1999-2000 Paoli Rams: 20-8 Class 2A Final Four


(Pictured Above)

Bottom Row L-R:  Josh Thomas, Daniel Springer, Jeremy Latham, Travis Cole, Josh Stevens, Jeremy Riddle, Ed Uyesugi

Top Row L-R: Assistant Coach Michael McBride, Matt Maier, Brannon Chastain, Brian Wolfe, Derek VanEmon, Evan Seacat, Joe Fullen, Head Coach Mike Brown



Team Accomplishments:

Inagural Orange County Classic Champions

Offensive Average: 72.39 ppg

Defensive Average: 64.50 ppg


P.L.A.C All-Conference Members: Travis Cole, Evan Seacat, Derek VanEmon


1999-2000 Game Results:

vs. Orleans W 66-50
vs. Eastern (Greene) W 80-78
at. North Harrison L 74-72 OT
vs. West Washington W 99-70
at. Eastern (Pekin) W 77-53
at. Austin W 81-69
at. Springs Valley W 78-72***
vs. Graceland Christian W 63-43***
vs. Henryville W 50-40***
vs. North Daviess W 68-56***
at. Springs Valley W 71-63***
at. Mitchell L 81-78 3 OT
vs. Shoals W 81-45
vs. Northeast Dubois W 71-61
at. Forest Park L 81-71
vs. Springs Valley W 78-47
vs. Corydon L 61-58
at. Brownstown W 81-73 3 OT
vs. Southridge W 62-45
vs. Salem L 69-59
vs. Perry Central W 70-60
at. Crawford County L 77-70
at. Scottsburg L 97-94

Sectional:
vs. Crawford County W 71-67
vs. Tell City W 73-69


Regional:
at. North Knox W 69-60


Semi-State:
vs. Monrovia W 63-61****
vs. Winchester L 84-73



***Games that took place during the Orange County Classic

****Paoli's Derek VanEmon was fouled, made the second free throw for a four-point lead with 10 seconds left, and Monrovia's Matt Walls hit a field goal at the buzzer for the 63-61 final...

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****PAOLI RAMS RALLY PAST CRAWFORD COUNTY INTO SECTIONAL FINALS****


HUNTINGBURG - Through nearly three quarters of play at the Southridge Sectional Friday night, the Paoli Rams looked as if they might be making an early exit from tournament play. The shots weren't falling, the turnovers were mounting and the Crawford County Wolfpack had begun to smell the victory.

The Rams trailed by 12 with just over a minute to play in the third, but seniors Travis Cole and Derek VanEmon took matters into their own hands and fueled a 23-2 Paoli run that turned the tide and enabled the Rams to escape with a 71-67 victory.

Cole came up with two steals and five quick points in the final 20 seconds of the third, while VanEmon poured in 11 points and pulled down seven boards in the final frame to put the game away.

"We knew it was going to be this kind of game," said Paoli coach Mike Brown, whose club will face Tell City (a 73-64 winner over second-ranked Forest Park) in tonight's championship game. "There's no way that Crawford had any quit in them. They answered every single run that we tried to make at them, until the last one. We just had some guys make their minds up that they were going to try to get some plays made."

The Wolfpack led by as many as 15 in the second quarter, thanks in part to 20 first-half points by junior guard Joey Hanger, who drained four 3-pointers over the first two periods.

While Hanger was lighting it up, the Rams' long-range bomber was shooting blanks. Sophomore guard Evan Seacat misfired on his first eight shots and the Rams shot just 12 of 28 from the floor as a team in the first half. But after connecting on 6 of 17 in the third, Paoli made 9 of 12 from the floor and 9 of 12 from the foul line in the fourth to secure the victory.

After the Rams' sparkplug (Cole) fouled out with 4:51 to play, Seacat halted a 6-0 Wolfpack run with a runner in the lane, and junior Brannon Chastain came up with a steal and converted a layup to move the lead back to seven, 65-58.

"I am so proud of so many guys on this team," said Brown. "It's just incredible what they got done tonight in some really tough situations. We could have quit at the end of the third quarter. They answered our run, we had some guys in foul trouble and we could have hung it up right there. Not only did we come back and start the fourth quarter with a great run, but when Travis fouled out we had some guys really suck it up."

VanEmon finished with game-highs of 28 points and 16 rebounds, while Cole added 21 points and Seacat finished with 12 points and seven boards for the Rams, who will be looking for their third straight class sectional title tonight.

"I think in this sectional, with these six teams, you just want to survive," Brown noted. "I think Tell City is probably on more of a run right now than anybody, and it'll take a heck of an effort to come back in this short of time and beat them, but I like our chances."

After giving up 20 points to Hanger in the first half, the Rams went to a box-and-one defense in the second, with Cole chasing the Wolfpacks' leading scorer and holding him to just six points over the final two periods to give him 26 for the game



PAOLI RAMS (71)

FG FT R F TP

40 Derek VanEmon, f 9-16 9-12 16 4 28

42 Brannon Chastain, f 2-3 0-0 0 4 4

52 Brian Wolfe, c 2-3 0-0 2 3 4

24 Evan Seacat, g 4-17 4-7 7 4 12

20 Travis Cole, g 9-15 1-1 5 5 21

14 Jeremy Latham, f 0-2 0-0 1 1 0

32 Joe Fullen, f 1-1 0-0 1 0 2

30 Josh Thomas, g 0-0 0-0 1 0 0


3-Point Goals: Paoli 3-13 (Cole 2-5, VanEmon 1-1, Lathem 0-1, Seacat 0-6).

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****WOLFE'S BIG GAME POWERS PAOLI TO A REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP***

BICKNELL - The wolf, by nature, is a scavenger. The vicious, nocturnal hunter notoriously trails its prey for days, waiting patiently yet eagerly to wear the antagonist down. It kills in packs, with devastating teamwork.

Paoli's Wolfe was no different Wednesday night. Sophomore center Brian Wolfe, a 6-foot-4 pup quickly growing into a pack leader, took yet another step in his blossoming basketball career by leading his hungry teammates to their third consecutive regional kill.

Wolfe racked up 22 points, 13 rebounds and two standing ovations to lift the Rams to a 69-60 win over North Knox in Class 2A regional action in Bicknell.

"He was amazing," Paoli coach Mike Brown said. "He just tore them up. This is the biggest guy he's played against all year and he just went crazy. That's probably what got us started. And once he gets going in there you can't stop him."

North Knox coach Mike Halliwell did not expect the White Fang performance.

"They made the decision at halftime to come out and make us guard him and we just didn't do it," he said. "We couldn't find him in the zone and I don't why we couldn't see him as big as he is.

"What hurts is I thought we had an excellent chance to win this game. I never dreamed we'd have so much trouble scoring."

Wolfe got going with nifty baseline moves and fancy low-post footwork. But he wasn't alone in the victory. Derek VanEmon, Evan Seacat and Travis Cole all scored in double figures, while many others contributed defensively.

"Our kids did an excellent job of executing at both ends of the floor in the second half when we got it into the halfcourt," said Brown.

Perhaps the biggest factor in the game was the play of Cole, the team sparkplug. The point guard was miserable in the first half, uncharacteristically coughing up six turnovers as he played out of control. The senior got his act together in the second half, however, and kept the team on track by taking care of the ball and putting in six points.

After a 14-turnover first half, Paoli committed just three miscues in the final two periods (none by Cole).

"We addressed that at halftime," Brown said. "It's okay for Travis to have six turnovers, because he's probably going to have about 13 assists. But there were some times there in the first half when he looked right at something and then threw the ball away. We can't have that, and we told him he's got to lead us because when he's not on the floor we're in big, big trouble."

North Knox was in trouble early as the team hit just 5 of 17 first quarter shots en route to falling behind 17-13. The Warriors got going in the second period and pieced together a 20-6 run. Nathan Ashley got the spurt going with a three-point play, and 6-foot-8 center Jason Stewart knocked down two shots and recorded a slam dunk to help fire his team to a 33-28 halftime lead.

Down five at the break, Brown rallied his troops one more time. The Rams have grown accustomed to such comebacks.

"We just told them the big thing was to be patient and slow down," the Paoli coach said. "North Knox ended the half with a run which was kind of a concern, because we usually do that.

"Whenever we pressed they would blow right past us and score, so we switched to a diamond-and-one and that's all we played in the second half. We were kind of wearing them down with our break, and we figured if we put the diamond-and-one on (Daniel) Trabant we could slow him down. He only had seven points at the half, but we figured we'd rather have Stewart shooting twos than have Trabant shooting threes. I think when we did that they rushed a lot of shots."

Paoli outscored the Warriors 10-5 to start the third quarter, tying the game at 38-38 on a VanEmon 3-pointer. The two teams then traded blow for blow much of the frame before Wolfe hit three out of four free throws and Cole added two more to push the Rams ahead, 49-44.

Paoli went up 10, 58-48, on a Seacat layup with 6:02 remaining. North Knox got back within six, but ill-advised clock management and accurate Ram free-throw shooting down the stretch sealed the Warriors' fate.

"We had a couple of kids shoot free throws early in the quarter that aren't used to being in that situation and they missed," said Brown. "But once you hit those first few you're in pretty good shape."

VanEmon and Seacat each followed Wolfe's performance with 18 points apiece, while Cole added 10 for Paoli.

Stewart paced North Knox (18-7) with 20, while Trabant added 13 and Rocky Collins chipped in with 10.

The Rams (19-7) will advance to Saturday's semistate to face top-ranked Monrovia (21-3) in the second game at Huntingburg. Winchester (20-5) and Silver Creek (16-8) will clash in the opener.



PAOLI RAMS (69)

FG-FT-R-F-Points

40 Derek VanEmon, f 6-14 5-6 9 3 18

14 Jeremy Latham, f 0-2 1-2 5 2 1

52 Brian Wolfe, c 8-12 6-11 13 2 22

24 Evan Seacat, g 7-15 2-3 4 2 18

20 Travis Cole, g 3-9 4-4 4 1 10

32 Joe Fullen, f 0-1 0-2 1 3 0

30 Josh Thomas, g 0-0 0-0 2 0 0

3-Point Gield Goals Paoli 3-13 (Seacat 2-6, VanEmon 1-5, Cole 0-1, Latham 0-1);