New Palestine High School

The New Palestine boys basketball team dominated Warren Central 59-46 Thursday to send the Dragons' five seniors out with a victory. The Dragons started the game with their senior class - Liam Atkinson, Evan Darrah, Max Lewis, Nolan Lewis and Evan Study - and were able to put the five on the floor together in the fourth quarter. A 17-0 first-half run became a 28-4 spurt that gave the Dragons a 21-point first-half lead. It never dipped below 15 the remainder of the game until WC scored a late basket in the final minute. The Dragons started out hot. Darrah hit an early 3-pointer and Atkinson a basket, but WC jumped out to an 8-5 edge. But the Dragons quickly seized control as Eli Parrett drained back-to-back 3-pointers from the left wing. Will Davison then hit a triple and Darrah a pull-up jumper from just inside the arc at the first-quarter buzzer to put the Dragons up 16-8. The run continued in the second, as Parrett hit a free throw, Davison a basket and Study a three-point play to put the Dragons up 22-8. WC scored a basket, but NP kept pouring on and scored the next six points, and eventually, pushed the lead to 33-12 after a Darrah three-point play and two free throws from Davison. A six-point WC run brought the Warriors to within 15, but Cael Butler kept an offensive rebound alive and fed Davison at the top of the key. He drove in from 20 feet and dunked the ball. After a rebound, the Dragons pushed the ball up-court and Parrett hit a twisting, contested 14-foot shot at the first-half buzzer to put the Dragons up 37-18. Davison scored eight of his 11 first-half points in the second quarter, while Parrett and Study each scored five in the frame. The Dragons extended the edge early in the third, as Parrett opened the half with a 3-pointer. WC answered with a basket, but two free throws from Darrah, a basket from Parrett and a putback by Hirschy extended the lead to 46-23. The teams traded baskets from there, but a putback by Sam Hirschy and a free throw by Darrah gave the Dragons a 50-31 lead after three. Hirschy again extended the lead to double-digits with two free throws early in the fourth. After a WC 3-pointer, Davison made it a 20-point game with two free throws. Study hit the Dragons' only field goal of the fourth quarter with a drive to put NP up 56-37, and Darrah later was fouled and hit three free throws to make it a 59-39 game before WC scored the last seven points in the closing minutes. Parrett led the Dragons with a career-high 18 points. Darrah added 14 - including 7-of-8 from the free throw line. The Dragons were 15-of-19 as a team. Davison tallied 11, all in the first half. Study scored seven points. Hirschy tallied four, Butler three and Atkinson two. A solid defensive effort by the Dragons held WC without a player in double figures. The Dragons' JV dropped its game, but finished the year with a 17-3 record. The Dragons finish the regular season 13-11, clinching the program's ninth straight winning season. They open sectional play Wednesday at Greenwood against Roncalli.