early.

“We executed our plan the way we wanted,” said Burden. “We got the shots - they just wouldn’t fall. That was because of our legs.”

A 3-pointer by South Central’s Jordan Renn got things going for the Lady Rebels (5-2) right off the bat. Teammate Ally Davis followed that with a regular field goal, and the Pioneers were in a hole.

South Central freshman Brooklyn Davis tacked on two free throws, and then buckets each by Lexie Knear and Jenna Baelz ran the count to 11-0. All five South Central starters scored to open the advantage.

After a Providence timeout, the Pioneers turned to their go-to player, Hannah Wolford, to put points on the board. Two free throws by the senior made it 11-2. Wolford added another free throw before the end of the period to make it 11-3 at the first stop.

For much of the night, Wolford provided much of the offense. She finished as the game’s leading scorer with 11 points, although she struggled like her teammates from the field.

The Pioneers closed the gap to five at 17-12 at the half, and they got as close as four at 21-17 after a bucket by Brigid Welch in the third quarter.

After Welch’s bucket, though, South Central went on a 12-0 run that extended into the final quarter to build its lead to 33-17.

Providence was never able to trim the lead to single digits the remainder of the game, although it did climb to within 10 at 33-23.

The problem with the Pioneers was strictly offensive.

“South Central came in averaging 57 or 58 points per game,” said Burden. “We held them to 40. It was just offensively we struggled because our legs were tired.”

Knear led South Central in scoring with 10 points.

Providence will return to action on Friday at home against Henryville (5-7), tipping off at 7:30 p.m. The Rebels will host Crothersville (7-3) in their Southern Athletic Conference opener at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.

The game was a Coaches vs. Cancer night. Providence publicly recognized several people for their battle against the disease, including Chloe Shafer, the young sister of Pioneer football player Brandon Shafer. Also recognized was Marsha Schoen, wife of South Central coach Randall Schoen.

SOUTH CENTRAL 40, PROVIDENCE 26
South Central      11  6  13  10—40
Providence             3  9    5    9—26
South Central (5-2): Jordan Renn 9, Brooklyn Lewis 7, Ally Davis 6, Lexie Knear 10, Jenna Baelz 6, Kaitlyn Harl 2, Hailey Kiper 0, Marie Goodwin 0, Annabelle Faith 0, Maddison Spalding 0, Kaylee Logsdon 0.
Providence (4-4): Sierra Brooks 2, Natalie Boesing 4, Brigid Welch 5, Brinley Prather 4, Hannah Wolford 11, Kaylee Kaiser 0, Helena Stoner 0, Maggie Purichia 0, Bailey Brown 0,
3-point field goals: South Central 4 (Knear 2, Renn 1, Lewis 1); Providence 2 (Wolford 2).
Team fouls: South Central 12, Providence 13.
Fouled out: none
Junior varsity: South Central 36, Providence 20.