The 2000-2001 Paoli Rams


(Pictured Above)

First Row L-R: Manager Michael Jackson, Chase Kimmel, Josh Stevens, Josh Nelson, Ed Uyesugi, Daniel Springer, Tyler McKeighen, Manager Laban Runyon.

Second Row L-R: Head Coach Mike Brown, Brannon Chastain, Evan Seacat, Brian Wolfe, Joe Fullen, Adam Thornton, Ricky Summers, Assistant Coach Brian Kehrer, Assistant Coach, Joe Sibbitt.

*Not Pictured Above, Jason Nelson

Record: 15-10

Accomplishments: 3rd Place Orange County Classic, Sectional, Semifinalist, 2nd Place P.L.A.C.

P.L.A.C. All-Conference: Evan Seacat, Brian Wolfe

Offensive Average: 64.8 ppg
Defensive Average: 62.2 ppg

2000-2001 Game Results:

10-20-00 at. Orleans W 66-47
12-2-00 at. Eastern (Greene) L 77-56
12-5-00 vs. North Harrison W 65-60
12-8-00 at. West Washington w 77-64
12-15-00 vs. Eastern (Pekin) W 66-61
12-22-00 vs. Austin W 64-60 1 O.T.
12-26-00 vs. North Daviess L 58-46 ***
12-26-00 vs. Graceland Christian W 103-56 ***
12-27-00 vs. Springs Valley W 84-71 *****
12-28-00 vs. New Washington L 61-54 ***
12-29-00 vs. North Daviess W 50-43 ***
1-5-01 vs. Mitchell L 60-52
1-12-01 at. Northeast Dubois L 70-54
1-13-01 vs. Forest Park L 77-70
1-19-01 at. Springs Valley W 78-71
1-20-01 at. Southridge L 61-53
1-26-01 at. Corydon W 51-48
1-27-01 vs. Tell City W 56-53
2-3-01 vs. Brownstown W 72-67
2-10-01 at. Salem W 68-63
2-15-01 at. Perry Central W 67-46
2-23-01 vs. Crawford County L 68-62
3-2-01 vs. Scottsburg L 79-71

Southridge Sectional:
3-6-01 vs. South Spencer W 67-61
3-9-01 vs. Crawford County L 74-69 ******


******The Game where Evan Seacat scored 27 first half points

****The Game where Evan Seacat scored 29 points in a half and 50 points for the game.
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GAME RECAPS


****SEACAT AND WOLFE PUT ON A SHOW AS RAMS FALL TO CRAWFORD IN SECTIONAL***

HUNTINGBURG - Crawford County answered the call of the wild Friday night, confirming that a full Wolfpack is just enough to fend off a fierce lone Wolfe and one snarling Seacat.

Juniors Evan Seacat and Brian Wolfe combined for 58 points, but Paoli got just nine from the rest of the team while third-ranked Crawford County used a pack attack to oust the Rams from the 2001 IHSAA boys basketball tourney, 74-69, in the semifinals of the Class 2A Southridge Sectional.

The Wolfpack proved to be an irrepressible force of nature as Crawford County placed four players in double figures and two others with eight to offset the combined brilliance of Seacat's 37 points and Wolfe's 21 points and 20 rebounds.

"I thought our bench was the key," said CC coach Otis Broughton, who has guided the Wolfpack to a 21-2 record. "Seacat was just tremendous, a real one-man show in the first half (when he fired in 27 of his game-high point total).

"But the single biggest key to the game to me was the second quarter when we had four starters sitting down with foul trouble, but we hung in there. They had their starting five in against our second unit, but they couldn't pull away, and then we wore them down in the second half.

"I thought we got Evan's legs worn down. We just told our guys to be more aware of him in the second half, double him and try to make him give the ball up as much as possible, and I think he wore down in his legs."

Paoli coach Mike Brown, who once again got his underdog Rams to battle down to the last seconds of a tournament game, didn't disagree.

"Evan didn't get as many shots as we would've liked in the second half, but he was tired," said Brown. "We didn't get to rest him like we wanted to in the third quarter because Eddie (Uyesugi) had to sit with three fouls, and it hurt Evan later on.

"But he had a great game, and our kids played hard. I told them to be disappointed about the outcome because that shows they care, but not to be upset about how they played.

"We were still in this game with a chance down to the :0.2 mark. When it comes down to that you put yourself in a crap shoot, and sometimes it goes your way, and sometimes it doesn't."

It was all going Paoli's way in the third quarter when the Rams used great ball movement to fuel an 11-2 run that built a 52-43 lead by the 2:36 mark. That's when the Wolfpack turned up the heat on its fullcourt press, and Paoli's fatigue figured into the fray.

The Rams grew weary under the constant harassment and turned it over nine times in the period. CC capitalized with a 7-0 burst to draw within 52-50 heading into the final eight minutes.

"That was our biggest fear," said Brown. "We had three guys sitting on our bench with three fouls who were three of our most experienced guys, so we were just trying to get through that stretch. We felt even if we were tied at the end of the third quarter we'd be fine.

"The key for us there was just to make it through that because we felt that would be their run. Then we needed to come right back out with another run of our own."

Unfortunately for the Rams, the Wolfpack kept running. Guard Brian Key scored two quick baskets off miscues to tie it, 54-54. Joey Hanger scored a fast-break basket off a nice feed from Key, Brandon Bowman scored on a pretty spinning move off a turnover, and Hanger's two free throws pushed CC to a 60-54 cushion, capping a 17-2 run from the 2:36 point of the third quarter to the 5:04 mark of the fourth.

"I really think we had them tired right there," said Broughton. "We're in great shape and we have quickness at all positions, so we tried to get after it. It paid off."

The Rams continued to battle and inside scores by Wolfe twice pulled them within two points in the waning seconds, but Rocky Schultz hit some clutch free throws and Paoli could never get the ball back with a chance to tie.

Paoli pounded CC, 47-26, on the glass, but turnovers were a critical area in the final analysis, with the Rams coughing it up 22 times to CC's five.

"I think the big difference between last year (when the Rams eliminated the Wolfpack in the semis) and this year is that we were the team with a lot of experienced players and we made the plays, while they were the younger team, but this year it was just the opposite.

"They had a bunch of players back from last year who had been through this, and they just made a few more big plays this year. Experience makes a big difference."

The Wolfpack calmly clicked out to a 7-0 lead as four different players scored. Wolfe's two free throws got the Rams on the board at the 4:56 mark, and Seacat finally opened fire for a pair of 3-pointers, but CC grabbed a 17-12 lead at the first break.

Seacat went absolutely ballistic in the second stanza and threatened to shoot the Wolfpack out of the gym. He pumped in 17 points, including three 3-pointers, as Paoli surged to a 30-25 lead. But CC got key plays from reserves Brandon Haverstock (two 3-pointers), Ben Elliott (two assists), and Kenny Hunt (six points) to cling within 39-35 at intermission.

"That was just huge for us," Broughton. "It really could've gotten away from us there, but Haverstock and Elliott have come in all year and made big plays, and then I go to a freshman (Hunt) and he scores six points. It's a team game."

Hanger finished with 16 points, Schultz and Key had 12 apiece, and Bowman added 10 for the Wolfpack.

Seacat hit 13 of 23 field goals en route to his 37 points and added nine boards, while Wolfe was 11 of 12 from the line during his monster 21-20 game. The Rams finished 15-10.


PAOLI RAMS (69)

FG-FT-Reb-FT-P

42 Brannon Chastain, f 0-0 0-2 6 4 0

30 Josh Stevens, f 1-6 0-0 3 2 3

52 Brian Wolfe, c 5-11 11-12 20 4 21

24 Evan Seacat, g 13-23 2-5 9 3 37

12 Ed Uyesugi, g 1-5 0-0 1 4 2

32 Adam Thornton, f 0-0 0-0 2 1 0

20 Ricky Summers, g 0-1 0-0 1 5 0

44 Joe Fullen, f 1-2 0-0 2 4 2

14 Josh Nelson,g 0-0 0-0 0 1 0

40 Chase Kimmel, f 1-1 2-2 0 1 4


3-Point Goals: Paoli 8-17 (Seacat 7-12, Stevens 1-2, Uyesugi 0-3).


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****SEACAT SCORES 50 POINTS IN ORANGE COUNTY CLASSIC GAME VS. VALLEY****

PAOLI - The Paoli Rams moved one step closer to capturing their second consecutive Paoli, Inc./Orange Co. Bank Holiday Tournament championship with a thrilling 84-71 victory over county-rival Springs Valley in boys basketball action at Paoli Wednesday.

Paoli junior Evan Seacat poured in a school-record 50 points for the Rams, who threatened to run away with the contest early, only to have the stubborn Blackhawks rally to make a game of it.

"We got off shooting the ball really well to begin with and that always gets us off to a good start," said Paoli coach Mike Brown. "I thought everybody got involved and did some good things. When your team's out there playing with confidence and the ball's falling in, you can rack points up pretty quick. We went on a hot streak early in the game and they went on one through the middle two quarters and really closed it up and that's a credit to them and to (Valley coach) Rob (Haworth). They made a very good contest out of it and in that regard it was just a typical game between our two teams and our kids."

Seacat got Paoli going with two quick 3-pointers over the Hawks' 2-3 zone and the Rams crashed the boards in the opening minutes as they moved out to a 16-5 lead midway through the first quarter. Seacat tallied 11 points and also pulled down four of his game-high 15 rebounds in the period, while Brian Wolfe added five boards and four points as the Rams threatened to blow the game open.

The Rams made just 8-of-21 shots from the floor in the first quarter, but outrebounded the Hawks 16-10 (including five offensive boards) as they built a 23-10 lead.

"There were times tonight when we looked like the teams of old," said Brown. "We pounded the glass and pounded it until it went in and that is really good to see. That's another area where we're starting to get some progress made."

A rebound basket and another 3-pointer by Seacat pushed the lead to 18 early in the second quarter, but Valley junior Brandon Herring began to heat up and helped bring the Hawks back to within 12 at the 1:36 mark with a pair of 3s. Todd Bolin added four points and four rebounds in the period for Valley, but it was Seacat's 10 second-quarter points and four rebounds that enabled the Rams to take a 41-27 lead into halftime.

The Hawks went from their zone to a man-to-man defense in the second period, but neither was effective in slowing down Seacat, who connected on 17-of-31 shots from the floor en route to his record-breaking performance.

"He just did an outstanding job," said Haworth. "That coaching philosophy, and I particularly don't have it, of letting a good scorer get his and trying to shut down everybody else, I think Evan proved that to be a fallacy in that situation."

Kim Eckerty and Herring stole the show at the outset of the second half as they combined to score 22 points on 9-of-15 shooting in the third period to help the Hawks draw to within two, 55-53, with 1:12 to play. Seacat quickly thwarted the rally, however with a pair of 3-pointers as he added another 16 points in the third quarter to give the Rams a 63-53 cushion heading into the final frame.

"I really have to credit Paoli in this aspect," Haworth noted. "When we made our run they were very deliberate in the half court. They were able to run through their screens and their motion four or five, and in some cases eight or 10 passes deep. When we to get to a point where we can make the same decisions on our side then we'll take our program where Paoli's got theirs.

"The one thing you cannot fault our kids on is effort. But what we've got to do is to understand when we have to be deliberate and go to the guy who's got the hot hand. I'm proud of our kids' effort, but we're very disappointed. We're out of the championship bracket and we had a couple chances there to end an eight-game losing streak against Paoli."

A 3-pointer by Herring to open the fourth cut the lead to seven and the Hawks managed to get within four after five straight points from Tyler Rominger with 4:15 to play, but the Rams ran their offense to perfection as they connected on 6-of-11 shots from the floor and 9 of 12 from the line to seal the victory.

"Our kids have gotten a little bit tougher this first couple months of the season just because of all the close games that we've had," said Brown. "But I get really frustrated with them because I can see that they're not far from being pretty good. When we get down to the little things, taking the charges, getting every loose ball, getting your hand up on every shot and knowing the score and time, then we go from being talented to being a pretty good basketball team. We're getting close to that, but we've got a long way to go yet."

Seacat made 7-of-13 attempts from 3-point range and 9-of-10 free throws, but was by no means a one-man show according to Brown.

"This is going to sound stupid, but I thought he just had 28 or 29," said Brown. "When his shots are coming off the break, when he's open and they're coming out of our offense it's difficult to keep up, and that's a good thing because it means you're getting things out of the flow of your offense. I think there were only two bad shots he took tonight, and I thought those were bad because of the time left in the game. But other than that I thought every shot he took he was open on and he made some good moves and fed it off to other people when he wasn't open, and if he'll do that I don't care if he gets 80."

Wolfe was the only other Ram in double figures as he added 10 points and nine rebounds, while Josh Stevens finished with nine points, and Brannon Chastain pulled down eight rebounds to go along with three points for Paoli (7-2), which will square off against New Washington in the 7:30 contest at Paoli tonight.

Herring finished with 25 points to lead Springs Valley (3-5), while Bolin added 15 points and 13 rebounds, Eckerty tossed in 14 points and Rominger tallied 12 for the Hawks, who will face Henryville in the 3 p.m. game today at Paoli.


PAOLI RAMS (84)

FG-FT- Reb. F TP

42 Brannon Chastain, f 1-4 1-2 8 3 3

30 Josh Stevens, f 3-5 2-4 4 3 9

52 Brian Wolfe, c 5-16 0-0 9 5 10

12 Ed Uyesugi, g 2-6 0-0 1 3 5

24 Evan Seacat, g 17-31 9-10 1 5 2 50

44 Joe Fullen, f 0-2 2-2 2 4 2

14 Josh Nelson, g 1-3 0-0 0 1 3

32 Adam Thornton, f 1-2 0-0 1 0 2

50 Tyler McKeighen, g 0-1 0-0 1 1 0


3-Point Goals: Paoli 10-20 (Seacat 7-13, Stevens 1-2, Nelson 1-2, Uyesugi 1-3).