IHSAA basketball: It'll be Brownsburg vs. No. 1 Ben Davis in 4A semistate final.

NEW CASTLE – It will be Ben Davis vs. Brownsburg at New Castle Fieldhouse Saturday night with a bid for the Class 4A state finals on the line. Here is a look at how the teams got there in Saturday’s early semistate semifinal games at New Castle:

Brownsburg 51, Jennings County 47

It must have felt like playing the Celtics at the Boston Garden.

In the first Class 4A semistate Saturday morning at New Castle Fieldhouse, Brownsburg held off a Jennings County 51-47 and its crowd that filled the arena.

“It was awesome,” Brownsburg coach Steve Lynch said. “For those kids to have that every night, but for our kids to play in that environment — for us or against us — to play in that atmosphere is something they will remember forever. For Jennings County to have that support behind them is a wonderful thing as well.”

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Eighth-ranked Brownsburg (22-4) was led by Elhadj Diallo, who scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half. No. 9 Jennings County did its best to slow down 6-7 junior Kanon Catchings, who was held to seven field-goal attempts and 14 points.

The Panthers, trailing Brownsburg by two points going into the fourth quarter, could never quite catch the Bulldogs in the final eight minutes. Brownsburg pushed the lead to as much as six points, but 3-pointers by Justin Ramey and Carter Kent brought Jennings County back within 46-44 with 1:35 left.

After Brownsburg’s Spencer Porath made one of two free throws with 1:16 left, Jennings County had a chance to tie it but Keegan Manowitz missed a 3-pointer, and Brownsburg put it away on a bucket by Diallo and 2-for-4 shooting from the free-throw line.

J.D. Lynch had eight points in the first half off the bench for Brownsburg. Manowitz led Jennings County (24-3) with 12 points and five assists. Justin Ramey added 10 points and five rebounds and sophomore Carter Kent had 10 points.

“I thought we guarded Catchings well but all their role players hit shots and played well,” Manowitz said.

Jennings County was 11-for-28 from the 3-point line as a team.

“Every game they make double-figure 3s and they never go away,” Lynch said of Jennings County. “It’s the great eraser. We never felt like we were in good shape. I felt like we had hands in their pocket and they just kept making them. I thought we did good job keeping them off the offensive rebounds. They get a lot of their points off offensive rebounds. They didn’t get the offensive rebound and kick-out 3s, so I thought our guys did a good job in that area.”

Jennings County fans, enjoying a sectional championship for the first time since 2005 and regional title for the first time in 25 years, cheered in appreciation as their team left the floor.

“We played really, really good,” Jennings County coach Josh Land said. “It’s hard to tell a group of six seniors that in the locker room, but eventually the positives will outweigh the negatives. The sting and disappointment will go away and we’ll look back and it will sink in how special it was. Just not right now.”

Ben Davis 78, Bloomington North 55

Sheridan Sharp is comfortable playing the role of facilitator for top-ranked Ben Davis, which has no shortage of offensive weapons.

But Sharp’s career-high 31-point outburst in Ben Davis’ 78-55 blowout win over Bloomington North in Saturday’s second 4A semistate game showed the Nicholls State-bound senior guard can get his points, too.

“A lot of teams, they see that I pass but I can score too when needed. I don’t try to force anything, I just let the game come to me," said Sharp, who came into the game averaging 9.8 points and 6.3 assists. "With this deep team, that’s one of the reasons we can win state. Anybody can get hot, and I guess tonight was my night.”

LL Cool J’s “Mama Said Knock You Out” was playing over the loudspeakers in pregame warmups, a fitting song for the first several minutes of the game. The Giants overwhelmed Bloomington North, taking a 12-0 lead in the first three minutes and going up 23-7 by the end of the first quarter.

It is one thing to prepare for Ben Davis, another to actually see the Giants in person.

“They were a step-and-a-half, two steps faster than we were on the offense and defensive end,” Bloomington North coach Jason Speer said. “Our transition defense had to be much better to be able to compete with Ben Davis. We just didn’t have that in our arsenal today.”

Ben Davis coach Don Carlisle said Sharp’s big offensive output was not necessarily a surprise, but his 19-point first half helped put the Giants up 24 points at halftime and allowed Ben Davis to substitute and rest starters for the night game vs. Brownsburg.

“I was happy for him,” Carlisle said. “We tell him all the time, ‘If you’re open, shoot it.’ He did that today and he made them. Good for him, good for us. It made it an easy today for us. He was able to get himself going offensively, which is always good for us.”

Ben Davis pushed its lead to the 35-point running clock threshold by the middle of the third quarter. Sharp also added six rebounds and five assists. Senior Zane Doughty had 10 points and four rebounds and Shaun Arnold went for eight points and five steals.

Ben Davis knocked off Brownsburg 57-33 back in December, but Carlisle said he expects a tougher game this time around.

“It’s a trap for us because we jumped on them early last time,” he said. “Hopefully we can have the same type of success because we jumped on them early and they never recovered. We didn’t get the best version of Brownsburg the first time we played. A lot of that had to do with us, though. How I approach with my group is that we have to play the same way. If we play the same way we played this morning, I think it will be tough for anybody. It’s about which Giants’ team shows up. But I respect coach Lynch and I know he’s going to have them ready.”

Luke Lindeman led Bloomington North with 16 points and Dawan Daniels added 13.

Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana high school basketball: Brownsburg, Ben Davis to meet in semistate