GREENCASTLE
You’ll have to excuse the Brownstown Central girls basketball team if they feel a little disrespected.
The now 26-3 Braves have heard it all. They’re too short, they’re not athletic enough, they can’t win conference and those things are just the tip of the iceberg.
On Saturday night, the Braves continued to prove their doubters wrong with a convincing 54-42 win over 10th-ranked Heritage Christian to move into semistate for the first time since 2011.
“I told them before the game that [Heritage Christian] has the athleticism, the height and all of that, but we’re more disciplined and we’re going to win this game through execution,” Brownstown Central coach Brandon Allman said. “[Execution is] how we won this basketball game.”
Allman was once again pleased with the rebounding effort of his girls, who outworked a team much taller than them.
“We’ve got 5-foot-10-inches, 5-9, 5-7, 5-6 and 5-3, and to do the job we did on the backboard was just all effort,” he continued. “Our girls bought in and knew the gameplan, and executed it to a T.”
The Braves outrebounded Heritage Christian 25-19.
Preaching the underdog message was part of Allman’s pre-game speech according to junior Katherine Benter, who led the Braves with 22 points.
Not being expected to win has been what’s fueled the Braves to this point. They weren’t expected to compete for a Mid-Southern Conference title — they won it — and they weren’t expected to cut down the nets at Greencastle High School as regional champions.
They did that too.
“We’re always the underdogs anymore,” Benter said. “If you look at the rankings, Heritage Christian was ranked above us and the big thing we stressed was you’ve got to believe to achieve.”
Benter and company certainly believed in the defensive gameplan.
Against a run-and-gun Eagles team, the Braves sat down in a 2-3 zone and kept their opponents out of the lane. Much like they did in their regional semifinal game against Cardinal Ritter — a game they won 54-40 — they did their best to force the Eagles into a jump-shooting team and didn’t give up much in the painted area.
Allman explained that with his team being without their fastest player, Zoe Fountain, the 2-3 zone was going to be their best bet of keeping the Eagles out of the lane.
“We had seen on film that they had struggled against a 2-3 and we had to keep them out of the lane,” he said. “We couldn’t match up and keep them out of [driving] lanes, so that was the best bet to keep them out of the lane.”
Without Fountain, who competed in the “Distinguished Young Woman” competition last week, more of the onus fell to the starting five on Saturday.
Benter, Emma Klinge, Ashley Schroer, Halle Hehman and Maddy Hackman all played more than they’ve been used to of late against two energetic sides.
Tired legs started to become a factor as the third quarter came to a close with the Eagles starting to gain some traction.
That momentum carried over into the fourth quarter where they cut the Brave lead to single digits for the first time since the opening quarter.
Yet, the Braves were able to persevere thanks to what Allman said was just being strong with the basketball.
Hackman said she and the Braves were able to hang on because they trusted each other.
“It was a little tense, but you just have to trust your teammates are going to be there for you and you’ve got to remain cool,” she said. “You’ve got to remember all the hours you put in and this is what it’s for, and you’re not going to blow it here.”
The Brave freshman netted 13 points against the Eagles and drilled back-to-back 3-pointers to start the second half giving the Braves their largest lead of the game at 17 points.
Schroer also scored double figures for the Braves with 15 to continue her excellent play this postseason.
Hehman nailed a 3-pointer and Avery Koch knocked down a free throw to round out the BC scoring.
The Braves now turn their attention to top-ranked Salem this Saturday for a spot in the state final. Just like everything else this season, the Braves weren’t expected to beat the Lions earlier this year, but did so 54-50 at SHS.
They’ll tip off at 1 p.m. at Jeffersonville High School.
Find more pictures in Monday’s Tribune and later on tribtown.com