New Palestine High School

The New Palestine girls basketball team jumped out to an early lead and never looked back Wednesday in a 59-17 sectional-opening victory over Greenwood. The Dragons (15-8) improve to face No. 1 Roncalli (22-3) in Friday's 7:30 p.m. semifinal at Rushville. Shelbyville (12-9) will face Indian Creek (11-13) in the first game. The Dragons jumped out to a 19-1 lead in the first quarter, led 26-6 after a period and quickly extended the lead into the 20s after that. NP started the game with solid balance and distributing the ball. Two early hoops from Brooklyn Crim staked the Dragons to an 8-1 lead three minutes in. Sadey Hughbanks and Haven Flagle then hit back-to-back 3-pointers to extend the lead to 14-1, and then Hughbanks scored inside, followed by a 3-pointer from Kendra Moore to make it a 19-1 game. Sawyor Murdick then scored five straight points on a shot inside and a 3-pointer, before Hughbanks added a basket to put the Dragons up 26-4. Greenwood scored just ahead of the buzzer to make it a 26-6 game after one. The 26 points scored in the opening frame were the most scored by the Dragons in any quarter this season. The Dragons kept adding on in the second. Gabbie Brown scored seven points and Moore four, while Haven Flagle had a bucketload of steals to allow the lead to extend to 39-10 at the break. A 6-0 run to start the second half triggered the running clock, with Crim scoring four points in the frame to extend the lead to 50-11. The Dragons outscored Greenwood 9-3 in the final quarter, with Hughbanks hitting a three-point play and Tessa Mohr scoring four points off the bench. Nine of the 11 Dragons who played scored. Three tallied double figures. Brown scored 12, hitting two 3-pointers. Crim and Hughbanks each had 10. Flagle and Moore scored seven points each. Murdick tallied five points and Mohr four. McKenzie Hacker and Ally White each scored two. The Dragons allowed just six field goals to Greenwood. The game marked the second time they have held a team below 20 points this season. The other was also against Greenwood, a 60-11 victory in November. The Dragons earned a rematch with Roncalli, a team they played a tight tooth-and-nail game against on Jan. 20 before falling 58-56.