BROWNSTOWN— Basketball is always a team game, and the Bedford North Lawrence and Brownstown Central boys teams dazzled in front ofa near-capacity crowd Friday night, but there were also a pair of wild-west individual shootouts within the framework of the game as the Class 3A No.11 Braves held on for a 70-59 victory.
Gunslingers put on show
The Stars' top gunslingers won their duels as junior guard Colten Leach unleashed a career-high 31 points, and junior guard Colton Staggs fired in 19, while Brownstown super sophJack Benter scored 28and senior guard Carter Waskom added 15.
These guys were so hot Wyatt Earp would've walked the other way.
BNL's problem came with the rest of its corral, which was without injured junior Kaedyn Bennett, as it produced a mere nine pointswhile the Braves' supporting cast pumped in 27.
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Leach was tremendous and Staggs played great, too," said BNL head coach Jeff Hein. "They really did about all they could, but we've got to get them some more help. We can't have them only scoring nine points, especially when we're giving up 70.
"Bennett is injured so we didn't have him, and we've played three games in four days now, so we have some guys who kind of gassed. So I played some other kids there late, and I thought (Houston) Corbin played well, and (Quincy) Pickett hit a couple of big shots."
Brownstown head coach David Benter was duly impressed with BNL's top scorers.
"They've got two guys who can just break you down off the dribble," Benter noted. "We just could not keep Leach out of the lane. He takes it to the basket strong, and he's a terrific player. Staggs is great, too.
"We eventually got to where we were just trying stay out and cover their other shooters. We couldn't stop their drives, but we got a lead and we were sort of willing to trade twos after that as long as they didn't hit a bunch of threes."
Crack shooting in first quarter
Brownstown came out with its barrels ablazeat the outset, hitting its first six shots to grab a 16-8 lead with 2:30 to go in the opening period. The Stars battled to keep pace, and Leach led the way with 10 points (matching Benter)in the frame, scoring at will with spins and power moves in the lane as BNL fought within 18-12 after a quarter.
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Staggs got untracked for the Stars with six points in the second stanza, and Leach added six more, while BNL's man-to-man hustled and harassed the Braves into an uncharacteristic 4 for 13 shooting stretch. Brownstown compensated, however, by yanking down six offensive rebounds that led to foul issues for the Stars (Staggs was whistled for three in the first half) and free throws for the Braves, who went 7 for 7 at the line to lead 33-24 at halftime.
"We struggled to stop them and we struggled to rebound," Hein said. "We made a lot of mistakes on defense tonight, but I also think Brownstown makes you do that. They pass the ball well, move well, and they look for the open man. And when you can shoot like they do and have a guy like Benter it's tough."
Braves dominate third period
Staggs hit four free throws early in the quarter, but Benter, averaging 26.7 ppg, came out firing. He scored on a determined drive, buried a trey, rattled in a 17-footer and powered in an inbound layup to lead a 13-4 burst that created a 46-28 lead.
"Benter is the real deal," Hein said. "There's a reason that Purdue and a lot of other major schools are looking at him. He can shoot, handle the ball and really sets up his teammates and finds them with passes. Plus, he's 6-5, and when you can do all that with that size you're going to be pretty good."
The Stars had a pretty good deal on their side as well and just when it looked like weary legs might collapse and BNL was about to cave in, Leach leapt back to life with a personal 7-0 run. He was assisted by forward Jett Jones battling for five rebounds, and Leachcapped his spree when he converted a three-point play off a transition drive. He added one more score as BNL cut it to 48-37 heading to the fourth period.
BNLcomeback falls just short
BNL somehow summoned some energy reserves— pumping a plethora of pride into their tanks— and put on an impressive surge in the fourth quarter. Hein summoned Corbin (who has had to slowly work his way to varsity readiness after an off-season knee injury) in to guard Benter after Leach got his third foul, and the 6-3 junior did a solid job. Benter managed just five points in the fourth quarter.
Hein also sent freshman sharpshooter Quincy Pickett in, and he paid quick dividends when he followed a nice fadeaway by Staggs with a 3-pointer from the right wing. Leach then picked off a pass and fed Corbin for a fast-break layup that cut it to 50-44 and forced coach Benter to a timeout with 6:31 remaining.
The coach's son responded with a three-point play, but BNL kept slinging lead. Staggs swished two more three throws, Pickett drained another trey, and Staggs snared a rebound and revved it to the other end for a layup that turned into a three-point play. When Leach got a fast-break score off Pickett's tough rebound in traffic the Stars were all the way back within 59-57 and still 2:34 to play.
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The next 35seconds finally sapped the Stars. Waskom drove for a layup while drawing Leach's 4th foul. His three-point play was followed by the fifth foul on Staggs, and BNL ran out of gas. Waskom capped a nine-point period with a steal and layup as the Braves finally darted out of danger.
"We did come back nicely and I'm proud of the kids' effort for that," Hein said. "But we needed to do a better job defensively. It reminded me of the Jennings County game, and we're not good enough offensively right now to get into games where we have to outscore people up in the 70s."
Carson Darlage added 10 points and nine boards for the Braves (16-3).
Pickett had six points, Jones grabbed seven rebounds, while Leach added six rebounds and four assists for the Stars (8-9), who get a brief break before traveling to Mitchell Tuesday night to make-up a game that was postponed on Jan. 14.
Contact Times-Mail Sports Writer Jeff Bartlett at jeffb@tmnews.com, or on Twitter @jeffbtmnews.
BROWNSTOWN70, BEDFORD NL 59
Bedford North Lawrence(59)
Jones f 0-0 0-0 0, Bailey f 0-0 0-0 0, Leach g 13-28 5-5 31, Rynders g 0-2 0-0 0, Staggs g 6-11 7-7 19, Nikirk 0-1 0-0 0, Corbin 1-1 1-2 3, Pickett 2-3 0-0 6, Ray 0-0 0-0 0, Endris 0-0 0-0 0.Totals 20-44 13-14 59.
Brownstown (70)
Darlage f 1-1 8-8 10, Schroer c 2-3 0-0 4, Benter g 10-23 3-3 28, Waskom g 5-10 5-6 15, Hehman g 1-3 0-0 2, Stahl 2-2 0-0 4, Neal 1-1 0-0 2, Arthur 2-4 1-3 4. Totals 24-47 17-20 70.
Bedford NL (8-9) 12 | 12 | 13 | 22 — 59
Brownstown (16-3) 18 | 15 | 15 | 22 — 70
3-point goals:Bedford NL2-7 (Rynders 0-1, Staggs 0-1, Pickett 2-2, Leach 0-2, Nikirk 0-1); Brownstown 3-17(Benter 3-11, Waskom 0-2, Hehman 0-2, Arthur 0-2. Rebounds:Bedford NL 24 (Jones 7, Leach 6); Brownstown 30(Darlage 9).Turnovers:Bedford NL 7, Brownstown 9. Total fouls:Bedford NL 15, Brownstown 13.
