By BRAD BAUGHMAN | For The Democrat
Nine games in and about halfway through the season, Brown County High School girls varsity basketball coach Emily Lewellen has learned a great deal about her team.
But what stands out to her is that her girls can survive a demanding early season schedule against high-quality opponents.
Throw out Greencastle, one of the Eagles’ two wins, and the combined current record of their first eight opponents is 57 wins and 20 losses. Lewellen says her team has used the formidable schedule to its advantage.
“We have had a difficult beginning to our season, playing many challenging games early on. For a lot of teams, this would be defeating, but our team has used those challenges as an opportunity to grow and develop,” she said.
Three of the team’s nine losses have come to state ranked teams. Defending 3A state champion Silver Creek beat the Eagles 65-31. The Dragons are undefeated and currently ranked No. 1 in 3A. The Eagles fell 80-34 to the 10th ranked team in 4A, Columbus East, and lost to Northview 57-25. The Knights are currently 8-1 and ranked 19th in 3A.
Despite the rugged start, the team has not backed down and Lewellen is impressed with their character.
“One of the things I appreciate most about our team this season is their passion and determination. We are a pretty young team with small numbers — three juniors and five sophomores — and that brings its own challenges to the mix. But each girl shows up ready to work and get better at every practice and game, and that is all I can ask for,” said Lewellen.
The Eagles earned a split in two recent road contests, beating Western Indiana Conference foe South Putnam 58-46 on Dec. 4, and then losing to Eastern Greene 44-35 on Dec. 7.
“The South Putnam game was one of our best games so far this season. The girls showed up ready to work hard. Our intensity was at a high level throughout the entire game, and each girl played an important part in that win.” Lewellen said.
Four Eagles scored in double figures in the win. Savannah Oden led the team with 16, while Maddie Huff had 13, and Abigail Watson and Lexie Austin each had 10. That is exactly the kind of balance Lewellen is looking for.
“This season we are focusing a lot on team play. We don’t have one person who is our leading offensive scorer or defensive threat. We have different leading scorers in each game, as each player contributes to our overall team dynamic,” she said.
The offensive output the Eagles enjoyed at South Putnam eluded them against a strong Eastern Greene team. The Thunderbirds, who entered the contest with a 7-1 record, outscored the Eagles 25-20 in the second half to hold on for the victory.
“We started the game well and continued to play aggressively and with intensity throughout the night. Unfortunately, our shots did not fall as well as they did in the South Putnam game,” Lewellen said.
Maddie Huff and Katie Tipton led the Eagles with 13 and 11 respectively.
This past weekend, the Eagles dropped a pair of conference games in somewhat similar fashion. In both games, the Eagle offense erupted in the fourth quarter, but the production was not enough to offset great individual performances by an opposing player.
On Friday night, Owen Valley beat the visiting Eagles 49-44. Trailing 40-27 after three quarters, the Eagles outscored the Patriots 17 -9 in the final period, but simply could not overcome the deficit. Patriot forward Raegan Martin scorched the Eagles for 27 points.
Once again, Brown County had the balanced scoring that Lewellen has been looking for with Tipton leading the team with 12 while Oden had 10. Huff and Austin chipped in with nine apiece.
In a Saturday evening home contest with Sullivan on Dec. 11, Brown County found itself again on the wrong end of a 40-27 score after three stanzas. And just as they had done the night before, the Eagles responded in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Golden Arrows 23-18, but dropping the hard fought contest 58-50. The Eagles had no answer for Golden Arrow senior guard Gracie Shorter who poured in 28 points. Huff and Tipton led Brown County with 18 and 10 respectively.
Lewellen is happy that her team still has plenty of opportunities to prove itself.
“Right now, we are still trying to find our team’s identity. We have seen glimpses of a unified team in every game, but we are still rebuilding after some curveballs that were sent our way earlier this year. By mid-January, our expectation is to be a team that battles each and every game from start to finish with a team first attitude,” she said.
Brown County hosts Greenwood Community on Thursday, Dec. 15 before traveling to Cloverdale on Friday, Dec. 17 and West Vigo on Saturday, Dec. 18.
