BROWNSTOWN
The Austin girls held a 15-14 lead against Brownstown Central with three minutes remaining in the second quarter Saturday afternoon when the Braves got hot and the Eagles turned ice cold.
Ashley Schroer’s 3-point basket helped the Braves close the first half on a 13-0 run to take a 27-15 lead at the break on the way to a 52-38 victory for their first Mid-Southern Conference win.
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Schroer followed her 3-pointer up with a layup, Katherine Benter made two free throws, and Tayler Garland made two 3-pointers in the final 55 seconds of the half to boost the Braves.
Coach Karla Rieckers liked the way her team responded after Austin had taken the lead.
“We challenged them that this was our first Saturday afternoon game, and I think we came in a little lax,” she said. “Nobody really likes to be here on a Saturday afternoon, and I really thought we stepped up. I challenged them to come out and play more aggressive. ‘Let’s get more up tempo, let’s push the basketball’ and I thought they responded well there.
“Towards the end of the game, when (Austin Coach Jared Petersen) was pressing, for a while I think maybe we wanted to give the game away- make the easy pass instead of trying to make the hard pass.”
Brownstown had either four or five turnovers each period and 18 for the game, while the Braves forced the Eagles into eight turnovers in the third period and 22 for the game.
The Braves prevented the Eagles from getting back in the game in the third period as they actually increased their lead to 34-19 after three minutes.
Austin players made four 3-pointers in the middle of the period but Emma Klinge hit a 3, and Peyton Farmer and Halle Hehman added 2-pointrs to help the Braves maintain a 42-30 lead going into the fourth period.
Hehman had a pair of baskets, and Benter made a basket and two free throws in the fourth period when the Braves outscored the Eagles 10-8.
Benter topped the Braves in scoring with 14 points, Schroer had 11, and Hehman had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
The Braves outrebounded the Eagles 27-16.
“One thing we work on in practice every day is rebounding, getting the block out, not just going for the ball, but actually getting your man blocked out and then getting the ball,” Rieckers said.”So other people were getting their man blocked out and Halle was able to get her man blocked out and get the ball. We need that from her as we progress forward with the games we’ve got coming up.”
Grace Ingleheart topped the Eagles (7-6, 0-4 MSC) with 11 points.
The Braves had an excellent game at the free-throw line by making 15 of 18, and Austin hit 5 of 9.
The Braves (6-6, 1-4 MSC) shot 16-for-45 from the floor.
Rieckers said, “Overall, it’s a win and we move on. We’ve played over half of our season already, and I think we’ve got a lot of kids whose legs are tired and are just trying to get their shot to fall.
“We go to Clarksville Tuesday, and then Silver Creek (Dec. 13) and Madison (Dec. 18) before we get much of a break when we get a week off. I know the girls are looking forward to that. I think it comes down to being able to get our legs under us.