New Palestine High School

The New Palestine girls basketball team withstood a number of runs Saturday afternoon, but made big plays on both ends to beat Delta 57-47 in a Hoosier Heritage Conference game at NPHS. The Dragons' defense forced 29 turnovers in the victory, including a dozen in the first quarter, which allowed the Dragons to get into a full-court game. Allie Blum scored 11 points in the opening frame and Natalie Sevier hit three putbacks to give the Dragons a 19-8 lead after the opening eight minutes. Delta stormed back in the second, opening the frame with a run to take leads of 24-23 and 26-25. Vivian Miller hit a 3-pointer from the wing to re-take the lead at 28-26 - giving the Dragons the lead for good. She followed with a basket ahead of the buzzer to give NP a 30-26 edge at halftime. In the third, Delta scored the first three points to cut the lead to one. The Dragons rebounded a missed free throw that would have tied the game, then responded with a 12-point run to go up 42-29. Miller was big in the run, scoring seven points. Kenna Tweedy also scored three points and Hughbanks four in the frame. Delta responded with seven straight points to cut the lead to five before a late basket put NP up 44-37 going into the fourth. The Dragons again responded when Delta threatened to cut the lead. It got as close as 50-43, but Blum hit back-to-back fastbreak layups to push the edge to double digits. Blum led the Dragons with 21 points, scoring 15 in the first half. Miller added 19 points, tallying seven each in the middle quarters. Hughbanks and Sevier each scored six, while providing strong post defense and rebounding. Tweedy added three points and Kendra Moore two. The Dragons improved to 4-5 on the season and 2-0 in the Hoosier Heritage Conference with their second straight victory. They next play Tuesday at home against Shelbyville. The Dragons also won the JV game 47-24.