BROWNSTOWN

Coach David Benter listed the keys for his Brownstown Central team to upset Silver Creek on Friday night.

“We can’t have live turnovers, we’ve got to be able to rebound, and we’ve got to get back in transition, and we’ve got to score the basketball,” he said.

The Braves opened the game strong by taking a 12-5 lead after four minutes of play, but then they went away from their game plan and fell to the Class 3A No. 3-ranked Dragons 61-40 in a Mid-Southern Conference game.

Jack Benter opened the scoring for the Braves by executing a three-point play, and a 3-point basket by Carson Darlage helped the Braves build that lead.

The Braves then got themselves in trouble by taking quick shots, and the Dragons moved on top 18-12 at the end of the first period. It was 33-18 Silver Creek at the half.

When the Dragons outscored the Braves 15-6 in the second quarter, the Braves shot only 2-for-9 from the floor and committed five turnovers, while the Dragons shot 6-for-8 and had two turnovers.

The Dragons feature three players who are Division I prospects and average 20 or more points per game, while the team averages 80.8 points per game.

Kooper Jacobi, a University of Toledo signee, topped the Dragons with 20 points, junior Brandon Northern scored 17 and Purdue recruit Trey Kaufman was limited to seven points, although he had 13 rebounds to help the Dragons to a 34-22 advantage in that department.

“They are such a good offensive rebounding team,” coach Benter said. “Somehow, we’ve got to keep them off the offensive boards.”

Any hopes the Braves had of gaining momentum at the start of the second half disappeared when Jacobi executed a dunk, the first of three the Dragons had on this night.

The Braves finished with 13 turnovers, compared to 10 for the Dragons.

Brownstown had trouble shooting the ball against the taller Dragons and their man-to-man defense, finishing 15-for-47, while the Dragons went 23-for-50.

The Braves, 2-2 in the MSC, finished with four 3-pointers and the Dragons made six.

Benter said he was proud of the effort, mentioning the Braves played hard to the final buzzer, outscoring the visitors 17-15 in the fourth period.

Silver Creek is 9-2 overall and 4-1 in the MSC.

“They’ve got two players that are 6-7 (Jacobi) and 6-9 (Kaufman),” Benter said. “Any time you’ve got that and a point guard that is a college player and you put shooters around them who know their roles and can shoot, they present some really tough matchups.”

He said the Braves had to keep the ball out of the paint.

“I think it all starts with us getting back in transition,” he said. “They are such a good transition team.”

Carter Waskom was high scorer for the Braves with 12 points, and Jack Benter finished with eight.

Darlage and Aidan Schroer were high rebounders for the Braves with five each.

The Braves (6-4) will host Trinity Lutheran tonight with the JV game set to start at 6 p.m.

At Brownstown

Silver Creek 61, Brownstown Central 40

Silver Creek;18;15;13;15;—;61

Brownstown Central;12;6;5;17;—;40

Brownstown Central (6-4, 2-2 MSC): Carter Waskom 5 2-2 12, Jack Benter 2 3-3 8, Parker Hehman 0 0-0 0, Carson Darlage 2 0-0 5, Aidan Schroer 2 1-2 5, Brandon Reynolds 1 0-0 2, Sam Schepman 1 0-0 3, Levi Stahl 2 0-0 5, Nathan Koch 0 0-0 0. Totals: 15 6-7 40.

Silver Creek (9-2, 4-1): Kooper Jacobi 8 3-3 20, Isaac Hinton 3 0-0 8, Trey Kaufman 2 3-6 7, Branden Northern 6 3-4 17, Nolan Gilbert 3 0-0 6, Hayden Garter 1 0-0 3. Totals: 23 9-13 61.

3-point goals: BC (Benter, Darlage, Stahl, Schepman), SC (Hinton 2, Northern 2, Jacobi, Garter)

Rebounds: BC 22 (Darlage 5, Schroer 5), SC 34 (Kaufman 13)

Turnovers: BC 13, SC 10

Fouls: BC 12, SC 11

Junior varsity

Brownstown Central 34, Silver Creek 32