By BRAD BAUGHMAN, for The Democrat
A third-quarter scoring drought spelled doom for the Brown County High School Eagle Friday night, as they fell to the Brownstown Central Braves 56-41 in their sectional opener at Edgewood High School.
The Eagles had a strong start, as all five of their starters put points on the board in the first quarter, and Brown County led 11-9 at the break.
Brownstown Central’s Clay Chastain heated up from long range in the second quarter, knocking down three three-pointers, and the Braves rode his hot hand the rest of the way. The senior guard would go 7-10 from the arc, draining long threes from the wings and deep in the corners.
“A lot of our guys have had trouble scoring the basketball … and then Clay got in a rhythm. He got us going and got us some separation,” said Brownstown Central Coach David Benter.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]The Eagles were keenly aware of Chastain’s shooting abilities, but were simply unable to keep him contained.
“No. 23 (Chastain) is one of the best shooters I’ve seen while scouting in this area, and our whole game plan, obviously, was running him off the line and denying him a good look,” said Brown County Coach John Berning.
Despite his team trailing 27-22 at the half, Berning still felt good about the Eagles’ situation, stating, “Well, I thought that first half was back and forth, punch for punch. We played two good quarters.”
As is often the case, the opening minutes of the second half proved to be the difference maker.
“The first four minutes of the second half killed us,” Berning admitted. Brown County would only score four points in the quarter, while the Braves erupted for 20.
“Unfortunately, the first few possessions of the half where we had opportunities that we didn’t connect, they also took it to us and converted, and we had some real mental lapses,” Berning said.
In keeping with their late-season character, the Eagles showed some mettle and battled throughout the fourth quarter, cutting the Braves’ lead to 12 with a minute and a half remaining.
“Credit to the guys for fighting back and playing with pride,” Berning said. “They have nothing to hang their heads about with the way they battled tonight. They fought the whole game.”
Chastain led all scorers with 27, and left a lasting impression on the Eagle coach. “A kid like that, with a shot like that — credit to him. That’s not him just showing up big-time in a sectional game, that’s May, April, June, July, August, September in the gym,” Berning said.
Isaiah Wineinger added 13 for the Braves and handed out six assists.
Seniors Caleb Yager and Nicholas Huls scored 12 and 10, respectively, to lead the Eagles. Nine of Yager’s 12 came from the free-throw line.
Despite the loss, Berning was proud of his team’s late-season performance. “Eleven of our last 12 quarters at home were about 11 of our best all season. It was nice to get a couple of wins in front of the home crowd,” he said, referring to recent victories over Mitchell and Edinburgh.
