BROWNSTOWN
Friday night’s basketball game against Scottsburg was especially meaningful for Brownstown Central seniors Katherine Benter and Avery Koch.
It was senior night and Benter and Koch and their teammates responded with a 44-41 win that kept the Braves unbeaten in the Mid-Southern Conference at 2-0.
Prior to tipoff, Koch and Benter said they wanted to have positive memories of the game, and the Braves broke a 25-25 tie late in the third period and stayed on top the rest of the way.
Benter, who topped all players with 22 points said, “Senior night means a lot because of all the years of basketball here, and it means a lot that we finally get to celebrate given the circumstances.
“It means a lot that we’ve made it this far and that we get to play a game tonight. We’ve got to take it night-by-night and appreciate every game we get in.”
Benter’s concern about playing referred to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that has disrupted so many sporting events around the country.
Koch also recognized it was a special night.
“It means a lot to me that we get recognized for all of our hard work we’ve put in the past four years, and that the crowd gets to recognize us,” she said. “It’s been a lot of fun being part of the program. It’s been a great experience, and I’ve learned a lot from it.”
The Braves held a 32-27 lead early in the fourth period before Benter made a layup and Kalee Borden made a free throw to extend the margin to 35-27.
After Scottsburg’s Zoe Zellers drove for a layup, Benter made another layup and Maddy Hackman made her third 3-pointer of the game to give the home team its biggest lead of the night, 11 points at 40-29. However, Scottsburg’s Carrie Miller then put the Braves’ victory celebration on hold by scoring eight straight points in a little over two minutes to cut the margin to 40-37.
Benter sealed the win with four free throws in the final 31 seconds.
Braves head coach Brandon Allman is under quarantine for two weeks because of COVID-19, so assistant coach Luke Warren ran the team.
Warren said the 4-1 Braves beat a good team.
“In the MSC it’s a bloodbath every night,” he said. “There’s no easy games, no pushovers. A lot of people don’t understand how good this conference i, and how many state championships and state runner-ups this conference has had. I couldn’t be more proud of our girls.”
The Braves held an 8-7 lead at the end for the first period and were on top 16-15 at halftime. Both teams shot 6-for-25 from the floor in the first half.
“Defensively, we were great,” Warren said. “In the second half we got going a little bit. Maddy stepped up and hit some shots. Katherine is Katherine. She’s a walking a double-double.”
Benter had 11 rebounds to help the Braves to a 27-24 advantage on the boards.
“I told them coming into the game that rebounding was going to be a big key, and we out rebounded them and I couldn’t be happier for our girls,” Warren said”
The Braves outscored the visitors 16-10 in the third period. Hackman had a pair of 3-pointers, and was fouled on a 3-point attempt and made all three free throws. She had 14 for the game.
Warren said Scottsburg’s Allison McGlothlin hurt his team by scoring 14 points and getting 7 rebounds, while Zellers scored 12 and had 9 rebounds.
The Braves (4-1) will travel to Seymour next Thursday night.
Scottsburg;7;8;10;16;-41
Brownstown;8;8;16;12;-44
Brownstown (4-1) Katherine Benter 7 6-9 22, Kelsey Wischmeier 1 0-0 2, Maddy Hackman 4 3-3 14, Hannah Stahl 0 0-0 0, Emma Klinge 1 0-0 2, Kalee Borden 0 2-4 2, Avery Koch 1 0-0 2. Totals 13 11-20 44
Scottsburg (3-2) — Zoe Zellers 5 2-4 12, Kady Clancy 2 0-0 5, Allison McGlochlin 6 2-2 14, Hannah Stutzman 1 0-0 2, Carrie Miller 3 0-0 8. Totals 17 4-6 41
3-point goals: Brownstown (Hackman 3, Benter 2), Scottsburg (Clancy, Miller 2)
Rebounds: Brownstown 27 (Benter 11, Borden 8), Scottsburg 24 (Zellers 9).
Turnovers: Brownstown 12. Scottsburg 9 Fouls: Brownstown 13, Scottsburg 12
Junior varsity
Scottsburg 29, Brownstown 15
Brownstown (2-2) — Madison Stuckwisch 5, Kelsey Schneider 3, Addie Shelton 3, Peyton Brock 2, Adelynn Anderson 2
.