New Palestine High School

The New Palestine boys basketball team dropped its Hoosier Heritage Conference finale Friday, falling 61-46 at Mt. Vernon. Sam Hirschy scored a career-high 19 points - tallying 16 in the second half as the Dragons attempted to rally from a 14-point halftime deficit. They cut the Marauders' lead to six, but a quick burst by MV to start the fourth pushed their lead back to double digits. Will Davison got the Dragons off and running with a 3-pointer on their first possession to give the Dragons their only lead of the game. It was answered with back-to-back Marauder triples, and a Davison shot inside cut the deficit to 6-5. MV scored the next seven points before Davison hit two free throws late in the quarter. A foul at the buzzer gave MV the opportunity to extend its edge to 16-7 after one. The Dragons opened the second quarter on a 7-2 spurt - Evan Darrah hit two free throws and a shot inside, Hirschy a putback and Darrah a free throw - to cut MV's lead to 18-14. But MV again hit a 3-pointer to go back up by seven, and the Marauders would outscore NP 13-3 the remainder of the period, as the Dragons' lone points came on three different trips to the line, where they went 3-for-6. Darrah tallied five points in the quarter for the Dragons. That put NP down 31-17 at the break. In the third quarter, the Dragons began to claw back in, starting with a tough shot in the lane by Davison and a three-point play from Darrah. Hirschy then took over, scoring six straight points to cut MV's lead to 38-30. Cael Butler and Eli Parrett both hit tough shots inside to cut the deficit to 40-34 going into the final frame. MV's Luke Ertel quickly hit a 3-pointer to push MV's lead to nine, and then hit a driving shot to make it a double-digit lead. Hirschy scored inside, but a basket by Ertel and a 3-pointer gave MV a 50-36 edge. Hirschy kept the Dragons in it. He rebounded a shot and turned it into a three-point play, then had a steal-and-score to cut the deficit to 50-41. MV hit a 3-pointer and a basket, but Hirschy again had a three-point play to cut the deficit to 53-44. Davison scored inside, but MV was able to score six straight points in the final minute to put the game away. Hirschy tallied 10 of the Dragons' 12 fourth-quarter points, and had 16 of their 29 second-half points. Hirschy hit seven field goals and was 5-of-7 from the line to tally his career-high 19 points - eclipsing a previous mark of 13 set in the season opener against Eastern Hancock. Most of his points came on putbacks. Davison added 14 points, tallying all seven of the Dragons' first-quarter points. Darrah had eight, Butler three and Parrett two. Ertel led MV with 24 points, tallying 11 in the fourth quarter. The Dragons are now 10-11 on the season and finish HHC play with a 4-3 record. They will finish in a third-place tie in the HHC standings. They next play Saturday at Mooresville.