Listen to the public address announcer this Saturday read off the starting lineup for the Brownstown Central girls basketball team and you’ll notice a theme.
"Starting at guard, a 5-foot-3-inch sophomore, Emma Klinge," the announcer begins. "At another guard, a 5-7 freshman, Maddy Hackman. And at the other guard, a 5-8 junior, Katherine Benter."
Next come the forwards.
"And at forward, a 5-9 senior, Ashley Schroer," the announcer continues. "And at the other forward, a 5-6 senior, Halle Hehman."
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Unlike some of the teams they’ve faced this season, the Braves aren’t blessed with towering height.
But what does that matter?
Despite their height disadvantage, the Braves are still outworking and outrebounding their opponents and beating them by hefty margins each time.
With the exception of their sectional opener against Brown County — arguably the second-best team in the sectional — the Braves downed both Edgewood and West Vigo by at least 20 points.
In all three contests, the Braves had the advantage on the glass. They did so by a 25-19 margin against the Eagles, 20-14 to Edgewood and 26-23 to West Vigo.
First-year coach Brandon Allman said after the second loss of the season — 49-40 against Madison — he challenged his team to work harder on the boards.
"I talked about this around midseason with them that we needed to focus more on rebounding the basketball," he said. "Rebounding is all about effort, and I’ve got girls who bust their butts for 32 minutes."
By his count, since that rough game against the Cubs, they’ve had the advantage on the boards.
"Since about the Madison game, I think we’ve outrebounded just about every team we’ve played," he said. "It’s something we try to focus on."
Allman also noted his girls bought in to the concept of team rebounding. Having five players in a white or black Brownstown Central jersey going after missed shots makes outrebounding team just a little bit easier.
Senior Ashley Schroer says rebounding has become almost more key to their success than scoring.
"We’re constantly blocking out and going after balls," she said of practice drills. "We know if we don’t win that rebounding fight then we’re not going to win the game."
On Saturday, the Braves will face an Indianapolis Cardinal Ritter team built much like them at 10 a.m. at Greencastle High School’s McAnally Center.
The Raiders don’t boast a 6-foot player but put a high value on the basketball. At the Indianapolis Washington Sectional, the Raiders totaled 100 rebounds in three games.
That’s not too bad for a team whose tallest player is 5-10 and has no player averaging more than 5.2 rebounds per game.
Ritter is on a bit of a hot streak, winning all three of its postseason games by at least seven points after dropping two tough games at the end of the regular season.
Though they are heavy with seniors, they’re led by junior Emma Litzelman, who’s the team’s only double-digit scorer with 11 points per game.
But she’s not the only threat to score, as the Raiders have three other players who average at least 7.6 ppg.
A win Saturday would put the Braves into the regional final at 8 p.m. against either Heritage Christian or Danville. Should they prove victorious there, they’ll grab just the program’s fourth regional championship.
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Jackson County
Team;W;L;Off;Def
Brownstown Central;24;3;56.5;40.3*
Trinity Lutheran;24;3;57.2;40.9*
Crothersville;11;12;48.3;40.1
Seymour;8;17;44.1;54.5
Medora;0;16;19.9;58.6
*Still playing
Scoring leaders
Tabeling (TL);27;586;21.7;36*
Meyer (S);25;425;17.0;33
Benter (BC);27;430;15.9;29*
Jaynes (TL);27;411;15.2;27*
Schroer (BC);27;402;14.9;24*
Cole (C);23;275;11.9;26
Helt (C);23;243;10.5;23
Hackman (BC);27;273;10.1;19*
Schrader (S);25;245;9.8;24
Cobb (M);16;148;9.2;17
Sabotin (TL);26;221;8.5;19*
*Still playing
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Jackson County
Team;W;L;Off;Def
Trinity Lutheran;10;10;60.6;61.9
Crothersville;9;8;62.4;56.9
Seymour;6;11;42.9;46.4
Brownstown Central;6;12;48.3;51.7
Medora;1;18;37.1;70.6
Scoring leaders
Player;GP;TP;Avg;Hi
Thomas (C);17;254;14.9;25
Marksberry (TL);20;283;14.1;24
Spall (C);17;237;13.9;24
McCoy (S);17;235;13.8;30
Goecker (TL);20;273;12.6;29
Wineinger (BC);17;222;13.0;28
Hackman (TL);20;211;10.5;18
Chastain (BC);17;170;10.0;18
Norton (TL);20;181;9.1;20
Myers (M);18;160;8.9;24
Hoosier Hills
Team;HHC;All
Bedford N. Lawrence;5;1;13;8
Jeffersonville;4;1;13;5
Floyd Central;4;2;12;6
New Albany;4;2;12;7
Seymour;3;4;6;11
Jennings County;1;4;10;8
Madison;1;4;10;8
Columbus East;0;4;3;15
Mid-Southern
Team;MSC;All
Scottsburg;8;0;12;8
Silver Creek;6;0;18;2
North Harrison;6;2;13;5
Clarksville;5;2;11;6
Salem;4;3;9;10
Corydon Central;3;4;9;9
Brownstown Central;2;6;6;12
Austin;2;6;3;15
Charlestown;1;7;3;15
Eastern (Pekin);0;7;2;15
Southern Athletic
Team;SAC;All
New Washington;3;0;12;7
Lanesville;3;0;10;9
South Central;2;2;7;11
Crothersville;1;2;9;8
Henryville;1;3;7;12
Borden;1;4;6;13
Southern Roads
Team;SRC;All
Evansville Christian;5;0;10;10
Madison Christian;3;1;23;6
Columbus Christian;2;3;10;22
Cannelton;2;3;6;15
Dugger;1;3;4;14
Medora;1;4;1;18
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