BROWNSTOWN
After ending January strong with back-to-back Mid-Southern Conference wins, the Brownstown Central boys basketball team hasn’t had the best start to February.
On Thursday night, the Braves finally notched their first win of the month, but needed an extra period to do it, 58-54 over Columbus East.
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Click here to purchase photos from this galleryOn a night where the offense started slow, it sure picked up in the second half for the Braves as they outscored the Olympians 44-36 over the final two quarters and extra time to secure the win.
Brownstown Central coach Dave Benter explained his team just looked lethargic at the start of the game, and didn’t look like the team that had been playing well over the past five games.
“We went back to a dribble-drive offense there in the second half and the fourth quarter and they did nice job of attacking,” Benter said of the second-half adjustments. “We shot around 20 percent in the first half and our pace was just not where it needed it to be. We just could not put the ball in the hole; we gave up 18 points in the first half and we were still down.
“Our pace was much better in the second half.”
Senior Clay Chastain sparked the comeback for the Braves in the second half and fellow senior Isaiah Wineinger completed it in overtime.
In between those seniors’ exploits was sophomore Carter Waskom’s heroics in the ticking final seconds of the fourth quarter.
Waskom, primarily a junior varsity player, fought hard for a rebound and nabbed a putback layup to tie the game at 45 all.
“He’s come such a long way in his ability to drive the lane and find other guys,” Benter said. “For him to come get an offensive rebound and a putback shows he’s getting better.”
Chastain had to overcome an early benching before he sparked the comeback effort.
Finishing with 11 points, the senior scored nine of his points via three key 3-pointers in the second half. Benter said it was big deal for him to fight back and score those key buckets.
“A lot of guys could have sat there and pouted,” Benter said. “He came in and made some huge shots and really got us going offensively.”
Wineinger led the offensive effort for Brownstown Central with 19 with all but five of those points coming in the second half. Derek Thompson also scored in double figures with 12 while Aidan Schroer added seven.
Eli Brown supplied three, Nathan Koch had two and Lucas Hines hit a free throw to round out the BC scoring.
For Columbus East, they were led by Daniel Murphy’s 19 and Tyler Boyer’s 18. Jacob Pierce added nine, Ben Kuhlman scored three, both Elliot Koopman and will Rieckers scored two, and Bailey Harden hit a freebie to round out the East scoring.
In recent games, the Brownstown Central offense had seen steady improvements scoring 50 or more points since Jan. 17. Against the Olympians, the Braves never looked like they would sniff the half-century mark and the offense look disjointed from the tip.
Derek Thompson scored the first bucket for the Braves in the opening minute, but BC went cold for the next three minutes before they scored again at the four-minute mark. They went another two before Thompson hit another layup.
It didn’t get much better in the second quarter as the Braves failed to score a field goal for four-and-a-half minutes before Eli Brown drained a corner 3-pointer out of a Brave timeout.
In junior varsity action, the Braves defeated the Olympians 44-33 behind an 18-point effort from Kiernan Tiemeyer.
Lucas McKinney added six, Carson Darlage tallied five, Eli Wischmeier scored four; Ethan Davis, Carter Waskom and Sam Schepman all hit 3-pointers; and Levi Stahl netted two to round out the BC scoring.
The Braves are back in action on Saturday against Mid-Southern Conference rival Clarksville for a 2:30 p.m. tipoff.