BROWNSTOWN — The Brownstown Central boys basketball team rained in 11 3-pointers on Tuesday night to defeat Floyd Central inside The Pit 70-47.
It was a low-scoring first quarter for both teams as the Braves held a 11-7 advantage after one. Floyd’s Caleb Washington had five of the team’s points, while Jack Benter, Colby Hall, Chace Coomer and Jakob Arthur all got in the scoresheet for the Braves.
The second quarter took a few minutes to get the scoring going, but Parker Hehman knocked in two 3-pointers to help the Braves extend their lead.
Hehman had six at the half, and Benter led the team with nine points as Brownstown led 25-16 at halftime.
Just like the Braves did last Friday at Bedford North Lawrence, they went to their 1-3-1 zone defense to try to stifle the Highlanders, and it worked.
“Well, we are long, and we made a couple adjustments to that,” head coach Dave Benter said. “Our guys have done a nice job the last couple weeks.”
Hehman opened the third quarter with another 3-pointer to put Brownstown up double digits for the first time on the night.
Then his backcourt counterpart started to heat up. Benter nailed two 3-pointers, knocked down a few midrange shots and made all of his free throws to score 14 points in the quarter.
He had 23 at the end of three as the Braves led FC 49-34.
“It just looks so different when the ball goes through the hoop in the third quarter,” coach Benter said. “I’m not sure we played that much better. We just made shots. We were able to get some separation.”
The Braves continued to run away on the scoreboard in the final quarter.
Benter finished the game with 27 points, Hehman scored 12, Micah Sheffer had eight, Arthur six, Coomer six, Hall five, Adam Stahl four and Carson Darlage two.
“I thought Micah Sheffer and Jakob Arthur both played really well off the bench,” Benter said.
Before the game, Stahl dunked the basketball in warmups and it shattered the backboard, which is now the second time that has occurred this season. The first was when Jack Benter dunked in a game against Silver Creek.
Luckily, Brownstown was able to get a new backboard up in time for the varsity game and the Braves got the game in. Everyone in the gym held their breath when Floyd’s Caleb Washington went up for a dunk in the second half, but the new backboard held up just fine.
Benter credits the staff for getting it game ready on such short notice.
“They had experienced changing one, and we felt we could get it ready for the varsity game,” Benter said. “They did a great job. Thanks to everybody that helped with that.”
The Braves will have their final Mid-Southern Conference game at home this Friday against Eastern (Pekin).
Brownstown has already clinched the MSC outright, which was one of their goals this season, but the Braves still aspire to go an undefeated 8-0 in MSC play. Plus, Pekin is a potential sectional opponent, so Brownstown wants to play with a purpose on Friday.
“It’s a sectional opponent, and they’ve got a 6-10 guy inside that we have to deal with,” Benter said. “They surround him with good shooters, and they’ve had a real nice season. We need to come out and be focused right from the start.”
Box score
At Brownstown
Braves 70, Highlanders 47
Floyd Central;7;9;18;13;—;47
Brownstown Central;11;14;24;21;—;70
Floyd (6-14): Caleb Washington 5 2-3 15, Tevi Ali 5 0-0 11, Brock Conrad 1 2-2 4, Bryce Schmidt 2 0-1 4, Sam Higgins 1 0-0 2, Nathan Rushing 1 0-0 2, Isaac Kaiser 1 0-0 2, Jackson Streander 1 0-0 2, Totals 17 4-6 47.
Brownstown (16-4): Jack Benter 10 5-6 27, Parker Hehman 4 0-0 12, Micah Sheffer 3 0-0 8, Jakob Arthur 2 1-1 6, Chace Coomer 2 0-0 6, Colby Hall 1 3-4 5, Adam Stahl 2 0-0 4, Carson Darlage 1 0-0 2, Totals 24 9-13 70.
3-point goals: BC 11 (Hehman 4, Benter 2, Sheffer 2, Coomer 2, Arthur), FC 2 (Ali, Washington).
Rebounds: BC 22, FC 18,
Fouls: BC 13, FC 15.