BROWNSTOWN — North Harrison won the opening tip on Friday night. Then it was all downhill from there.

Dominant offensively and defensively, Brownstown Central’s boys basketball team made life miserable for the Cougars throughout a lopsided 84-27 victory.

The Braves scored the game’s first 16 points and raced to a 27-2 first-quarter lead. They extended that advantage to 46-4 at halftime and, after clearing the bench, reached a 60-point lead late in the fourth quarter.

“Tonight was a conference game and you can never take those lightly,” BC head coach Dave Benter said. “We’re in a tie for the conference lead with Silver Creek, so they’re all important. We’ve hit lulls in the last few games where we just stopped scoring. We worked on that all week. We’re trying to pick up our pace when we feel a lull coming.”

If there was a hint of a lull on Friday night, it was difficult to detect. The Braves shot 12 for 18 (67 percent) from the field in the first quarter and 20 for 31 (65 percent) in the first half.

Four BC players finished in double figures, with senior Jack Benter leading with 26 points on nearly flawless 11-for-12 shooting from the field.

Center Colby Hall actually was perfect, making all eight of his shots en route to a 16-point night. Micah Sheffer heated up in the second half, making three 3-pointers and finishing with 13 points.

JV sharpshooter Lane Pendleton played only a few minutes of the fourth quarter but made all four of his shots to end with 11 points.

In all, the Braves made 12 3-pointers, with Benter, Sheffer and Pendleton each making three. Senior Parker Hehman accounted for two and Pierson Wheeler had one.

Perhaps more impressive than the offense was BC’s defense, which forced North Harrison into 20 turnovers for the game and just 2-for-13 shooting (15 percent) in the first half.

Brave defenders blocked six Cougar shots, with Hall (three) and Adam Stahl (two) leading the way.

“That’s one of the areas from last year that we have to get better,” Benter said. “Earlier this season, we weren’t where we needed to be, but we’re getting better defensively. And we have to continue to get better.”

Improved defense will be a necessity sooner rather than later for the Braves. Friday’s contest and tonight’s game with Mitchell figure to be take-care-of-business games before BC’s schedule becomes rockier.

Eight of Brownstown’s next nine games will be played away from home. First comes the always competitive North Daviess Tournament, followed by the Hall of Fame Tournament that consists of Class 4A heavies Brownsburg, Kokomo and Indianapolis Attucks.

After the Braves emerge from bracketed events, they have matchups with Jennings County, Jeffersonville, Silver Creek and Carmel. Only the Jeff contest will be at home.

“We scheduled those games for a reason,” Benter said. “We’re trying to get ready for the postseason. Those games come against teams with different styles of play. They’re some of the most talented teams in the state. We went out of our way to schedule those games.”

Brownstown hopes it has Friday night’s version of Jack Benter for those games. Playing without a knee brace or a wrap on the leg he injured two weeks ago against Seymour, the senior played freely while scoring 16 points in the first quarter alone.

Benter is now just eight points shy of reaching the 2,000-point mark for his career.

“Two thousand is a big accomplishment,” the elder Benter said. “He’s got some good traits as a basketball player and scoring is one of them. We’re excited as coaches and as a program. But I’m not even sure he’s conscious that he’s almost there.”

The younger Benter has played in four of the Braves’ five games this season and scored 133 points (33.3 average). In his last two seasons, he reached the 700-mark with 774 in his junior season and 700 during his sophomore year. He scored 385 as a freshman.

“Some of his best games have come against the best teams we’ve played,” the elder Benter said. “You can’t say he’s done it against less-competitive teams.”

Two weeks removed from the injury, Benter was able to integrate into the flow of the game more effectively, his coach said.

“After he got hurt, he played frustrated, which you can’t do,” the elder Benter said. “When he lets things come to him, he can put a lot of pressure on the other team.”

Brownstown Central 84, North Harrison 27

N. Harrison (0-5); 2;2;9;14;—;27

Brownstown (5-1); 27;19;22;16;—;84

North Harrison (0-5): Rylan Schenck 4 1-1 10, Caden Hoehn 3 0-1 6, Logan Heun 1 0-0 3, Dawson Senn 1 1-1 3, Joshua Waynescott 1 0-0 2, Colten Smith 1 0-0 2, Grayson Clunie 0 1-2 1, Caleb Voyles 0 0-0 0, Cooper Dunn 0 0-0 0, Landon Farnsley 0 0-0 0, Totals 11 3-5 27.

Brownstown Central (5-1): Jack Benter 11 1-1 26, Colby Hall 8 0-0 16, Micah Sheffer 5 0-0 13, Lane Pendleton 4 0-0 11, Parker Hehman 2 0-0 6, Adam Stahl 2 1-1 5, Pierson Wheeler 1 0-0 3, Greg Hutcheson 1 0-0 2, Chace Coomer 1 0-0 2, Caiden Gwin 0 0-0 0, Owen Wischmeier 0 0-0 0, Carter Covert 0 0-0 0, Totals 35 2-2 84.

3-point goals: North Harrison 2 (Heun, Schenck), Brownstown 12 (Benter 3, Sheffer 3, Pendleton 3, Hehman 2, Wheeler).

Rebounds: North Harrison 15 (Dunn 4), Brownstown 30 (Benter 9).

Turnovers: North Harrison 20, Brownstown 8.

Fouls: North Harrison 5, Brownstown 12.

Junior Varsity

Brownstown Central 56, North Harrison 32

Brownstown Central (5-0): Drew Shelton 15, Lane Pendleton 11, Brock Dean 7, Owen Wischmeier 6, Linkan Brittain 5, Carter Covert 5, Kye Trueblood 3, Kylis Brock 2, Kaisin Brock 2.