HUNTINGBURG — After losing to Beech Grove in last year’s regional, the Brownstown Central boys basketball team felt like the experience it took from that game prepared them for this year’s regional on Saturday at Huntingburg Memorial Gym against Forest Park.

The Braves didn’t get off to the best start one year ago, and it was the opposite story on Saturday.

Brownstown exploded out of the gate to a 13-2 lead, and the Braves didn’t let Forest Park get within single digits for the remainder of the game as they went on to win 64-49.

It’s the first regional championship since the 2008-09 season and the fourth regional championship in program history.

“It was a big one,” junior Jack Benter said. “Last year, we lost a tough one, so I think we got some experience from that, and we were ready to go tonight.”

Benter was especially ready to go. He scored the team’s first five points and scored 11 of the 13 first-quarter points.

Benter did a lot of his work early driving to the lane and getting himself easy baskets in the paint. Head coach Dave Benter wasn’t sure what defense the Rangers would throw at Jack, but once it became clear, the junior took advantage.

“We weren’t sure what we’d see if they’d come out in a zone because they mix it up between zone and man,” Dave said. “We’ve seen so many different things defensively, and they made the decision to guard him one-on-one, and he was able to get into the lane. He was able to get to spots pretty easily tonight.”

Chace Coomer and Parker Hehman each knocked down 3-pointers in the second quarter to give Brownstown a 22-4 lead, and Forest Park was forced to call timeout.

The Rangers were then able to close the first half strong, going on a 14-5 run thanks to some baskets from Reid Howard and Jace Berg. Brownstown led 27-16 at halftime.

“They had some openings and we had a game plan going into it, so we were just trying to attack them and get to our spots,” Jack said.

Forest Park hung around for a couple of minutes in the third quarter, but then Benter got his outside shot going. He scored 14 points in the third period and helped lead the Braves to a 50-31 advantage.

“When you see the ball go in the basket, your confidence goes up, so when you get some easy baskets and your confidence goes up, it makes those outside shots easier,” Jack said.

Benter led the way with 32 points. Hehman scored eight points, Carson Darlage and Coomer both had six, Colby Hall had five, Micah Sheffer three, Jakob Arthur two and Caiden Gwin two.

Berg led Forest Park with 18 points, and Howard scored 12.

“It was kind of a rollercoaster game,” Dave said. “We’d play really well for a bit, get a lead and then I thought we’d get complacent. We can’t do that the farther we go in the tournament. The segments we played well, we played really well. We’ve got to put 32 minutes together.”

Dave has now been the head coach for three of the four regional championships won at BCHS. His first came in 2003-04, second in 2008-09 and third on Saturday. The fourth one came in the 1930-31 season.

“It’s great,” Dave said. “We knew going in as a team that we had a lot of pieces, but you just never know how those pieces are going to develop. We really struggled throughout the times defensively, and in the middle of the season, we had all our injuries, but we’ve really come alive, and I really like the way we’re playing right now.”

Brownstown (23-4) will now play in the Southport Semistate on Saturday, playing in the first game against Indianapolis Scecina (18-6) at 10 a.m.

The second game will feature Linton-Stockton (27-1) and Parke Heritage (19-9). The winner of the two games will meet in the semistate championship at 8 p.m. Saturday.

“We’re playing good basketball right now,” Jack said. “We hope to keep up it up through the rest of the tournament.”

Box score

At Southridge Regional

Braves 64, Rangers 49

Forest Park;2;14;14;19;—;49

Brownstown Central;13;14;24;13;—;64

Forest Park (9-18): Jace Berg 6 2-2 18, Reid Howard 5 0-0 12, Jaxon Lueken 3 0-0 6, Bryson Partenheimer 3 0-0 6, Trevor Berg 1 2-4 4, Carter Hinson 1 0-0 2, Luke Hauser 0 1-2 1, Totals 19 5-8 49.

Brownstown Central (23-4): Jack Benter 12 3-3 32, Parker Hehman 3 0-0 8, Carson Darlage 3 0-0 6, Chace Coomer 2 0-0 6, Colby Hall 2 1-2 5, Micah Sheffer 1 0-0 3, Jakob Arthur 1 0-1 2, Caiden Gwin 0 2-2 2, Totals 24 6-8 64.

3-point goals: BC 10 (Benter 5, Hehman 2, Coomer 2, Sheffer), FP 6 (J. Berg 4, Howard 2).

Rebounds: BC 19, FP 14.

Fouls: BC 10, FP 13.