BROWNSTOWN — Brownstown Central’s girls basketball team constructed a 10-0 run during a four-minute stretch of the fourth quarter, then held on to defeat Seymour 40-35 in a spirited intra-county rivalry game Thursday night.

The two teams struggled, sometimes mightily, from the field but nevertheless engaged in a tension-filled contest. The game featured four ties and 10 lead changes until BC’s Mallory Klosterman swished a 3-pointer from the baseline to give her team a 30-27 lead with six minutes left in the fourth quarter.

BC head coach Brandon Allman quickly called a timeout and instructed his team to spread out, slow the game down and force Seymour to defend in space.

“We were still looking to score. We were just looking for the right matchups to give us the best chance,” Allman said. “I wanted us to go downhill, to get into the lane and either score or get to the foul line.”

The strategy worked. The Braves (6-0) got three free throws from Sophie Wischmeier and a follow by Addison Darlage on a Wischmeier miss to push their lead to 35-27 with 2:10 to go.

“We were trying to get some traps out of that,” Seymour head coach Jason Longmeier said of Brownstown’s adjustment.

“We just weren’t aggressive enough. I don’t know if by that point we had run out of gas, but we didn’t do what we needed to get the ball out of their hands,” he said. “In the end, we didn’t lose because of defense. When you give up 40 points in a rivalry game, you ought to be able to score at least 11 points per quarter.”

Both teams were cold-handed for most of the first three quarters. The Braves connected on just six of their first 26 shots (23%), while the Owls (5-3) made only six of their first 21 shots (28%).

“We’re better shooters than that,” Longmeier said. “We didn’t catch the ball on the perimeter with our feet set and ready to shoot. We never really attacked their zone. When we did get the ball inside, they collapsed, and we didn’t make the proper plays.”

Down 19-15 midway through the third quarter, Seymour had its best offensive stretch of the game. Kendall Sterling drained a long 3-pointer and then assisted Claire Marshall on a layup to give the Owls a 20-19 lead.

A 3-pointer by Sophie Skidmore and consecutive Journee Brown layups on nice high-low passes from Marshall gave Seymour a 27-25 lead one minute into the fourth period.

Brownstown fought back with an and-one three-point play by Jenna Klosterman, who then followed with a driving layup to tie the game at 27.

Klosterman led BC with 13 points and drew her coach’s praise after the game.

“I hope this is her coming-out party,” Allman said. “She put us on her back and made some big plays.”

Brownstown sank six of its first eight free throws in the fourth quarter to build a 38-32 lead but made just two of six foul shots down the stretch.

That allowed Seymour to cut the lead to three after back-to-back 3s by Kenzie Gagner.

“I told our players if you make those free throws, we don’t have to worry as much at the end of the ballgame and I don’t have a few more gray hairs,” Allman said. “Knocking down free throws in this environment is not easy. Seymour had a great student section tonight, and they were hassling our players. But I’m proud of our girls. They stepped up and made some big ones when we needed them.”

The Owls’ final run at the Braves was undone when a layup by Sterling with 14 seconds remaining was nullified by a charging call.

Seymour was whistled 19 times during the contest, leading to 29 Brownstown free throws. The Owls, meanwhile, only visited the foul line four times throughout the game while BC was called for seven fouls.

“That’s a big discrepancy,” Longmeier said. “When that happens, it’s frustrating. But we still had opportunities to win the game.”

Sterling led Seymour with a game-high 14 points. Gagner followed with eight.

With Thursday’s loss, Seymour slipped to 5-3 on the season. Brownstown improved to 6-0.

“I have the utmost respect for Seymour. They’ve been a really good program the last 10 years, so any time we can get a win against them, it feels good,” Allman said.

High School Basketball

Brownstown Central 40, Seymour 35

Seymour;5;10;10;10;—;35

Brownstown Central;8;5;9;18;—;40

Seymour (5-3): Kendall Sterling 5 2-2 14, Kenzie Gagner 3 0-0 8, Sophie Skidmore 2 0-0 6, Journee Brown 2 1-2 5, Claire Marshall 1 0-0 2, Emmy Munson 0 0-0 0, Jaidyn Nichols 0 0-0 0, Totals 13 3-4 35.

Brownstown Central (6-0): Jenna Klosterman 4 5-5 13, Mallory Klosterman 2 1-2 7, Kelsey Schneider 0 5-6 5, Harley Toppe 2 1-4 5, Addison Darlage 2 1-2 5, Sophie Wischmeier 0 4-8 4, Kinzee Dean 0 1-2 1, Hailey Hobson 0 0-0 0, Jada Miller 0 0-0 0, Totals 10 18-29 40.

3-point goals: Seymour 6 (Sterling 2, Skidmore 2, Gagner 2), Brownstown Central 2 (M. Klosterman 2).

Rebounds: Seymour 27 (Brown 8, Munson 4, Skidmore 3, Sterling 3, Marshall 3, Nichols 2, Team 4), Brownstown Central 26 (Toppe 5, Wischmeier 5, J. Klosterman 4, Dean 4, Darlage 4, Hobson 3, Miller 1).

Turnovers: Seymour 11, Brownstown Central 5.

Fouls: Seymour 19, Brownstown Central 7.

Junior varsity

Seymour 29, Brownstown Central 25

Seymour (7-1): Emmy Followell 9, Kelsea Hunsley 7, Kennedy Burnette 6, Abby Otte 5, Claire Skaggs 2.

Brownstown Central (4-2): Claire Brock 12, Lyla Huffman 7, Josie Thompson 3, Kassie Helton 2, Brinley Baker 1.