HANOVER — Two Carson Darlage free throws with a mere .9 seconds left on the clock lifted Brownstown Central’s boys basketball team to a drama-filled 44-42 win over Providence in the semifinal round of the Class 2A Southwestern (Hanover) Sectional on Saturday night.

Played before a standing-room-only crowd, the victory advances the Braves (21-4) to tonight’s sectional championship to take on host Southwestern. The Rebels (21-3) defeated Henryville 59-53 in Saturday’s first semifinal game.

Darlage, a 6-foot-5 senior whose responsibilities usually concentrate on rebounding, defense and setting brick-wall screens, found himself in the nail-biting situation after he was fouled while rebounding a 3-point shot by Providence as the clock wound down.

“I’m in there to rebound,” Darlage said. “I felt somebody hit me from behind, so I fell backwards hoping they would call the foul. Luckily, they called it.”

Given the pressure-packed circumstances, Darlage did what anyone would do on the first foul shot: He banked it in.

Yes, banked it. And gave the Braves a one-point lead.

“I’m not a great free throw shooter, but I can hit them,” Darlage said. “I practice them every morning and after every practice. But God was on my side, that’s for sure. I’m just thankful it went in.”

Brownstown head coach Dave Benter called a timeout and instructed Darlage to miss the second shot to deny Providence an organized chance at a last-second shot.

Of course, Darlage’s second shot was a perfect swish.

“I tried (to miss it), but instead, I accidentally hit it,” Darlage said.

The made foul shot pushed the Braves in front by two points but also allowed Providence to take the ball out of bounds.

A full-court heave found the hands of Pioneer senior Casey Kaelin, whose desperation 3-pointer from the right corner looked promising but bounced off the rim to preserve Brownstown’s victory.

“From my angle, I thought it was going in,” Benter said. “It was a perfect pass and (Kaelin) caught it clean, which you have to do with .9 seconds. He ended up getting a better look than I would have liked.”

Saturday’s victory is Brownstown’s 12th straight and gives the Braves a chance to win a second consecutive sectional title and third in the last four years.

“I’m really proud of our guys,” Benter said. “(Providence) is just a tough team. With them, a seven-point lead feels like a 25-point lead.”

The Pioneers (19-5) controlled the game’s first half, taking an early lead and holding a 20-13 advantage at halftime.

Sophomore Colby Hall kept Brownstown in the game during the first two quarters. While the rest of the Braves struggled through 2-for-10 shooting, Hall made all four of his shots and accounted for nine of BC’s 13 points.

At halftime, Benter and his coaches focused on two areas: Get leading scorer Jack Benter going and keep feeding Hall.

“I didn’t think (Jack) was being aggressive enough in the first half, so we challenged him,” Dave Benter said. “And we wanted to get the ball in to Colby because they were having a hard time guarding him inside. Those were the two things we really wanted to do in the second half, and I thought they both responded.”

The younger Benter heated up and scored 18 second-half points, including a four-point play on a 3-point shot from the left side. Combined with five third-quarter points from Hall and two clutch 3-pointers by Chace Coomer, the Braves took their first lead of the game with 1:50 left in the third quarter.

Brownstown eventually built a six-point lead with three minutes left in the game, but cold shooting and turnovers allowed Providence to tie the game at 42 with 33 seconds remaining.

The Pioneers then forced a turnover with 26 seconds left and worked the clock until Quentin Hesse attempted a 3-pointer from the left corner with four seconds remaining.

Hesse’s shot missed and was corralled by Darlage. Then the whistle blew, giving BC its game-winning opportunity.

“Jack Benter came up to me and told me, ‘You’re good. You hit these and you could win this for us,’” Darlage said. “I was like, shoot, I could win this for us.”

The two foul shots were Darlage’s only points of the night.

“I just told him to take his time,” Jack Benter said. “Hand in the middle of the basket, deep breaths and hit it.”

Benter led with 22 points, followed by Hall’s 14. Providence’s Kaelin matched Benter with 22 points.

Brownstown now must come down from Saturday’s dramatic win and prepare for Southwestern, another ranked opponent. The Rebels are No. 9 in the Class 2A AP poll, while BC occupies the No. 5 spot.

“Any time you’re in a close game like that and the season’s on the line, it gets emotional,” Jack Benter said. “Tomorrow, we’ll have to regroup and watch some film. On Monday, we’ll get some shots up and be ready to go on Monday night.”

The elder Benter said bouncing back from a hard-fought win, while difficult, should be within his team’s grasp.

“It’s a real challenge,” he said. “But the thing I’ve liked the most about this team is how mature they’ve been throughout the year. They’ve got tonight to enjoy this, then get up for church in the morning and then get ready for Monday night.”

Box score

Southwestern (Hanover) Sectional

Braves 44, Pioneers 42

Brownstown Central;5;8;20;11;—;44

Providence;9;11;12;10;—;42

Brownstown Central (21-4): Jack Benter 7 6-7 22, Colby Hall 6 1-1 14, Chace Coomer 2 0-0 6, Carson Darlage 0 2-2 2, Parker Hehman 0 0-0 0, Jakob Arthur 0 0-0 0, Micah Sheffer 0 0-0 0, Totals 15 9-10 44.

Providence (19-5): Casey Kaelin 6 10-12 22, Noah Lovan 7 1-1 15, Quentin Hesse 1 0-0 3, Grant Seebold 1 0-0 2, Jaden Johnson 0 0-0 0, Brian Wall 0 0-0 0, Totals 15 11-13 42.

3-point goals: BC 5 (Coomer 2, Benter 2, Hall), P 1 (Hesse).

Rebounds: BC 13 (Hall 5, Hehman 3, Darlage 3, Benter 1, Team 1), P 15 (Kaelin 4, Johnson 4).

Turnovers: BC 7, P 6.

Fouls: BC 14, P 10.