Brownstown Central’s girls basketball coach noted his team needs to take care of the basics when it plays in the Class 3A Edgewood Sectional this week.
The Braves (16-6) will open defense of their sectional title against Owen Valley (6-12) at 6 p.m. Wednesday. The tournament opens tonight with West Vigo playing Brown County.
“The key for the Lady Braves will be controlling the things we can control, making sure we play with energy and effort, defending in the half-court, rebounding and taking care of the basketball on the offensive end,” Braves coach Brandon Allman said.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]
Owen Valley (6-12) had its last two games called off because of the coronavirus and hasn’t played since Jan. 15. The only common opponent the teams have is Edgewood. The Braves edged the Mustangs 37-36 in a tournament at Trinity Lutheran on Dec. 28, and Edgewood beat Owen Valley 40-21 in a conference game Jan. 15.
Owne Valley was 2-7 in the Western Indiana Conference.
“In this unusual, crazy season, it is hard to base teams off records at times because you don’t know who they might have been missing or if they were at full strength,” Allman said. “By what I’ve seen on film, Owen Valley’s 6-12 record doesn’t show how good they are.
“Honestly, I look at it like any other game. I will watch film and prepare the girls the same as I do for every opponent. Playing at Edgewood will be unique. It is a venue the girls have never played in. It has an interesting backdrop behind one of the goals with a huge mustang mural painted on the wall. Hopefully, the girls will get accustomed to that during warmups.”
Katherine Benter leads the Braves in scoring with an average of 20.6 points a game, and Maddy Hackman is next on the list at 10.9 per game.
Reagan Martin tops the Patriots in scoring at 13.9 points per game, and Mikayla Miller averages 12.4 PPG.
“They have a very nice combination of post players and perimeter players. They are led by senior point guard Mikayla Miller,” Allman said. “She is really solid handling the ball and can score in bunches. A really nice complement to her is post player Reagan Martin. She can play both inside and outside.
“They also have a couple of other girls who can put some points on the board. Coach (Trace) Temples does a really nice job and runs a lot of nice sets to put his girls in great scoring opportunities.”
Allman said the first period will be important.
“It is imperative for us to get off to a good start on Wednesday,” he said. “We need to come out mentally ready to battle and value every possession. Momentum is key in the game of basketball, and we don’t want Owen Valley to get off to a hot start.”
The winner of the Brownstown-Owen Valley game will face the winner of Northview (11-5) and Edgewood (14-6) in the second game Friday.
“I definitely think our sectional is very balanced,” Allman said. “You have four teams with six or fewer losses. There is not a clear favorite. It is wide open. One of the difficult things for us is that we didn’t get to see any of the sectional teams play outside of Edgewood.
“We will approach the sectional just like any other game. We won’t do anything differently. We will try to win every four-minute segment and have fun and enjoy the moment.”
Brownstown Central probable starters
(Player, year, scoring averages)
Katherine Benter, Sr. (20.6)
Avery Koch, Sr. (6.1)
Emma Klinge, Jr. (5.1)
Maddy Hackman, So. (10.9)
Kalee Borden, So. (4.1)
Edgewood Sectional
Tuesday
7 p.m. — West Vigo (7-10) vs. Brown County (7-6)
Wednesday
6 p.m. — Brownstown Central (16-6) vs. Owen Valley (6-12)
7:45 p.m. — Northview (11-5) vs. Edgewood (14-6)
Friday
6 p.m. — South Vermillion (4-16) vs. Tuesday winner
7:45 p.m. — Wednesday winners
Saturday
7:30 p.m. — Championship