BROWNSTOWN
The Brownstown Central boys basketball team celebrated senior night Friday night with a 51-37 win over Orleans.
It was the final home game for BC seniors Michael Boshears, Matthew Garland, Braden Neal, Seth Borden, Isaac Johnson and Ethan Wischmeier.
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Braves Coach Dave Benter said they will be missed.
“A lot of them had to wait their turn because of the team two years older than them,” Benter said. “That was a huge class with a lot of talented players. Some kids aren’t willing to wait, and they did. They have won at all levels; they won at the freshman level, they won at the junior varsity level and then won at the varsity level.
“It’s a very competitive group. I had other coaches comment about how hard they play and that is something I appreciate. Every senior is different.”
The seniors wanted to make sure they had a successful final home game by jumping on top 17-11 at the end of the first period.
Boshears started hot for the Braves with a pair of 3-pointers and a deuce, Neal made also a 3-pointer and Johnson made two 2-pointers to help the Braves take the lead for good.
Johnson scored two baskets, and Boshears added a basket and two free throws in the second period to help the Braves to a 28-17 lead at the half.
The Braves shot 10-for-28 and the Bulldogs shot 6-for-21 from the floor in the first half.
Boshears remained hot at the start of the third period as he hit a 3-pointer, and later came down with a defensive rebound and drove the length of the floor and made a layup at 5:15 to give the Braves a 33-17 lead.
The Braves outscored the Bulldogs 11-8 in the third quarter to lead 39-25. Johnson had six points and Boshears scored five in the period.
Wischmeier, Neal, and Isaiah Wineinger made 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to keep the Braves comfortably ahead. Orleans finished with 10 baskets to 19 for the Braves.
Benter credited the defense with a strong performance.
“Defense has kind of been our bread and butter all year long,” Benter said. “Things that you can always control are how good you are defensively and take care of the ball and rebounding. Those are the things we have to control.
“We got our separation early, but you’ve got to give them credit. It’s a young team but it’s really easy on the road to go away and you get down double figures, quit, and play down. I have never seen an Orleans team do that. We were pretty confident that they would keep competing and battle us and they did.”
Boshears topped the Braves (17-5) with 20 points, and Johnson added 14. Borden topped the rebounds with 10.
Javen Brock was high scorer for the Bulldogs (7-15) with 9 points.
The Braves will turn their attention to the Charlestown Sectional where they will play the host team in the second game Tuesday.
“Now the next season starts, and everybody is 0-0, and we got to make sure we come out and we got to be more consistent and put 32 minutes together offensively,” Benter said.