CHARLESTOWN
Silver Creek scored the final six points of the second period, then opened the second half on an 8-0 run to break open a close game to defeat Brownstown Central 64-45 Friday night in the semifinals of Sectional 30.
“I think 12 of their first-half points were off our turnovers or missed blockouts,” Braves coach Dave Benter said. I’d like to have that five minutes back, that two of the first half and first three of the second half. We had five turnovers during that stretch. They are as good a transition team as I’ve seen this season at any level.
“We talked before the game that we can’t give them live turnovers and can’t give them second chance points and that ended up being our downfall. We were real efficient and we didn’t turn it over in the first half. Turnovers and missed blockouts caught up with us.”
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Seth Borden ended Brownstown’s dry spell with a basket at 5:15, but the Dragons built their lead to 45-33 at the end of the third period.
The Braves (18-6) used their perimeter game to stay in the game in the first half by making 7 of 14 from 3-point range.
Braden Neal made three 3-pointers in the first half, Isaac Johnson hit two, and Michael Boshears and Ethan Wischmeier each had one. The Braves shot 10-for-21 while the Dragons made 13-for-23 and did not have 3-pointers.
Ty Kessinger opened the scoring in the third period with a 3-pointer, and Zane Gross dropped in another 3-pointer at 6:12 and the Dragons had a 36-27 lead.
After Johnson made two free throws at the start of the final period, the Dragons went on a 10-0 run to put the game out of reach at 55-35.
The closest the Braves came after that was 13 points at 55-42.
“Once they got some separation, we panicked a little bit, we knew we had to score a little bit quicker and that’s tough for our team to do with their length and athleticism,” Benter said.
The Braves finished with 16-for-38 and Benter said the Dragons’ defensive pressure affected the Braves’ shooting.
“They got 6-7, 6-6, and 6-6 in the lane,” he said. “It’s a little bit different shooting over that.”
Johnson topped the Braves with 18 points and Neal finished with 12.
The Dragons (20-3) had balance scoring as Trey Kaufman with 15 points, Kooper Jacobi with 14 points, and Gross with 10 points. Another player scored nine and two others scored seven each.
“We talked the last few days about keeping the game close so we could control the tempo and the tempo got away from us in the second half,” Benter said. “A lot of that had to do with them.”
They’re as talented as any team in southern Indiana. They got all the pieces for a good high school team.”