BROWNSTOWN
Coach Karla Rieckers said when her Brownstown Central girls’ basketball team slowed things down against Brown County on Saturday afternoon, the results changed drastically.
The Braves were not sharp on offense at the start as, Brown County jumped on top 6-0 and held a 12-4 lead after five minutes of play.
That is when Rieckers called her second timeout and told her team it had to show more patience on offense.
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“After we took the second time out we talked about that I really thought we were rushing our offense,” she said. “We would take one pass and a shot and not really make them play defense. We were having to work so much harder on defense.
“We talked about if we were patient on offense, and worked the basketball, we would get the shots that we wanted. We just needed to be more patient and I thought they responded very well.”
The result would be a 70-37 win for Brownstown Central.
The Braves made only one field goal and had five turnovers in the first five minutes.
Brownstown trailed 12-8 at the end of the first quarter, and was behind 16-14 two minutes into the second when the Braves started clicking on offense when Payton Farmer started her team on a 15-0 run with a layup.
Morgan Wehmiller scored seven points during the rally, and Madison Klinge finished it with a layup that put the Braves on top 29-16 with two minutes left before halftime.
The Braves held a 31-20 lead at the half, then opened the third period on a 17-0 run. Kristen Stuckwisch had three baskets, Klinge scored twice, Wehmiller had a 3-pointer, and Tayler Garland made four free throws.
Garland’s last two points from the stripe made it 48-20 with 2:36 on the clock.
The Braves shot 8-for-13 from the floor when they outscored the Eagles 23-8 in the second quarter, and shot 9-for-18 in the third when they held a 24-5 margin.
“We’re not real tall, and we like to score in transition, and it was nice to see that working for us today,” Rieckers said.
Wehmiller topped the Braves with 18 points, and Klinge added 12. Wehmiller and Shelby Stuckwisch led in rebounds with eight each.
Rieckers said she was happy to see Wehmiller finish her home schedule on a high note.
“Prior to the game we talked that it would be Morgan’s last game in The Pit, and we wanted to come out and play well for her,” she said. “I thought we did, and I thought Morgan had a really nice game today. The asset she has been to our program is invaluable to what she has given our team. I wish the best for her.
“(Filling a leadership role) has been different for her because in previous years she had seven seniors in front of her, and didn’t really have to lead, and now in every sport she’s been in she’s had to step up, and she’s provided that for our team.”
All 10 of the Braves that played either scored or had a rebound, and Rieckers said she was pleased with the team effort.
“We can play fairly deep with people,” she said. “Top to bottom, I thought every single person played a good game. I thought our defense picked up. I told them our offense would feed off or our defense, and I think that was the difference today.”
The Eagles (4-18) had 24 turnovers, and made only 15 of 59 shots from the floor. Madyson Edds was high scorer for the visitors with 10 points.
The Braves take a 12-11 record to North Harrison on Thursday for their final regular season game.
“North Harrison has a very nice team, they are very well-coached,” Rieckers said. “It will be a challenge for us. We hit a low point earlier, but hopefully we’re digging ourselves back out of that. I said ‘that why you play the game’ and you just have to compete every minute of the game.”