BROWNSTOWN
With a six-game winning streak underneath them, the Brownstown Central boys basketball team wouldn’t be intimidated with Class 4A Jennings County coming to town.
The Braves held home court defeating the Panthers 72-57 on Friday.
On their first possession,
the Braves opened up with
a 3-pointer from big-man
Cam Shoemaker.
From then on, the Braves would lead the entire way.
The Braves worked the floor with strong ball movement and came out with a defensive presence, to take a 15-6 lead after eight minutes of play.
In the second quarter, the Braves opened on an 7-2 run highlighted by a layup and 3-pointer by Cole Borden to put his team up 22-8 with 5:12 before the half.
Following the trey by Borden, the Panthers went on a 6-0 run off a field goal by Tyler Vogel and four-straight points by Dan Leach (two for three free throws.
In the opening two minutes of the third quarter, the Panthers’ Chace Wilson had back-to-back dunks to cut the lead 28-22.
“When they came out
and got the two dunks, we responded really well,” Benter said. “It got their crowd and bench excited. Those can be momentum changes in the game.
We took that momentum back, it was a huge stretch. We turned the ball over
a couple games but we stuck to our particular game plan.”
The Braves were nursing a 26-17 lead after halftime, but finally distanced themselves from the Panthers, 36-26, when Zach McCory hit a 3-pointer at the 3:43 mark.
“I was really disappointed at halftime because as well as we played we missed a few layups,” Braves coach Dave Benter said. “I thought all of our guys moved the ball well. We were unselfish.”
The Panthers got in
foul trouble early, as they committed eight before
the start of the fourth quarter.
Braves senior Matthew Nierman completed a four-point play with 1:44 left in the third quarter to give his team a 43-28 edge.
At the buzzer, Braves sophomore Carson Lambring nailed a 3-pointer from way downtown.
The Braves led 53-33 after 24 minutes, and cruised through the fourth quarter to earn their seventh-straight victory.
“We changed our offense a lot this year; we’ve put a lot of time in practice,” Benter said. “You have
to, to be successful. Our guys have been doing a
nice job making the extra pass. Hopefully they understand why they were successful tonight.”
McCory led the Braves with 19 points and Wilson had a team-high 15 points for the Panthers.
The Panthers went 11-20 from the charity stripe to the Braves’ 21-22.
“Frustrated is a good word for the entire game,” Panthers coach Joe Hartwell said. “We struggled to get through their physical nature defensively — cutting and screening. We tried to get physical and we got fouls called on us. I’m not blaming the refs, but we got frustrated.”