HANOVER — The first meeting between Brownstown Central and Eastern (Pekin) was a low-scoring affair on Feb. 17, and as the two teams squared off again in the first round of the sectional on Wednesday night, it was played to a similar style.

Another thing that was similar was the final result, which had the Braves on top when the clock hit triple zeros. Brownstown won 59-45 in the regular season, and the Braves won 46-35 Wednesday to advance in the postseason.

Much like the second half in the game at Brownstown on Feb. 17, the Musketeers were content playing at a slow pace, trying to limit the possessions in the game.

“We felt they would be pretty deliberate, but it was pretty obvious after that first possession where they went stall offense, and so that kind of got us out (of our stuff),” head coach Dave Benter said. “I thought we played frustrated on the offensive end.”

Jack Benter beat the buzzer from just inside half-court at the end of the first quarter to give the Braves an 11-9 lead.

Pekin’s 6-foot-11 Jacob Cherry started to get some easy baskets in the second quarter, giving Pekin a 17-15 lead and coach Benter called timeout.

From there, the Braves closed the half on an 11-3 run, featuring back-to-back 3-pointers from Parker Hehman and Jakob Arthur.

Colby Hall then converted a 3-point play and had a tip-in to beat the buzzer going into halftime, giving BC a 26-20 lead.

“That was a huge stretch,” Benter said. “That gave us the separation that we held onto the rest of the night. We needed a run like that.”

The third quarter saw both teams scored just four points total, and Benter wasn’t pleased with some of the looks his team was getting.

“We took a couple really bad shots,” he said. “We have to play with some confidence on offense. Our pace and our ball movement needs to be better.”

Jack Benter started the fourth quarter with a tough fadeaway jumper, and then he went backdoor and slammed down a two-handed slam off an assist from Arthur.

That put the Braves up 10 with five minutes to play, and that was enough of a cushion to hold onto the lead.

Benter led all scorers with 21 points, and Pekin’s Cherry was close behind with 18.

Hall added 13 points for the Braves, Chace Coomer had five, Hehman four and Arthur three.

Brownstown (20-4) will now take on Providence (19-4), who beat Clarksville on Wednesday night 43-23.

The Braves beat the Pioneers in the very first game of the season on Nov. 26, 81-71.

“Friday is going to be a really physical game,” Benter said. “We’re going to have to mentally tough, and we can’t bail out offensively, take bad shots and turn the ball over.”

Brownstown and Providence will be the second game on Friday night at Southwestern Hanover. The first game will be between Southwestern and Henryville.

Box score

At Southwestern Hanover Sectional

Braves 46, Musketeers 35

Eastern Pekin;9;11;4;11;—;35

Brownstown Central;11;15;4;16;—;46

Eastern (16-7): Jacob Cherry 6 6-8 18, Cody Banet 3 0-0 9, Yancy Edlin 2 0-0 5, Kaden Temple 1 1-4 3, Totals 12 7-12 35.

Brownstown (20-4): Jack Benter 5 8-10 21, Colby Hall 5 3-3 13, Chace Coomer 1 2-2 5, Parker Hehman 1 1-3 4, Jakob Arthur 1 0-0 3, Totals 13 14-18 46.

3-point goals: BC 6 (Benter 3, Hehman, Coomer, Arthur), E 4 (Banet 3, Edlin 1).

Rebounds: BC 22, E 19

Fouls: BC 15, E 21.