New Palestine High School

The New Palestine boys basketball team returns home for two games this week, starting with a conference game against No. 6 Shelbyville. Friday: No. 6 SHELBYVILLE GOLDEN BEARS (15-4, 3-2 HHC) at NEW PALESTINE DRAGONS (9-9, 4-1 HHC) Time: 6 p.m. F/JV, 7:30 p.m. V Site: New Palestine HS Tickets: $7, at gate or https://public.eventlink.com/tickets?t=173312 Audio: NewPalRadio.com Video: IHSAAtv.org/newpalestine ($) SATURDAY: COLUMBUS EAST OLYMPIANS (6-10) at NEW PALESTINE DRAGONS (9-9) Time: 6 p.m. JV, 7:30 p.m. V Site: New Palestine HS Tickets: $7, at gate or https://public.eventlink.com/tickets?t=173469 Audio: NewPalRadio.com Video: IHSAAtv.org/newpalestine ($) SETTING THE SCENE The Dragons return to conference play to face one of the league’s - and one of the state’s - top teams in Shelbyville. It’s also a matchup of potential opponents in the upcoming Greenwood sectional. This is their final meeting as conference opponents, as Shelbyville is exiting the HHC after this season. The Dragons have won seven straight meetings with the Golden Bears and lead the all-time series 22-19. Five of the last 10 meetings have been decided by three points or less. NP won a 63-42 decision at Garrett Gym last season. Saturday night, while the Dragons and Olympians have met many times on the gridiron in big games - and they once played each other annually in girls basketball - this is the first-ever meeting between the two schools’ boys basketball programs. Columbus East faces Hoosier Hills Conference foe Jennings County Friday night. DRAGONS NOTES The Dragons’ three-game winning streak was snapped Tuesday night at No. 10 Guerin Catholic, despite shooting 53% from the floor and getting 24 points from Will Davison and 18 from Evan Darrah. Davison hit 9-of-15 from the floor and 4-of-7 from deep, while Darrah was 6-of-10 from the floor and 3-of-5 from long range. On Saturday against Southport, the Dragons rallied from an eight-point fourth quarter deficit to beat Southport 71-64. NP outscored the Cardinals 22-7 in the quarter and opened the frame on a 16-2 run. Darrah scored 10 of his career-high 22 points in the fourth quarter. Davison added 19 points. Eli Parrett scored 13 of his career-high 16 points in the first half against Southport. He also dished 11 assists for his first career double-double. He also had six boards. Against Guerin, Parrett led the Dragons with four rebounds and seven assists. Sam Hirschy has been big on the glass of late. He had eight boards against Southport. He is averaging 6.8 rebounds per game over his last eight games. At 19.5 ppg, Davison is third in the HHC in scoring. He is ninth in the state among sophomores. Darrah is eighth in the HHC at 14.2 ppg. Davison has tallied 20-plus points nine times. Darrah has hit the 20-point mark in four games. Parrett ranks second in the HHC in assists at 5.9 per game. He is sixth in the state among juniors. Hirschy is sixth in the conference at 5.9 rebounds per contest. SCOUTING THE GOLDEN BEARS Shelbyville is on a four-game streak after beating Franklin 64-45 last Thursday. Caden Claxton lead the Golden Bears, averaging 16.6 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. Mar Nicholson adds 14.4 ppg, while Brody Runnebohm adds 11.2 ppg. Nicholson had 20 points and Claxton 16 points and eight boards against Franklin. SCOUTING THE OLYMPIANS Columbus East has dropped three straight games and seven of its last nine. Like NP, the Olympians are playing a three-game week. They dropped a 66-60 decision to Mooresville Tuesday night. Last week, they fell 81-55 to New Albany. Columbus East is led by senior Keaton Lawson, who averages 18.1 points, 6.0 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game. Senior Carter Patterson adds 16.5 ppg and 6.1 rpg. 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)