New Palestine High School

The New Palestine boys basketball team hits the road Saturday for its final matinee of the season. SATURDAY: DRAGONS (8-8) at SOUTHPORT (7-8) Time: 1 p.m. JV/2:30 p.m. V Site: Southport Fieldhouse Tickets: $7, https://public.eventlink.com/tickets?t=169132 Audio: NewPalRadio.com SETTING THE SCENE The Dragons have their final single-game week of the regular season as they travel to Southport to face the Carxdinals. NP enters the week having won two consecutive games to improve to .500 on the season. The Dragons have won three straight meetings against Southport. The Cardinals lead the all-time series 7-4. NP is 5-3 since the current series began in 2018-19. NP won a 77-64 decision last season. Evan Darrah had seven points, three assists and four steals in that contest. DRAGONS NOTES The Dragons enter the week with back-to-back victories, their first sweep of a week since beating Chatard and Greenfield-Central Dec. 10-12. On Friday against Yorktown, the Dragons trailed by five going into the final frame, then exploded for 27 fourth-quarter points in a 58-51 victory. Will Davison scored 13 of his team-high 18 points in the fourth quarter, including scoring all nine points in a run that turned a one-point lead into a 50-40 advantage. That run was keyed with a four-point play. Davison also had five rebounds in that contest. Against Yorktown, Sam Hirschy continued to do the work on the glass. He had nine points on 4-6 shooting, and four of his five rebounds came on the offensive glass. Eli Parrett had nine points and nine assists. The next afternoon against Indian Creek, the Dragons built a double-digit lead in the opening quarter, pushed it to 20 early in the second and never looked back in a 71-52 victory. All 12 players who dressed played, and nine scored. Davison tallied 20 points on 6-11 shooting and 4-8 from deep. Hirschy added seven points and nine boards. Parrett tallied six points and six assists. Darrah had nine points,. One player who has been seeing increased playing time is sophomore Layton Pardue. A key member of the Dragons’ JV team, he got extended time Saturday and scored a career-high 10 points on 3-4 shooting from the floor and 3-3 from the line. Sam Hirschy is averaging 7.2 rebounds per game over his last six games. Twenty-five of his 43 rebounds have been on the offensive glass in that stretch. At 19.2 ppg, Davison is third in the HHC in scoring. He is 10th in the state among sophomores. Darrah is eighth in the HHC at 13.5 ppg. Davison has hit double-figures in 13 of the Dragons’ 16 games this season and has tallied 20-plus points nine times. Darrah has hit double-figures 12 times and the 20-point mark in seven games. Davison also ranks third in the HHC with 1.8 steals per game. Parrett ranks second in the HHC in assists at 5.5 per game. He is ninth in the state among juniors. Hirschy is sixth in the conference at 5.7 rebounds per contest. SCOUTING THE CARDINALS Southport is 7-8 after a 73-61 victory over Franklin Saturday and a 75-63 loss to Decatur Central Thursday. Senior center James Kalala leads the Cardinals, averaging 16.2 ppg and 11.1 rpg. Senior Malakai Bravard adds 13.6 ppg. Kalala shot 15-17 for 36 points and added 16 boards against Franklin. Bravard added 21. LOOKING AHEAD The Dragons have a three-game week coming up, beginning with a Tuesday trip to Guerin Catholic in a rematch of last year’s regional. It follows with two home games - a conference matchup against Shelbyville and a Valentine’s Day game against Columbus East. FOLLOW THE GAMES All games, home and away, are broadcast at NewPalRadio.com. Home games are also simulcast on a pay-per-view basis on IHSAAtv.org. NPHS athletics is online (NewPalestineAthletics.com), on X (@NPHSDragons), Facebook and Instagram (@newpalestinedragons)