With 44.8 seconds left in Saturday’s IHSAA Class 2A state championship at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Connor Essegian raised his hands in the air and waved at the fans wearing maroon T-shirts who had made the trip from northern Indiana.

“It was to say ‘thank you’ for everything they have done for us and the excitement that we have been able to bring to them too,” Essegian said. “Walking off the court that last time I just wanted to say ‘thank you’ to them.”

Overlooked? Not anymore: Connor Essegian burning his way up Indiana all-time scoring list.

IHSAA basketball state finals: Scores, highlights, photos from championship games

Essegian — and the Central Noble fans — hoped that moment would come with a victory in hand. But it did not turn out that way. The third-ranked Cougars were blitzed by unranked Providence, which rode a fast start to a 62-49 victory in the 2A state finals Saturday afternoon.

Providence (21-6) threw multiple defenders at the 6-4 Essegian, who finished with 18 points, seven rebounds and three assists. But the Wisconsin recruit was 2-for-9 from the field midway through the third quarter as the Cougars (28-3) trailed by double digits the final 15 minutes of the game and by as many as 21 points in the fourth quarter.

The Pioneers led 25-9 at the end of a stunning first quarter, shooting 10-for-14 from the field.

“I thought, early on, they were more physical than us,” Central Noble coach John Bodey said. “They pushed us out further on offense than what we are used to. That’s on us. We knew they were going to do it. We talked about it and we didn’t handle it very well in the first quarter.”

Essegian’s 18 points gave him 2,526 for his career, which ranks No. 10 all-time in the state. Despite being face-guarded and hounded by defenders like Jaden Johnson and Cade Carver throughout the afternoon, Essegian showed flashes of his immense offensive talent. Near the end of the third quarter, he scored on a floater, was fouled on a 3-pointer (making two free throws) and drained a near-impossible jumper from the baseline from a tough angle.

“They threw a guy at him every possession,” Bodey said. “It was the same thing they did against the (Jack) Benter kid from Brownstown Central and Joey Hart from Linton-Stockton. We knew it was coming. We just didn’t handle it well enough.”

Providence coach Ryan Miller compared preparation for Essegian to his time as an assistant at Floyd Central and throughout the season at Providence.

“We had to get ready for a guy named Romeo Langford,” Miller said. “So for four years we had to develop game plans to try to develop game plans to stop one of the best in the history of the state. We kind of carried that over here to Providence. … we are battle tested. We are very fortunate to play of a lot of great players who are Division I caliber and we face a lot of them. Have we faced any as good as him and Hart? Probably not. But we’ve faced some good ones.”

Bringing Central Noble to the state finals for the first time was a thrill for Essegian, even if it did not end like he had planned. Bodey said he appreciated Essegian made his way up the scoring chart and racked up victories “without being a gunner.” He pointed to his three-year run of shooting better than 40% from the 3-point line.

“It’s a huge blessing to be able to accomplish what we did,” Essegian said. “We did fall short. But the guys on my right (Logan Gard and Ryan Schroeder) and the guys in the locker room … it’s relationships that we built off the court that will never break.”

Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana basketball state finals: Providence stymies Connor Essegian