SALEM — Silver Creek came within inches of knocking off Class 3A #8 Brownstown Central for a second time this season but was denied its first sectional game win since 2009. The Braves (20-2) nipped the Dragons (13-8) 52-50 with a basket with one second left to avenge a regular season loss Wednesday night in the first round of the class 3A Salem Sectional.

“The whole game had a championship feel,” Creek head coach Brandon Hoffman said. “It was a series of knockout punches back and forth all night.”

Game two saw two-time defending sectional champion Corydon Central (12-10) take control early and never trail in a 59-46 victory over Charlestown (10-11). The Pirates shot just 22 percent in the first half, found themselves in an 18-point hole at intermission and never recovered.

“We struggled to score tonight,” Charlestown head coach Seasn Smith said. “You have to give Corydon a lot of credit. They play very physical defense. They didn’t let our main guys get going. We had some runners and opportunities around the basket that we just couldn’t get to fall.”



Brownstown 52, Silver Creek 50

The Dragons trailed 9-8 at the end of the first despite shooting just 3-of-11 in the opening eight minutes.  The Braves quickly bolted ahead 15-8 with 7:27 left in the second period, but Silver Creek responded. Caleb Sprigler’s triple capped a 10-3 Dragons run that tied the game at 18-18 with 4:47 left until intermission.

Brownstown threw in three from long range in the second quarter and claimed a slim 28-27 lead at halftime.

“At halftime I thought we were in pretty good position,” Hoffman said. “We were only down one despite missing three free throws.”

Creek grabbed only its second lead of the game at 30-28 on a Grant Meyer bucket at 6:56 in the third. The Dragons pushed their lead to 36-32 midway though the third before the Braves answered with an 8-2 run to end the quarter with the lead, 40-38.

“We were up there, 36-32, and were just a few baskets from opening it up,” Hoffman said. “We missed a few layups and then they hit a few shots and then finished the quarter with that bucket at the buzzer. It was just back and forth all night.”

Brownstown extended its lead to 45-40 with 4:37 remaining before Creek made its final push. Caleb Sprigler, who tallied eight of his 17 in the fourth, tied the game at 50-50 with 23 second left. That set the scene for the game’s final play.

The Braves’ star guard, Jalen Snodgrass, drove and found big man Skylar Thompson underneath for the go-ahead basket with one second on the clock. After a Creek timeout, Meyer’s 35-foot shot at the buzzer rimmed off and the Dragons’ season came to an end.

“We did what we wanted to do there at the end,” Hoffman said. “We stopped Snodgrass and made him give up the ball. He just made a great pass finding Thompson. Great players make great plays.”



Corydon 59, Charlestown 46

The Pirates had a difficult time finding the bottom of the nets all night and lost their sixth straight meeting to the Panthers.

Charlestown trailed 23-7 with 5:59 left in the first half and went to the locker room down 31-13.

Corydon pushed its lead to 21 late in the third period before a furious Pirate rally pulled them within 47-37 with 3:37 left, but it was too little, too late for the Blue and White.

“Our guys didn’t quit. We hung in there,” Smith said. “We finally hit some shots late. We had some kids come off the bench that hit some 3s for us.”

The Pirates shot just 33 percent overall and had only five free-throw attempts on the night. Justin Conrad led Charlestown with 10 points.

“Corydon wanted it more and they have a lot more toughness on the defensive end than us right now,” Smith said. “I think they’ll give Brownstown a good game. We’re young and inexperienced. We need to get stronger and tougher if we’re going to be a championship-contending team. The potential is there, but we have a lot of work to do in the offseason.”



BROWNSTOWN    9 19 12 12—52

SILVER CREEK    8 19 11 12—50

Brownstown Central (20-2) — Schneider 3, Wischmeier 2, J. Snodgrass 17, McCory 10, Payton 11, Thompson 9.

Silver Creek (13-8) — Taylor 1, Meyer 19, Sprigler 17, Ricketts 3, Brooks 8, McCall 2.

3-point field goals — Brownstown Central 3 (Schneider, Payton, Thompson), Silver Creek 2 (Sprigler, Ricketts).

Rebounds — Brownstown Central 29, Silver Creek 31.

Turnovers — Brownstown Central 6, Silver Creek 5.

Field-goal shooting — Brownstown Central 20-45, Silver Creek 18-45.

3-point shooting — Brownstown Central 3-11, Silver Creek 2-14.

Free throws — Brownstown Central 9-20, Silver Creek 12-19.



CORYDON    15 16   9 19—59

CHARLESTOWN      7   6 10 23—46    

Corydon Central (12-10) — Hinton 7, Lander 13, Shewmaker 8, Ross 9, Kessinger 15, Burton 2, Jensen 2, Yates 3.

Charlestown (10-11) — Cissell 8, Odle 6, Reich 2, Conrad 10, Thompson 7, Daniel 4, Braun 2, Martin 3, Chester 2, Jackson 2.

3-point field goals — Corydon Central 4 (Hinton 2, Shewmaker 2), Charlestown 5 (Cissell 2, Conrad 2, Martin).

Rebounds — Corydon Central 40, Charlestown 30.

Turnovers — Corydon Central 13, Charlestown 11.

Field-goal shooting — Corydon Central 23-52, Charlestown 19-56.

3-point shooting — Corydon Central 4-9, Charlestown 5-18.

Free throws — Corydon Central 11-26, Charlestown 3-5.