Seymour and Brownstown Central boys basketball will both be heading into Friday’s game with unblemished records, granted it has been a very small sample size so far.

But the Owls (2-0) are coming off of a win last Saturday at Columbus North in an environment they haven’t won in since 2009.

Head coach Kirk Manns said it was a big win not just for his team this season but for the program in general.

“It certainly is a confidence builder and something to build on,” Manns said. “Obviously need to focus on getting better every single day.”

Seymour’s first win came against Corydon Central, and Manns saw stark contrasts between Seymour’s first and second games.

In the opener, Manns felt Seymour’s execution wasn’t great on either side of the ball.

“One of the best things is our guys are coachable and want to get better,” he said. “We made strides between games one and two, and hopefully, we’ll be able to make those strides again between games two and three.”

That third game comes at home this Friday when Seymour welcomes in cross-county rival Brownstown Central.

The Braves opened up their season Tuesday when they defeated Salem 72-40.

Brownstown had the size advantage against Salem, crashing the glass, forcing turnovers with their length and getting out in transition to get easy baskets.

Head coach Dave Benter said he wasn’t pleased with what he saw when Brownstown scrimmaged prior to the season opener, but his team came out and played a lot better in certain areas to begin the season 1-0.

Marcus Brooks of Seymour is averaging 18 points per game through two games to lead the Owls, and Brownstown’s Carter Waskom and Jack Benter also are averaging 18 after their one-game outing.

“They’re still fairly young, but they’ve got a lot of experience,” Manns said of Brownstown. “Jack Benter is a very good basketball player. He can do a lot of different things. There’s a great supporting cast around him that can do a lot of things well. They can shoot the ball, and they appear to play well together after watching (Tuesday’s) game against Salem.”

As for Benter’s thoughts on Seymour, he thinks this is the best Owls team they’ve had in the last 15 years.

“They’re extremely physical. They’re going to defend us extremely well,” Benter said. “It’s not going to be a high-possession game like it was (Tuesday). They’re going to be willing to take 30 to 45 seconds off the clock to get a good shot. We’ve got to be more disciplined defensively than we were (Tuesday) in the half-court. We have to guard for longer possessions.”

Benter doesn’t want his team to get too caught up in trying to score quickly and force things that aren’t there against the Owls.

“We can’t get caught up in trying to score really quick on them if it’s not there,” he said. “We’ve got to be able to grind out one possession, but we’ve got to keep doing what we can do and moving the basketball and not get away from that.”

Manns saw the Braves play Tuesday night, and keeping them off of the boards and getting out to their shooters will be a big key for Seymour.

“They’re a team that can shoot the ball,” Manns said. “We’re going to have to guard them effectively and make things difficult for them to start with. They’ve got size. We’ve got to be able to rebound the basketball and hopefully limit them to one shot.”

This has historically been a tight series between the two schools.

Over the last 35 years, Brownstown has a slight 21-20 advantage. The Braves won this game last season 58-52.

The game will be held at Seymour this Friday at approximately 7:30 p.m. with JV tipping off before that at 6 p.m.

Like any time these two schools face off in a sport, there’s always an electric atmosphere. To the coaches, it’s the next game up on the schedule and a chance to improve early in the season. They’re aware of the added emotion from the community, but once the ball is in the air for tipoff, it’s about playing basketball.

“The environment is good, and there’s always emotions that come with a rivalry game,” Manns said, “but those emotions don’t last long. It comes down to being able to execute. That emotion will subside very quickly, and it’ll turn into a basketball game.”