BROWNSTOWN — An offensive explosion during the middle two quarters allowed Brownstown Central’s boys basketball team to bury an overmatched Greensburg squad during a 77-41 victory on Friday night.

The Braves (13-4) outscored the Pirates by a combined 50-25 during the second and third periods. BC already had a 16-7 lead heading out of the first quarter. With 6:50 left in the fourth, a short jumper by senior Jack Benter gave the home team a 36-point advantage, tripping the mercy-rule running clock.

“Overall, it was a good team win,” BC head coach Dave Benter said. “We’ve got to continue to take what the other team gives us.”

Greensburg (9-6) gave BC room in the middle by extending its defense outward in an effort to limit the Braves’ talented 3-point shooters. In BC’s last defeat two weeks ago, during which the Braves lost their grip on a 19-point second-half lead, Jennings County used a similar tactic with success.

“We’re seeing some teams are trying to copy (Jennings) a little bit,” Benter said. “Early on, we settled for passing the ball around 25 or 30 feet from the basket. Once we started getting the ball inside and trying to attack the basket, we were able to skip the basketball and get some really good shots. If teams spread out that much and we can get the ball into the middle with Colby (Hall) inside and Adam (Stahl) on the backboard, that opens up things a lot for our shooters.”

Hall took full advantage of the Pirates’ strategy, scoring 17 points on 7-for-8 shooting during the first two-plus quarters. That focus on getting the ball inside gradually freed up the outside shooters, who made seven 3-pointers in the third quarter alone.

In all, BC ended with 15 3s, led by senior point guard Parker Hehman, who knocked down five long shots while scoring a game-high 21 points.

Junior Chace Coomer followed with four 3s and 12 points. Benter finished with 15 points, including three 3-pointers.

“(Hehman and Coomer) can put points on the board in a hurry,” Benter said. “They both, when their feet are set, are really effective shooters. They proved that tonight. And I thought Colby was more active and aggressive tonight, and we need that out of him. We need him to look for his own shot when he’s in single coverage.”

Working through a relatively light scoring night by his standards, Jack Benter used his passing to help the Braves. He finished with eight assists without a turnover.

“(Greensburg) had their zone so extended and were shading him at times. He’s just got to make the right reads, and I thought he did that tonight,” Dave Benter said. “It wasn’t a really good shooting night for him. The big thing for him is to get healthy and get more practice time. As far as his floor game and seeing other guys, he did a good job.”

Despite scoring about half of his normal average, Benter’s 15 points still moved him seven spots up the all-time Indiana high school boys basketball scoring list. His 2,151 career points put him at No. 36 all-time.

Suddenly enjoying a four-game win streak, Brownstown will prepare for three Mid-Southern Conference games next week, hosting Austin on Tuesday and traveling to Charlestown on Friday and Corydon Central on Saturday.

Prior to Friday’s game, former Athletic Director Mark DeHart was formally inducted into the BC Athletic Hall of Fame.

DeHart served as Brownstown’s AD for 27 years, during which the program enjoyed outsized success. During his tenure, BC’s teams generated 105 team championships, including 70 sectional titles, 23 regionals, 11 semi-states and one state championship (in volleyball).

“I’m very honored,” DeHart said. “I had a hand in getting some of the people in (the hall of fame) because they were so deserving and did such great things here at Brownstown over a long time. Now to be up there with them, I don’t feel worthy.”

DeHart originally came to Brownstown as the head coach of the boys basketball team, a position he held for three seasons between 1995 and 1998, compiling a 25-39 record, before handing the reins to Dave Benter.

“I’m proud to be a part of all of the success and the great people who have given so much to allow the kids, the teams and the coaches to have success,” DeHart said. “It’s been a very enjoyable place to be an athletic director. The support from the community and the administration, from top to bottom, everybody here is invested in success. That made it easy to be the athletic director.”

Friday’s contest was preceded by another excellent shooting display by Brownstown’s undefeated JV squad. The younger Braves (11-0) made 19 3-point shots en route to an 82-50 victory over Greensburg’s JVers.

The BC reserves were led by a 20-point effort from Brock Dean. Lane Pendleton (17 points), Carter Covert (14) and Drew Shelton (10) also reached double-digit scoring for the Braves.

Brownstown Central 77, Greensburg 41

Greensburg;7;13;12;9;—;41

Brownstown;16;23;27;11;—;77

Greensburg (9-6): Jack McKinsey 5 2-2 12, Drew Busick 1 4-4 7, Justin Adkins 3 0-0 6, Bradley Lutz 2 0-2 6, Addison Barnes-Pettit 1 1-2 3, Reece Beaver 1 0-0 2, Andrew Bowman 1 0-0 2, Jacoby Miller 1 0-0 2, Carson Miller 0 1-2 1, Totals 15 8-12 41.

Brownstown Central (13-4): Parker Hehman 6 4-5 21, Colby Hall 7 3-4 17, Jack Benter 5 2-2 15, Chace Coomer 4 0-0 12, Pierson Wheeler 1 0-0 3, Caiden Gwin 1 0-0 3, Lane Pendleton 1 0-0 3, Adam Stahl 1 0-0 2, Greg Hutcheson 0 1-2 1, Carter Covert 0 0-0 0, Drew Shelton 0 0-0 0, Owen Wischmeier 0 0-0 0, Totals 26 10-13 77.

3-point goals: Greensburg 3 (Lutz 2, Busick), Brownstown 15 (Hehman 5, Coomer 4, Benter 3, Wheeler, Gwin, Pendleton)

Rebounds: Greensburg 24 (McKinsey 5), Brownstown 24 (Pendleton 6, Hall 5, Hehman 3, Benter 3, Hutcheson 2, Coomer, Stahl, Wheeler, Covert, Wischmeier)

Turnovers: Greensburg 15, Brownstown 6

Fouls: Greensburg 9, Brownstown 10

Junior varsity

Brownstown Central 82, Greensburg 50

Brownstown Central (11-0): Brock Dean 20, Lane Pendleton 17, Carter Covert 14, Drew Shelton 10, Owen Wischmeier 9, Kye Trueblood 5, Kylis Brock 3, Linkan Brittain 2, Chase Brock 2