Published: March 01, 2008 01:05 am      

CLASS 2A: Clarksville turns over upset hopes

BROWNSTOWN — The Clarksville boys’ basketball team had more than its fair share of opportunities to knock off heavily-favored Paoli in Friday night’s Class 2A sectional semifinal.

But, undone by an onslaught of turnovers, the Generals fell 73-62 to the Rams.

“We weren’t strong enough to protect the ball,” said Clarksville (8-14) coach Scott Matthews. “Everytime we had it, it seemed like they were knocking it out of our hands.”

Clarksville committed 28 turnovers, compared with 12 for Paoli (18-4), who faces Pekin Eastern in tonight’s final. Three Clarksville turnovers came within a one-minute stretch late in the first quarter, and four came within another 90 second time period in the third quarter. The Generals lead for virtually the entire first half and were still in a position to threaten in the third quarter, although the Rams ultimately took control of the matchup over the final eight minutes.

“Our defense gave us a chance to win, but we had that flurry in the third quarter that hurt us,” Matthews said. “It only took three minutes, but you can win or lose a game in three minutes.”

Clarksville led 14-11 at the end of the first quarter and held a 32-26 lead at the half. The Rams battled back and took the lead, 35-34, following a feed from Logan Laswell to Drew White, who led Paoli with 22 points.

Clarksville guard Landon Glidewell nailed a 3 to give the Generals a 37-35 lead on their next offensive possession, but back-to-back buckets from Paoli center Mike Harkness gave the Rams the lead for good, 41-37, with 3:31 left in the third quarter.

Still, it was 45-43 Paoli at the end of the third quarter, with the final bucket of the period coming from a left-handed lay-in from Clarksville forward Robert Noe with 22.1 left. Four consecutive points from Paoli forward Donnie Key opened the fourth period, and a acrobatic lay-in from Laswell over Glidewell resulted in two points and a converted foul shot. With 6:49 left in the contest, the Rams led 52-43 and Clarksville’s upset bid was finished.

Clarksville sank 6-of-11 shots from beyond the three-point stripe in the first half. But the Generals began the second half cold, missing their first four attempts before Glidewell nailed one with 5:30 left to narrow the Paoli margin to 52-46.

Glidewell played the last game of his high school career admirably, leading all scorers with 26 points and pulling down 10 rebounds. The senior guard struggled with injuries all season, including a broken foot, but left it all out on the court Friday night, Matthews said.

“That’s the way we anticipated him to play all year,” he said. “He worked his tail off to get healed up.”



PAOLI 11 15 19 28—73

CLARKSVILLE 14 18 17 19—62

Paoli (18-4) — White 22, Laswell 19, Kee 17, Harkness 11, Goodman 2, Warner 1, Starr 1, Jones 0, Evans 0, Springer 0, Raymer 0.

Clarksville (8-14) — Gildewell 26, Merchant 14, Noe 11, Reeves 5, Johnson 4, Gettlefinger 2, Bowens 0, Merchant 0.

Three point field goals — Paoli 5 (Kee 3, White 2) Clarksville 11 (Glidewell 5, Merchant 3, Noe 3)

Rebounds > Paoli 23 (White, Laswell 5), Clarksville 31 (Reeves, Glidewell 10)

Turnovers — Paoli 12, Clarksville 28.