By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – After a winter of discontenting injuries, Brownstown basketball is healthier, wealthier in wins, and wiser in execution. Jack Benter, the Purdue recruit and Mr. Basketball candidate, is playing on two feet instead of one, which makes the Braves one of the best teams in Indiana, regardless of class designation.
Back at full strength, celebrating Senior Night, playing before a home sell-out every night, Brownstown will be buzzing when Bedford North Lawrence clashes with Class 2A’s No.3 team (perhaps that’s some questionable polling) on Friday night.
According to the Sagarin computer, the Braves (17-4) are among the top 10 in the state, period. That takes into account the stout strength of their schedule. It doesn’t take into account Benter, one of 75 players in state history to score over 2,000 career points, missed five games with knee and ankle injuries. The bottom line for the Stars (12-5) is they will face one of their toughest tasks.
Benter, a 6-5 shooting guard with limitless range outside and a post-up mentality inside, is averaging 24.5 points per game this season. He’s improved his shooting (54 percent overall, 46 from deep), his defending and his overall efficiency (almost a 3-to-1 ratio between assists and turnovers). He’s the total package, the reason Matt Painter has made multiple visits from West Lafayette, the reason Brownstown tickets are tougher to get than Taylor Swift passes (and far less expensive). He’s become the latest basketball rock star in Southern Indiana.
“He’s gotten better at every other aspect of his game,” Brownstown coach, and Jack’s father, Dave Benter said. “We felt he wouldn’t have to score as many points this year, with the progression of the other guys, and that has held true. He’s become a really good defender for us. He’s the one guy we have who can defend all five positions.”
Guess what? No disrespect to Brownstown’s other weapons, including senior Parker Hehman (12.0 points), 6-6 junior Colby Hall (11.5) and junior Chace Coomer (9.0), but BNL will focus on the star. Not that it’s mattered in the past. Benter scored 28 against BNL as a sophomore, and 29 last year as the Braves escaped from BNL Fieldhouse with a tough one-point win.
“We’ll have to pick our poison,” BNL coach Kurt Godlevske said. “We either have Jack shooting a three, or someone else. We will choose someone else. Or even on post-ups, we would rather choose someone else shooting a three against Jack on someone down low.
“It’s his ability to score in multiple ways. He can obviously shoot with range, he’s deceivingly fast with the basketball to get by you, and his skill set around the basketball has really grown. He attacks you. They have other weapons that can burn you. Almost all their kids can shoot it. They’re just an aggressive group.
“They have size, they have skill, they have the ability to defend with their length, they’re disciplined, they execute, they play with purpose. They’re a very good basketball team.”
Benter’s absences coincide with most of the Brownstown losses (72-47 to 4A No.2 Lawrence North, 58-57 to Class A No.1 Evansville Christian, and 76-51 to 4A No.10 Attucks). The only one that doesn’t is the most recent, a 69-61 road loss at Jennings County. Since then, the Braves have won eight straight.
“The big thing is we’re trending toward the healthy side,” Benter said. “That’s been huge for us. Jack is getting better by the week, and getting Micah Sheffer (a normal starting guard) back is big. We’re playing better. We’re defending better, our ball movement is better, our pace has been better.”
BNL has weapons to cause Brownstown concern. Junior wing Patric Matson leads the Stars in scoring at 19.2 (while hitting 56 percent of his shots) and senior guard Noah Godlevske adds 15.1. BNL is shooting 51 percent as a team, even as 43 percent of its shots come from long range.
“It’s their shooting ability, they’ve got so many guys that can shoot the basketball well, and they run good stuff,” Benter said. “They have guards that can score. And they defend well. There will probably be a ton of threes in this game.”
If that’s the selection, BNL will pick the shooting contest.
“We would rather have that, than seeing who can pound it inside the most,” Godlevske said. “I don’t know that we want to get in a grind-out, basket-for-basket type of game. We’ll try to be us as much as we can, which is play up-tempo offensively.”
Last year’s clash with a grinder. Brownstown recorded the win when Hall rebounded a Benter air ball and drew a foul, making a free throw with 2.1 seconds left. Colten Leach paced the Stars with 13 points.
BNL at BROWNSTOWN
When: Friday, 7:30 p.m.
Records: BNL 12-5; Brownstown 17-4, ranked No.3 in Class 2A
Sagarin ratings: BNL 76.87; Brownstown 93.90
Last meeting: Last year at BNL, Brownstown star Jack Benter scored 29 points as the Braves edged BNL 47-46. Colten Leach had 13 points and Kaedyn Bennett added 12 for the Stars.
Previous game story: Benter, Braves rally late
Game notes: Brownstown ranks 15th in the state in scoring at 68.6 and fifth in winning margin at 21.7.
Starting lineups
Bedford NL Stars
F – Patric Matson 6-3 Jr.
F – Logan Miracle 6-4 Jr.
G – Noah Godlevske 5-11 Sr.
G – Trace Rynders 5-11 Sr.
G – Maddox Ray 5-11 Sr.
Brownstown Braves
F – Colby Hall 6-6 Jr.
F – Adam Stahl 6-3 Sr.
G – Caiden Gwin 6-0 Sr.
G – Parker Hehman 6-1 Sr.
G – Jack Benter 6-5 Sr.
