SALEM

Salem came out and scored the first eight points of the third quarter to break open a tight game and defeated Brownstown Central 52-40 in the Salem Class 3A Sectional Friday night.

Braves’ girls basketball coach Karla Rieckers said the difference in the game was the cold shooting by her team as the Braves made 15 of 55 shots from the floor.

“We’ve got to make shots; that’s the difference,” she said. “We had good looks but the ball wouldn’t go in the basket. For some reason when we play here we never shoot well. When we played here during the season, we shot 17 percent on twos,” Rieckers said.

The Braves held an 8-6 lead on Tayler Garland’s second basket of the game with 2:30 left in the first quarter.

The Lions went on a 6-0 run to lead 12-8 at the end of the quarter.

The Braves pulled to within 12-11 on a 3-point by Shelby Stuckwisch before the Lions went on a 9-5 run to take a 21-16 on a rebound basket by Nettie Nice at 4:05.

A 3-pointer by Halle Hehman left the Braves trailing 26-23 before Jamie Taylor scored on a “back door” play at the buzzer to put the Lions on top 27-21 the break.

Leah Miller topped the Lions in scoring in the first half with 11 points while Hehman had two 3-pointers and total of eight point in the second quarter.

Both teams started out cold in the third quarter before Miller scooped in a layup at 5:35 for a 29-21 lead.

The Lions stretched their lead to 35-21 on a free throw by Mackenzie Underwood with 3:23 on the clock.

The Braves missed their first six shots of the third quarter before Madison Klinge made a 3-pointer with 3:03 for a 35-24 score.

The Braves missed their first six shots of the fourth quarter, and the Lions increased their lead 43-28 on a basket by Karly Sweeney at 5:10.

Payton Farmer scored for the Braves at 4:20, and Ashley Schroer followed up with a layup at 4:03 for 43-32 score.

The closest the Braves could come after that was 48-40 on a 3-pointer by Shelby Stuckwisch with 45 seconds remaining.

Hehman topped the Braves (18-8) with 14 points, and Schroer was high rebounder for her team with nine.

Miller topped the Lions (21-4) with 16 points and Nettie Nice scored 10 points and had 12 rebounds.

The Lions will play Scottsburg in the championship game at 7:30 tonight. Scottsburg defeated Silver Creek 43-34 in overtime in the first game Friday night at Seymour.