New Palestine High School

The New Palestine basketball teams are in action Friday with their annual doubleheader against Greenfield-Central. GIRLS: Dragons (5-5, 3-0 HHC) vs. Greenfield-Central (6-3, 0-1 HHC) BOYS: Dragons (2-0, 0-0 HHC) vs. Greenfield-Central (3-0, 0-0 HHC) Time: 6 p.m. girls, 7:30 p.m. boys Location: NPHS Audio: NewPalRadio.com Video: IHSAAtv.org/NewPalestine ($) Tickets: $6/cash at gate or https://public.eventlink.com/tickets?t=60463 GIRLS SETTING THE SCENE The Dragons play theiri annual doubleheader against Greenfield-Central, with the Dragons bringing a three-game winning streak into the contest. This is the 67th meeting between the two schools. The Dragons hold a 34-32 lead in the series and have won nine of the last 10 meetings. They have played annually since both schools began girls basketball in 1974-75. This contest continues “HHC month” for the Dragons - a run of five consecutive conference games in a 15-day span. The Dragons finish HHC play with two games in January. DRAGONS NOTES The Dragons are 3-0 in Hoosier Heritage Conference play for the seventh time in eight years. The Dragons enter Friday’s game after a 56-49 victory over Shelbyville in which the Dragons outscored the Golden Bears 15-8 in the final quarter to break a 41-all deadlock. The Dragons shot a season-best 50% in the contest, hitting 22-of-44 from the floor. Sophomore Sadey Hughbanks tallied a career-high 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting against Shelbyville. That came one game after she set a career high 11 rebounds on Dec. 2 against Delta. Senior Vivian Miller scored 10 points against Shelbyville and tallied a career-high eight assists. She also had six rebounds to lead the Dragons. Miller needs three points to reach 400 for her career. Junior Kylee Beranek hit 4-of-5 from the floor and scored 10 points - one off her career high - in the victory over Shelbyville. Sophomore Kendra Moore was also one point off her career high with an eight-point performance. Senior Allie Blum has had a strong start to the year, scoring in double figures in nine games and leading the team with an 18.8 ppg average. She has tallied 188 points through 10 games this season. Blum needs six points to reach 500 for her career. Sophomore Natalie Sevier tallied a career-high 10 rebounds in Saturday’s 57-47 victory over Delta. At 4.7 apg, Miller leads the HHC in assists. At 18.8 ppg, Blum is currently second in the Hoosier Heritage Conference in scoring. Miller ranks 10th in the conference at 12.8 ppg. Blum also ranks second in the league in steals (4.8 spg). Miller ranks sixth (3.0 spg). SCOUTING THE COUGARS Greenfield-Central has started the season with a 6-3 mark. The Cougars are led by junior Chaney Brown, who tallies 13.9 ppg and 4.6 rpg, and junior Madison Sonsini, who tallies 13.9 ppg and 8.6 rpg. Junior Brooklyn McConnell adds 7.2 ppg G-C has its best record after nine games since the 2015-16 team also started 6-3. That squad went 23-5 and advanced to the regional final. LOOKING AHEAD The Dragons finish their five-game conference stretch and four-game homestand Tuesday against Mt. Vernon. They will then begin a three-game pre-Christmas road swing Thursday at Cathedral, before visiting Lawrence Central and Southport the following week. The Dragons return home Dec. 28 for a matinee game against Franklin County. BOYS SETTING THE SCENE The Dragons open conference play with their annual early-December doubleheader with Greenfield-Central. The The Dragons lead the all-time series 30-28 and have won seven of hte last eight meetings. The Dragons are 22-5 in the series since the 2006-07 season. Last year, the Dragons won a 53-46 meeting at G-C. The two teams have played annually since the 1984-85 season - always on the second Friday in December. The Dragons are receiving votes in both polls for the second straight week. Today’s matchup features two programs that won 20+ games last season, as the Dragons won 23 games and the Cougars 21. DRAGONS NOTES The Dragons opened the year with two double-digit victories over Eastern Hancock and Rushville last week. In Friday’s victory over Eastern Hancock, two Dragons had double-doubles. Julius Gizzi tallied career highs with 24 points and 10 rebounds. It was his first career double-double. Ben Slagley added 19 points and 11 boards for his fifth career double-double. It marked the first time two Dragons tallied double-doubles in the same game since Slagley and Ian Stephens Jan. 6, 2023 at Delta. It was the first time two Dragons had double-digit rebounds in the same game since Slagley and Stephens Jan. 21, 2023 at Franklin. Junior guard Moses Haynes opened the season with a career-high seven assists in the season opener against Eastern Hancock. He then followed with four 3-pointers and 12 points in Saturday’s game vs. Rushville. The Dragons have one starter and three rotation players returning from last year’s record-setting 23-3 squad that won HHC and sectional championships. Junior center Ben Slagley is a three-year starter who averaged 10.0 points and 6.7 rebounds per game last season. He ranked third on the team in scoring and second in rebounding last season. The Dragons’ lone senior, Brady Armstrong, saw action in 11 games last season.He tallied nine points in the opening game against Eastern Hancock. The Dragons have a large multi-sport presence on the roster. Armstrong had three interceptions and four takeaways for the Dragons’ football team this fall. Keagan Harrison, Austin McMahan, Alex Guhl and Landon Seib were also members of the football team. Guhl was the second-leading tackler as a linebacker. Seib was a starter at offensive guard. SCOUTING THE COUGARS Greenfield-Central is 3-0 on the season for the second straight year. The Cougars are led by junior Braylon Mullins, who is tallying 25 ppg and 6.7 rpg. Junior Boston Willard adds 10.7 ppg, while junior Dallas Freeman scores 9.0 ppg and leads the team with 7.3 rpg. The Cougars enter this contest after a 56-50 victory over Decatur Central Tuesday. Mullins tallied 28 points and nine rebounds. Freeman added 16 points and seven rebounds. Willard tallied 12 points and six assists. LOOKING AHEAD The Dragons return to conference play next week to begin a double-weekend at New Castle. The weekend concludes at Franklin Central. Today is the Dragons’ last home game until Jan. 5, when Delta visits the Dragons’ Den. FOLLOW US Follow the Dragons on Facebook (@newpalestinedragons), Twitter (@NPHSDragons), Instagram (@newpalestinedragons) and online (NewPalestineAthletics.com). All Dragons boys basketball games, home and away, are broadcast at NewPalRadio.com. All home games are also provided via pay-per-view at IHSAAtv.org. Photo credit: Hanna Beller