New Palestine High School

The New Palestine boys basketball team opens sectional play tonight at Greenwood against Roncalli. NEW PALESTINE DRAGONS (13-11) vs. RONCALLI ROYALS (14-7) Time: 7:30 p.m. Site: Greenwood High School Tickets: $8/session, $20/season, https://public.eventlink.com/tickets?t=175504 Audio: NewPalRadio.com Video: none SETTING THE SCENE The Dragons open sectional play in the Greenwood sectional with a rematch of last year’s sectional championship game against Roncalli. The Dragons won last year’s title game 65-55 at Shelbyville. They played a tight game in the regular season Jan. 24, in which Roncalli hit a last-second 3-pointer to win 43-40. Evan Darrah led the Dragons with 13 points in that contest. New Palestine is seeking its fourth straight sectional championship. The program has won 12 sectional titles in its history, eight of which have come since 2009. Trent Whitaker has been the head coach for five - in 2019, 2020, 2023, 2024 and 2025. This is the Dragons’ 109th appearance in the IHSAA Tournament - NP played its first tourney game in the 1917 Anderson sectional against Cicero. This is the program’s first-ever sectional game at Greenwood, the 19th different host site for a Dragons sectional game. The Dragons trail the all-time series 12-8 against Roncalli, but have won five of the last six meetings and seven of the last nine. The Greenwood sectional is one of the state’s toughest. It is one of three sectionals in the state that features four Sagarin Top 64 teams - the other two are in Class 4A (Noblesville and Plainfield). DRAGONS NOTES The Dragons enter the tournament having won three straight games and seven of their last 10. Last week, they swept two home games against Franklin 64-55 and Warren Central 59-46. The Dragons rallied from a fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Grizzlly Cubs, while they held a double-digit lead for much of the game against WC. Against Franklin, senior Evan Darrah had a career game, as he scored 18 of his career-high 25 points in the fourth quarter, including 3-of-4 from 3-point range and 7-of-7 from the line in the final frame. He also had seven rebounds in the contest. Will Davison added 16 points and four boards. Evan Study tallied double-digit points for the second straight game, scoring 12 on 5-of-9 shooting. Sam Hirschy has finished the season as a rebounding machine. He averaged 12 rebounds per game in his last four games, including 5.3 offensive boards. He had 15 boards against Franklin and followed up with 10 rebounds against Warren Central.He is second in the HHC with 7.5 boards per game, and 15th in the state among sophomores. Against WC, Eli Parrett had a big day with 18 points. He hit 3-of-4 from deep. Darrah added 14 points and three assists, while Davison tallied 11 points and six boards. With 132 assists - including nine against Franklin last week - Parrett is seventh on the NPHS single-season assists list. He can move into third with six assists. He is ninth in the state among juniors and second in the HHC with 5.5 assists per game. At 17.8 ppg, Davison is third in the HHC in scoring. He is 14th in the state among sophomores. Darrah is ninth in the HHC at 14.0 ppg. The Dragons have clinched a winning record for the ninth consecutive season, the longest such stretch in school history. SCOUTING THE ROYALS Roncalli has spent much of the season in the Class 3A Top 10 and is seeking to clinch its third consecutive 15-win season. Senior Conner Kesler lead sthe Royals with 15.2 points per game. Senior center Joe Taylor adds 12.3 ppg and 8.1 rpg. Fellow senior Luke Feldman adds 12.7 ppg. Roncalli won its most recent game, a 77-49 victory over then-3A No. 8 Crispus Attucks, last Thursday night. LOOKING AHEAD The winner faces either Beech Grove (8-16) or Indian Creek (3-19) in Friday’s second semifinal at Greenwood. 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)