By Andrew Gregory | News and Tribune
CHARLESTOWN
Brownstown Central hit eight 3-point field goals in the first half en route to a 73-51 victory away at Charlestown.
The Class 3A No. 4 Braves remain on top of the Mid-Southern Conference standings. They’re now 14-1 overall and 6-0 in league play. The Pirates fell to 8-6 overall and 2-2 in the MSC.
On Friday, the balanced Braves had four players in double digits.
“We came out really focused,” Braves coach Dave Benter said. “Our ball movement was really good and we took care of the basketball, but the most important thing is that we were really unselfish.”
Brownstown took an early 10-2 lead in the first quarter behind two 3s in the first four minutes. The visitors continued increasing their lead throughout the opening period.
The advantage grew to 22-9 by the end of the first.
The second period was no different.
The Braves only allowed the hosts six points in the quarter and took a commanding 42-15 lead into the locker room at halftime.
“Our guys have been trusting each other more,” Benter said. “We have to continue that and keep moving the ball. We have a lot of guys who can score.”
The Braves reached a 30-point lead late in the third quarter then removed their starting contingent.
“I thought we played good defense, got the ball down the court well and our ball movement was good,” Brownstown junior Cody Waskom said.
Waskom finished with 14 points including a pair of shots from behind the 3-point arc. Teammate Carson Lambring had 15 to lead the team. Jacoby Shade finished with 12 and Zach McCory added 10 to the total.
Jordon Knoebel led Charlestown with 15 points, his highest total of the season. Tanner Wesp and Korey Harris each had eight.
The Pirates whittled down the score in the fourth quarter, but it was much too late to stage a dramatic comeback.
Charlestown will look to bounce back against Borden on Saturday night.
“We play Borden in our next game and they play much like Brownstown,” Pirates coach Jason Connell said. “If we can bring the same effort that we had in the second half into the game against Borden, I think we will be all right. We can learn from this.”
The Braves will look to inch closer to another MSC crown tonight when they go to Corydon to face the 1-13 Panthers.