PORT ARTHUR — HUNTSVILLE — Next stop for the Port Neches-Groves golf team is the

    4A state tournament in Austin.

    The Indians punched their ticket in grand style Thursday at Raven Nest in Huntsville, overtaking first- day leader Montgomery to win the Region 3, 4A championship. Placing second would have gotten the Indians to Austin but they played well enough to add the regional title to their District 20-4A championship.

    “I’m excited for these guys and really proud of them,” said second-year coach Ricky Keyes. “After the disappointment of last year, we set our minds to do better. The goal was to make it to state. Now that we’ve accomplished that, we want to be state champions.”

    Freshman Braden Bailey, who had been derailed by a quadruple bogey in the first round, came back strong with a 74 to pace the Indians to a 305 team total on Thursday. That gave them a 36-hole score of 606, which was four shots better than first-day leader Montgomery and six clear of Huntsville.

    Jarrod Brown had the highest individual finish among the Indians, after adding a 77 to his opening 71 to place second in medal play with a 148. Huntsville’s Chandler Phillips was the tourney medalist, after shooting a blistering five-under-par 66 to finish at 136.

    PN-G’s other scores that counted Thursday were a 76 by Brandon Provost and a 78 by Lonnie LaBove. All four Indians were between 148 and 154. LaBove was at 152, Bailey shot 153 and Provost finished with 154. Tyler Rawson slipped to an 86 Thursday and was at 164.

    Keys said he was especially pleased with the way Brown and Bailey kept their cool in the face of adversity. Brown, who was three over through 12 holes, made a triple bogey on 13, but played the next five holes in even par. Bailey started with three consecutive bogeys, rebounded with two birdies and finished three over for the day.

    PN-G’s “B” team took a bit of a step back on Thursday, stumbling to a 336 to finish at 656. But that was good for a sixth place finish in the field of 14 teams.

    Alex Fadhli-Theiss had the “B” team low score of 79 to finish at 163. Drake Herndanez shot 82-162, Brandon Soileau was at 84-162, Jordan Corcoran posted a 91 for 169 and Deny McDaniel had 94-173.

    The players who will be representing PN-G at the state tournament have a degree of familiarity with the Jimmy Clay course that’s the site of the state tourney. Keyes took them to Austin for practice rounds over the Thanksgiving Holidays and they later play in a tournament there.