NORTH VERNON— From red hot to ice cold.

Brownstown Central’s boys basketball team experienced that sudden temperature change during the second half of a stunning 69-61 loss to Jennings County (6-7) on Friday night.

The Braves nailed their first five 3-point attempts to start the second half and, with the resulting 51-32 lead, appeared to have the game well in hand.

Instead, BC’s outside shooting cratered. The Braves (9-4) missed their next 15 3-point shots and generated just two points over an agonizing 11-minute stretch that started midway through the third quarter and extended until the final minute of the fourth period.

“We took our foot off the gas,” BC head coach Dave Benter said. “After we got up by 19, we didn’t play well from there. We got in foul trouble and struggled to rebound, which took away our weapons inside.”

Brownstown’s two inside players, Colby Hall and Adam Stahl, were hampered by fouls throughout the second half.

“With both of our inside guys on the bench, (Jennings) was almost daring us to take 3-pointers. We really struggled to score. At some point, you’ve got to make a defensive stop. That’s on me. There are some things I would like to do differently.”

Friday’s game turned into an entertaining “Around the World” shooting exhibition with the two teams combining to take 76 3-pointers. Brownstown made 15 of its 43 3s, but just one after the four-minute mark of the third quarter.

Jennings County countered with 12 3s on 33 attempts.

“We like to let it fly,” JC head coach Rob Kent said. “We like to get up and down the court. Now, we’d like four or five of those 3s back. We’ve got to be more aware of the game’s rhythm.”

Kent’s son, Carter, made five 3-pointers and scored a game-high 30 points. In fact, he made history with his first long shot, a deep NBA-length 3 from the top of the key with 3:24 remaining in the first quarter. That shot broke the Jennings record of 178 3-pointers set by Ron Brooks during the mid-1990s.

Just a junior, Kent now has 183 3s in his career.

During its stirring comeback, however, Jennings didn’t rely on Kent. Instead, Cole Sigler and Dorian Hacker were the driving force behind the Panthers’ amazing 19-point comeback.

The two seniors combined to score 26 second-half points. Hacker’s 3-pointer from the right side tied the game at 53 with 5:02 remaining in the game.

Kent then took over, scoring 11 points on layups and free throws down the stretch to secure JC’s improbable win.

“We wanted to win, obviously, but I really just wanted us to compete for 32 minutes,” JC’s coach Kent said.

Kent got his wish. The win is Jennings’ third straight over Brownstown.

“We’ve got to take a look at ourselves in the mirror,” BC’s Benter said. “We gave up a big lead against Evansville Christian (a couple of weeks ago), and now, we did the same tonight. Before the season, we talked about our concern that we might get comfortable. It doesn’t get any easier for us. We’ve got another tough game tonight.”

The Braves host Jeffersonville (6-5) tonight.

Leading scorer Jack Benter returned to the court for Brownstown for the first time since injuring his ankle in the North Daviess tournament. The senior was subbed out frequently but still managed to score a team-high 21 points on 6-for-16 shooting, including 5-for-14 from beyond the 3-point line.

Parker Hehman also ended with five 3-pointers and finished with 15 points. Chace Coomer scored 11 points on 3-for-7 shooting from long range.

Brownstown is six games into a 10-game midseason gauntlet that includes five Class 4A opponents and four ranked teams. So far, the Braves are 3-3 in those six games with Jeff, Silver Creek, Carmel and Greensburg still to come.

Jennings County 69, Brownstown Central 61

Brownstown;19;15;19;8;—;61

Jennings Co.;13;17;15;24;—;69

Brownstown Central (9-4): Jack Benter 6 4-4 21, Parker Hehman 5 0-0 15, Chace Coomer 3 2-3 11, Colby Hall 3 0-0 6, Pierson Wheeler 1 0-0 3, Lane Pendleton 1 0-0 3, Greg Hutcheson 0 2-2 2, Adam Stahl 0 0-0 0, Totals 19 8-9 61.

Jennings County (6-7): Carter Kent 10 5-6 30, Dorian Hacker 7 3-3 20, Cole Sigler 4 1-2 12, Austin Byford 1 2-4 4, Ben Juraskovich 1 0-0 3, Cash Millspough 0 0-0 0, Will Barnes 0 0-0 0, Totals 23 11-15 69.

3-point goals: Brownstown 15 (Benter 5, Hehman 5, Coomer 3, Wheeler, Pendleton), Jennings County 12 (Kent 5, Sigler 3, Hacker 3, Juraskovich).

Rebounds: Brownstown 23 (Hall 5, Benter 5), Jennings County 30 (Hacker 7, Byford 7).

Turnovers: Brownstown 6, Jennings County 8.

Fouls: Brownstown 19, Jennings County 13.

Junior Varsity

Brownstown Central 60, Jennings County 39

Brownstown Central (7-0): Linkan Brittain 16, Carter Covert 15, Lane Pendleton 12, Owen Wischmeier 6, Drew Shelton 4, Kylis Brock 3, Preston Garrison 2, Kaisin Brock 2.

Jennings County: Jeremiah Davis 12, Johnny Elkins 7, Cash Millspough 6, Hayden Law 4, Zane Wienhorst 4, Ty Zohrlaut 4, Omar Gonzalez 2, Lucius Stidham 0.