Brownstown’s Jack Benter throws a pass to Aidan Schroer during the North Daviess Tournament championship game Dec. 30, 2021.
Greg Jones | For The Tribune
Brownstown’ Parker Hehman gets a 3-pointer off during the North Daviess Tournament championship game Dec. 30, 2021.
Greg Jones | For The Tribune
Brownstown’s Carter Waskom gets a shot off under the basket during the North Daviess Tournament championship game Dec. 30, 2021.
Greg Jones | For The Tribune
Brownstown’s Adam Stahl and Levi Stahl go up for the rebound during the North Daviess Tournament championship game Dec. 30, 2021.
Greg Jones | For The Tribune
NORTH DAVIESS — Two undefeated teams went at it Thursday night to decide the winner of the Bobcat of Daviess County Classic.
Brownstown (8-0) and Fort Wayne Blackhawk (8-0) each won two games — one each on Tuesday and Wednesday — to reach the championship game in North Daviess High School.
Both schools share the Braves mascot, and it was the Braves of Fort Wayne Blackhawk who came away with a 77-61 victory to win the tournament.
FW Blackhawk got off to the good start. They took a 9-0 lead on Brownstown before Jack Benter got into the lane and scored, putting Brownstown on the board at the 4:40 mark in the first quarter.
FW Blackhawk quickly hit a three after that to take a 10-point lead, and things were looking bleak for Brownstown.
But a basket by Aidan Schroer and an and-one converted by Benter clawed Brownstown to within 19-9 at the end of the first quarter.
The Braves of Brownstown were the aggressor to begin the second quarter. They scored the first six points and were within four before FW Blackhawk continued its hot 3-point shooting to go back up by as many as 12.
Four-straight points from Carter Waskom brought Brownstown’s deficit to single digits at eight, but yet another 3-pointer from FW Blackhawk put the lead at 33-22 heading into halftime.
An and-one from Carson Darlage started the third quarter for Brownstown, and the deficit was back within single digits at eight.
Benter nailed one of his patent deep 3-pointers, and Brownstown got a steal and Waskom got to the line and made a pair of free throws to bring Brownstown within five points just three minutes into the third quarter.
But Brownstown’s zone defense remained susceptible to corner threes and FW Blackhawk kept taking advantage of it. They hit a couple more 3-pointers, and just like that, Brownstown was down 14 just two-and-a-half minutes after cutting it to five.
FW Blackhawk got it up to as many as 16 points, but Brownstown refused to go away.
A 3-pointer by Parker Hehman, a couple more baskets from Benter and a breakaway layup for Darlage brought Brownstown to within 10 points, 51-41, heading into the fourth quarter.
Hehman drilled a three to start the fourth quarter and Brownstown was within seven, but Lewis Jones hit yet another corner 3-pointer to answer right back and put FW Blackhawk back up 10.
That was the theme of the game. Every run Brownstown made, FW Blackhawk had the answer. It was the hole Brownstown dug itself in early on that had it playing catch up for the rest of the game.
Brownstown had a 3-point entourage in the final minutes, but had to play the foul game to try to keep pace, and FW Blackhawk made enough free throws to secure the 15-point victory.
Benter led Brownstown on the night with 22 points. Waskom scored 14, Hehman had nine, Darlage eight, Schroer six and Bryce Neal added in two points.
After the three days spent at North Daviess High School, Brownstown went 2-1 with wins over Rock Creek Academy (58-42) and Loogootee (69-64) before losing to FW Blackhawk.
It was Brownstown’s first loss of the season, putting the Braves at 8-1 overall. They will return to action on Jan. 7 at Jennings County.