SCOTTSBURG
Just a few days removed from their first loss of the season, the Brownstown Central girls basketball team bounced back with a 50-44 win at Scottsburg.
Behind a super night from senior Ashley Schroer and junior Katherine Benter, the Braves got back to their winning ways and opened up Mid-Southern Conference play with a needed victory.
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“Bounce-back wins are always great because you never want to go on a losing streak,” Brownstown Central coach Brandon Allman explained. “This is one of the most storied programs in state history … and it’s a big win.
“We’re 1-0 in the conference and our conference is a gauntlet.”
Allman praised the way his top-scoring duo stepped up to the challenge, especially Benter late when they were desperate for points.
“Those are our two best players and they have to do that for us,” Allman said. “I told Ashley she’s got to demand a double team and if she doesn’t get one then she has to score the basketball. Katherine put us on her back, making free throws and our free-throw percentage finished at 59 percent because of her. Before that, it might have been at 10 percent.”
Schroer and Benter got whatever they wanted at the rim, scoring nearly all of their points in the lane. A lot of that was due to the Braves getting Warrior junior Zoe Zellers in foul trouble, which opened up point-blank looks at the rim.
Occasionally Benter stepped back for a 3-pointer, drilling three of them, but did most of her damage in the painted area or at the line.
Benter finished with 24 points to lead all scorers and Schroer added 14.
Though most of the offense was generated from the Braves’ dynamic duo, they got key contributions from freshman Maddy Hackman and senior Halle Hehman.
Allman said he would like to get more consistent scoring from his other players, but contends they do a lot of other great things that don’t make it into the stat sheet.
“Emma Klinge drives down the lane and creates an open layup for Avery Koch,” Allman explained. “These are stats people don’t see or plays people don’t see that we need.”
Hackman added eight, with most of those points coming from behind the arc.
Hehman and Koch chipped in two points apiece.
Allman also explained that the game finished so hectic towards the end because his girls were playing too fast and making too many mistakes in the process. He said his girls just need to get confident in themselves that they can handle the ball in pressure situations and not doubt when they have open looks at the basket.
A few times in the second half, Allman pleaded for his players to go up for uncontested layups instead of passing it back out to Benter or Schroer.
Coming into Friday night’s game, Allman and Scottsburg’s Donna Cheatham had a combined win total of 723.
Most of those belonged to Cheatham — the winningest high school girls basketball coach in Indiana.
Allman, who is in his first year, noted there was no pressure felt coaching against one of the greatest winners in the state, and he learned a lot about the game from her.
“Getting a win against the winningest coach is nice,” he said. “Anything I can take from her and learn from her is great.”
The Braves will now turn their attention to their Jackson County showdown against Seymour.
Brownstown will host the Owls this Thursday, Dec. 5 at 7:30 p.m.