New Palestine High School

The New Palestine boys basketball team built a 12-point lead in the latter stages of Friday's game, but an avalanche of 3-pointers by 3A No. 6 Shelbyville allowed the Golden Bears to come back and beat the host Dragons 64-59. The Dragons were outscored 21-4 over the game's final 4:30 after leading 55-43, as Shelbyville hit five consecutive 3-pointers. Will Davison led the Dragons with 17 points. Eli Parrett tallied 13 and Sam Hirschy 12. Early on, Shelbyville's defense limited the Dragons from the field, but NP was able to get to the line, hitting 6-of-8 from the stripe in the opening frame. Cael Butler's 3-pointer was the team's lone field goal of the opening frame, but Shelbyville used a run to build a 16-9 lead. The Golden Bears scored the first basket of the second to go up nine, then the Dragons responded with their first big run of the game. Davison scored six straight points to launch a nine-point game-tying run. Parrett then caught fire, driving inside for a basket, then hitting a 3-pointer on the wing and delivering a steal-and-score to tally seven straight points and extend the run to 16, which put NP up 25-18. Shelbyville answered with a quick 7-0 run, hitting a shot and turning two straight Dragons turnovers into scores to tie the game at the break. The Dragons and Golden Bears had a back-and-forth early part of the third, but NP did so by going to Hirschy, who was difficult for Shelbyville to handle inside. He scored six straight Dragons points, but the Golden Bears had answers, and eventually re-took the lead at 37-35 on a 3-pointer. Hirschy responded with a three-point play the other way to put the Dragons up 38-37, launching a 13-0 run in which Davison hit back-to-back shots, Hirschy scored again, and Evan Darrah a 3-pointer, giving the Dragons a 46-37 lead after three. Hirschy scored 11 points of the Dragons' 21 third-quarter points. Parrett scored to open the fourth and extend the lead to 48-37. Shelbyville answered with a three-point play to cut the lead to eight, but Butler quickly hit a 3-pointer to extend it back to 11. A 3-pointer by the Golden Bears cut the lead back to eight, but Parrett hit two free throws and scored on a drive to give the Dragons a 55-43 lead. Then, Shelbyville's avalanche began. The Golden Bears hit a 3-pointer. Davison answered with a reverse layup to put the Dragons up 11, but Shelbyville hit back-to-back 3-pointers, sandwiched around a Dragons miss at the rim. A turnover on a drive led to a Shelbyville break and a three-point play to cut the lead to 57-55 with 1:30 to go. The Dragons missed a 3-pointer out of the corner, and Shelbyville hit one out of the corner to take the lead at 58-57 with a minute to play. Davison drilled a step-back 17-footer to put NP up 59-58 in the final minute, but Shelbyville again answered with a shot inside. NP had a chance to re-take the lead, but turned the ball over with 20 seconds left. Shelbyville missed the two free throws, but rebounded the second miss and scored to go up 62-59. NP missed a 3-point look in the closing seconds and fouled. In addition to the three double-figure scorers, Butler tallied nine points. Darrah had five and Evan Study three. The Dragons were 15-of-18 from the free throw line in the contest. The Dragons are now 9-10 on the season and 4-2 in conference play. They next play Saturday at home against Columbus East.