New Palestine High School

The New Palestine girls basketball team intentionally created a difficult game for itself Thursday - as coach Craig Moore wanted to test his team, playing back-to-back nights against good teams. The Dragons passed the test Thursday, beating Class A No. 6 Greenwood Christian 61-47. They dealt with a bit of early adversity, as the Cougars hit four 3-pointers in the opening minutes and built a 14-6 lead. Moore said he was glad to see how his team responded to the early deficit. They responded with defense. Sawyor Murdick stole an outlet pass and scored. Then, Haven Flagle and Brooklyn Crim followed with steal-and-scores to cut the deficit to 14-12. The Dragons extended the run to 11 straight, as Flagle opened the second quarter with a 3-pointer and followed with a basket to put NP up 17-14. Greenwood Christian followed with an 8-0 run to take a 22-17 lead, but the Dragons again had an answer. Flagle hit her second 3-pointer of the day, and after a GCA free throw, Crim scored three straight baskets, finishing with a three-point play through traffic just ahead of the buzzer to put the Dragons up 27-23, capping off a personal 7-0 run that gave NP the lead for good. The Dragons then came out hot in the third quarter, turning defense into offense. Tessa Mohr scored nine points in the frame, while Flagle, Crim and Murdick scored five each, as the Dragons pushed their lead to 51-36 after three. Crim scored five early points in the fourth quarter to keep the lead at double-digits, and the Dragons held off a GCA comeback - the Cougars cut the lead to 56-47 late - by hitting 5-of-6 from the line in the last three minutes. NP was 8-of-10 in the fourth quarter and 13-of-15 for the game. Crim led the Dragons with 21 points, her second 20-point game of the season. Flagle added 18 points, including three 3-pointers. Mohr scored all nine of her points in the third quarter, in which the Dragons outscored GCA 24-13 to build a double-digit lead. Murdick scored seven of her nine points in the second half. Margaret Barrett added four points. The Dragons are now 4-0 on the season. They next play Tuesday at Franklin Central. The Dragons won the JV game 47-36.