CLARKSVILLE — The second round of sectional took place Friday with Brownstown Central competing with Henryville for a spot in the sectional final on the line.

Brownstown will face Austin tonight at 7:30 p.m at Providence High School for the sectional title. Thanks to outstanding defensive effort, rebounding and steals, the Braves were able to survive and advance to the final over the Hornets 56-45.

Lady Braves head coach Brandon Allman was asked about the resilience of the girls on Friday.

“That’s a good word to describe our performance in that second half,” Allman said. “I really challenged our girls at halftime to put more effort into rebounds and defend. We did that, ending up with 10 offensive rebounds in the second half.”

The game tipped with the Hornets taking possession, working their way to an easy basket to kick off the scoring. Kinzee Dean then brought the fans to their feet with a game-tying basket before Harley Toppe added a three to make it 6-2 in favor of the Braves. Brownstown took the early 8-2 lead with 4:40 left in the first quarter.

Sloppy ball handling for the Hornets led to transition baskets early for the Lady Braves. Mallory Klosterman then burned the Hornets defense with a sweet one-handed finish to make it an eight-point lead for Brownstown.

Sophie Wischmeier then got in on the scoring action with her own layup to make it 12-2. Wischmeier made an outstanding play to end the first half, getting the offensive rebound and scoring as time expired to tie the game at 23.

Brownstown made big halftime adjustments to set themselves up for success. Allman spoke about rebounding as a huge difference he preached to his players at intermission.

“I thought that was huge for us and being able to score off of those extra opportunities,” he said.

Timely steals allowed the Braves to keep the lead for the meantime, leading 35-29 with a minute remaining in the third period. Mallory Klosterman then buried another triple to make it 38-29. That would be the score at the end of the third period with the Braves set to open possession in the final quarter.

Henryville then buried another 3 to cut the lead to  38-32 with 6:23 remaining, right before the Braves would call a timeout.

Klosterman got the basket to fall with the foul, missing the free throw. Jenna, her sister, then added a bucket to give Brownstown the 10-point lead. She would then be fouled as the Braves took control of the game late, leading by nine points with less than five to play in the sectional semifinal.

Henryville was then forced to call a timeout with 3:35 remaining. Kelsey Schneider then finished a 3-point play, making it a 12-point lead for the Lady Braves.

Toppe would then go to the line to add onto the late lead. She hit both of them in order to make it a 14-point game.

Dean added a bucket for the Braves with 1:35 left in the fourth to make it 50-38. Wischmeier would then be fouled and sent to the line, hitting one.

Brownstown secured the ball in the second half and lived at the free throw line, advancing to the sectional final with a gritty 11-point win.

Allman spoke about the chance to play for another sectional title.

“I’ve been telling the girls that there’s no better feeling than climbing that ladder to cut the nets,” Allman said. “This is the fifth straight opportunity for us to play for it. It’s incomparable to any sport when you get the chance to take a piece of the game with you forever.”

Brownstown was led by Dean, Mallory Klosterman and Toppe, who all scored 11 points for the Lady Braves. Wischmeier added eight, while Jenna Klosterman scored seven.

Providence Sectional Semifinal

Brownstown 56, Henryville 45

Henryville (15-8);10;13;6;16—;45

Brownstown (16-9);13;10;15;18;—;56

Brownstown: Harley Toppe 3 2-2 11, Kinzee Dean 3 5-5 11, Mallory Klosterman 3 3-7 11, Sophie Wischmeier 3 2-4 8, Jenna Klosterman 2 3-8 7, Kelsey Schneider 1 1-1 3, Addison Darlage 1 0-0 2, Hailey Hobson 0 1-2 1, Claire Brock 0 1-2 1, Kassidy Wischmeier 0 1-2 1, Kassie Helton 0 0-2 0, Hunter Trueblood 0 0-0 0, Totals: 16 19-35 56.

3-point goals: Henryville 7, Brownstown 5 (Toppe 3, M. Klosterman 2)

Rebounds: Brownstown 33 (Dean 8, Wischmeier 8, Hobson 4, J. Klosterman 4), Henryville 21

Assists: Brownstown 9 (J. Klosterman 4, Darlage 2), Henryville 8

Steals: Brownstown 14 (Dean 3, M. Klosterman 3, Schneider 3), Henryville 5

Turnovers: Henryville 19, Brownstown 17

Fouls: Henryville 21, Brownstown 14