Often times, basketball is a fast-paced game, and it’s hard to keep track of everything that is going on, including things like points, fouls, and free throws.

Thankfully, there is a way that coaches can record all of this: a scorebook. It is a book full of grid pages that allow for rows for each player to record their individual points, free throws, personal fouls, and the player’s running totals for the game. Keeping the scorebook helps to keep a record of everything that has happened in the game.

Here at Ben Davis, we have Bart Braden keeping score for the boys basketball team. Starting at Franklin Central, he was formerly a teacher of 35 years and a swimming coach. During that time, he began to do the books for Coach Mark James and has been doing it ever since. Braden had been a fan of basketball his whole life, so being involved in the sport was the perfect fit for him.

“I always liked high school basketball,” Braden said, “My father coached Southport High School for 14 years so I saw a lot of basketball was I was younger.”

After being a teacher and basketball coach for the FC team for 28 years, Coach James decided to make the switch and be a part of the Ben Davis family.

So what exactly is a scorebook? It’s pretty self-explanatory. It is just a way that coaches can keep track of all the details of the game.

“The main thing is to keep the running score and each players points and fouls also timeouts for each team,” Braden says, “The opposing team also has a scorekeeper to make sure the official book is accurate.”

Coaches look back on these books to review the performance of individual players as well as the team as a whole. There are some difficulties that come with keeping the books. From Braden’s experience, uniforms and numbers can clash, so it is hard to differentiate between players on different teams when checking them into the game.

But, there is more to it than just being the person keeping track of the stats. Spending so much time with coaches and players allows you to become a part of the family.

“After doing this for so long, you do get to know a lot of people from other schools and seeing them year in and out you get to know them on some level,” Braden says.

He has met many student-athletes from both FC and BD and has enjoyed spending time with all of them and getting to know what great kids they are. Braden gives credit to Coach James for the success of the players on and off the court.

“I like the way coach James teaches the game, and the people he surrounds himself with (his coaches). I’ve never had a problem with one player coached by James.” Braden says.