BROWNSTOWN — The Brownstown Central boys basketball team poses a lot of issues for opponents on the hardwood every night.

It was an issue Seymour faced on Friday night in front of a sold-out Pit. Do you double junior star Jack Benter or guard him straight up?

Head coach Dave Benter has surrounded his son, Jack, with four capable shooters this season, so it’s a dilemma every time on how to guard Brownstown.

During Friday’s rivalry game, Benter scored a season-high 36 points to lead the Braves to a 64-52 victory over their rival.

Benter only made two 3-pointers on the night, doing most of his damage in the paint and at the free throw line.

“To be honest, he hasn’t shot the ball real well through any of our three games yet,” Dave said of Jack. “He changed his body in the offseason to his credit. He’s gotten more athletic. He’s moving better. The other thing is we can surround him with more shooting. That gives the other team a little more tougher decisions. Are they going to double Jack or guard him one-on-one? But he has really worked on his body, and that’s obviously shown with the way he’s able to drive and finish through contact.”

With the attention Benter draws, the Braves were able to hit seven more 3-pointers spread across five different players.

“When you play against a good player like him, you have to hope he’s not at his best,” Seymour head coach Kirk Manns said. “Tonight, he was at his best.”

The environment inside The Pit was also at its best on Friday night. The game was sold out by Thursday, and there wasn’t a sliver of Brownstown’s bleachers that weren’t filled.

The student sections from each school were into it right from the start, and rightfully so.

The Owls and Braves both provided highlight blocks to begin the game. First, it was Jakob Arthur rejecting a shot into the stands for Brownstown, and then Eli Meyer returned the favor on the other end.

Landon Fritsch opened the scoring for Seymour, then Arthur answered with a 3-pointer. Benter got his first bucket to go after a strong drive to the rim to make it 5-2, and Manns called a quick timeout.

With a 9-8 lead, the Braves closed the first quarter on a 7-0 run. Benter hit two free throws, then he hit a floater and then Pierson Wheeler drilled a 3-pointer to make it 16-8.

Early in the second quarter, Benter got a steal and slam to make it 21-12. He scored half of the Braves’ points in the first half, scoring 16 of the 32.

Fritsch and Jaylan Johnson each scored eight for Seymour as the Owls trailed 32-24 at the break.

Brownstown opened the third quarter on a 5-0 run and forced Manns to call a timeout.

“That’s the third game in a row where we were slow starting in the third quarter,” Manns said. “I don’t have an answer for that right now, but we’ve got to find one. It has cost us dearly in all three contests so far.”

Then Benter hit his first 3-pointer of the game, a contested shot from the corner with Johnson all over him. The next possession, Benter hit another contested step-back 3-pointer, this time with Charlie Longmeier playing defense, but it didn’t matter. Those triples put the Braves up 43-26.

“We went on two big runs to get us some separation, one in the first half and one in the second half,” Dave Benter said. “Give Seymour credit. They did not go away. They fought back and were giving us all we could handle late.”

Bret Perry hit Seymour’s first three of the game in the third quarter, and Ethan Silcox hit one shortly after. With 0.5 seconds on the clock, Meyer was able to catch an inbounds pass and get a shot off in midair to beat the buzzer and bring the Owls within 12 at the end of the third quarter.

A runner in the lane from Silcox brought Seymour to within 10 with 2:43 to play, but that would be the closest Seymour could get as Brownstown hit enough free throws to keep the Owls at arms length.

In addition to Benter’s 36 points, Arthur scored in double digits with 11 points.

Fritsch led Seymour in scoring with 17 points. Meyer contributed 11 for the Owls.

“We had a tough time guarding Fritsch. He hit some tough shots throughout the night,” coach Benter said.

Manns liked what he saw from his leading scorer, as well.

“I thought Landon moved well without the ball, he was engaged, he was creating contact and trying to get to the rim more,” he said. “He’s becoming a more complete offensive player. And on the defensive end, I thought he played hard, too.”

The Braves (3-0) will be competing in the Body Armor Classic at Charlestown High School tonight, playing at 6 p.m. against Withrow, a team from Cincinnati.

Benter has liked what he has seen from his team so far through three games.

“Our culture and chemistry has been great,” he said. “We’ve just got to continue to learn. We’re still young. We have to keep getting better. Our guys have to understand how hard you have to work night in and night out to play your best basketball.”

As for Seymour (0-3), the Owls will look for their first win as they host Franklin tonight in the Lloyd E. Scott Gymnasium.

Manns couldn’t fault his team’s effort on Friday, and he hopes that hard work will end in a positive result.

“We had a lot of guys play hard tonight,” he said. “I’ve got to give credit right down the list. They played with good effort. We just didn’t play with good enough purpose. There were too many times where we lost our focus. Against a good team and a good player, you can’t do that.”

Box score

At Brownstown Central

Braves 64, Owls 52

Seymour (0-3);8;16;14;14;—;52

Brownstown Central (3-0);16;16;18;14;—;64

Seymour: Landon Fritsch 8 0-1 17, Eli Meyer 5 1-2 11, Jaylan Johnson 4 0-0 8, Bret Perry 3 0-0 7, Ethan Silcox 3 0-0 7, Charlie Longmeier 0 2-4 2, Cory Robinson 0 0-0 0, Josh Rennekamp 0 0-0 0, Brady Harpe 0 0-0 0, Totals 23 3-7 52.

Brownstown Central: Jack Benter 12 10-14 36, Jakob Arthur 4 0-0 11, Colby Hall 2 0-0 5, Parker Hehman 1 1-2 4, Pierson Wheeler 1 0-0 3, Chase Coomer 1 0-1 3, Carson Darlage 1 0-2 2, Adam Stahl 0 0-0 0, Micah Sheffer 0 0-0 0, Caiden Gwin 0 0-0 0, Totals 22 11-19 64.

3-point goals: S 3 (Fritsch, Perry, Silcox), BC 9 (Arthur 3, Benter 2, Hehman, Hall, Coomer, Wheeler).

Rebounds: S 28 (Meyer 8), BC 29 (Coomer 6).

Turnovers: S 11, BC 14.

Fouls: S 18, BC 10.

Junior varsity

Seymour 40, Brownstown Central 31

Seymour scoring (2-1): Brady Harpe 10, Parker Thompson 10, AJ Harrell 9, Michael Brooks 4, Dylan Thompson 4, Seth Montgomery 2, Ross Pumphrey 1.

Brownstown Central (1-2): Pierson Wheeler 10, Micah Sheffer 9, Carter Covert 4, Lane Pendleton 4, Gregory Hutcheson 2, Owen Wischmeier 2.