BROWNSTOWN
Dave Benter said reaching 400 wins at Brownstown Central means “I’m getting old and I’ve had a lot of good players.”
Benter coached his 400th win as head of the Braves program Tuesday night when his team defeated Clarksville 61-44 in a Mid-Southern Conference game.
Benter is 400-152 in his 23rd season as leader of the Braves.
“It’s all about the players,” Benter said. “It doesn’t matter how good of a coach you are, you have to have the players who want to work on their game, and if they don’t you’re not going to win games.”
This game did not start out well for the Braves. They were tied at 10-all after the first period and led 21-19 at the half.
“We struggled again in the first half, and again we opened things up in the second half,” Benter said.
Jack Benter, who was held to one field goal and 4 points in the first half, hit back-to-back 3s in the first 1:50 of the third quarter to give the Braves a 27-19 lead.
“That opened things up and they had trouble guarding Carter Waskom,” coach Benter said. “They came out and played a box-and-one and we had practiced against that. We were tentative in the first half.
“In the third quarter we had a better pace on offense. In the first half we were trying to score after one pass. We had better pace and were more aggressive on offense.”
The Braves (11-6, 6-2 MSC) outscored the Generals 21-13 in the third period with Waskom hitting 4 baskets for 8 points, and he topped his team with 17 for the game. Jack Benter added 16.
A layup by Waskom gave the Braves a 41-28 lead with 1:30 left in the third period and they held a 41-32 lead entering the fourth period.
Another layup by Parker Hehman pushed BC’s lead to 49-35 with 5:35 remaining.
Coach Benter was pleased with the Braves’ rebounding (30-14) with Waskom collecting 8, Benter 7 and Hehman 5.
Benter said his team needs to get off to a better start offensively.
“You can’t score 21 points in a half and expect to beat good teams,” he said. “We shot the ball better in the second half.”
The Braves were 6-for-19 in the first half and 13-for-20 in the second half.
“We’re 12 quarters out of quarantine now, and the last two we’ve played a lot better.”
Brownstown was sidelined for two weeks because of the coronavirus protocols.
Dakota Capps was high scorer for the Generals (9-11, 5-4 MSC) with 21 points.
Coach Benter said accumulating 400 wins is a nice milestone.
“It’s a testament to the quality of players we’ve had and that I’ve been able to coach here in 23 years. Parents’ support is crucial.”
The Braves will host Orleans Friday for Senior Night and will close their MSC schedule at home Saturday night against Charlestown.