New Palestine High School

The New Palestine boys and girls basketball teams are back in action tonight as they play their annual doubleheader with Pendleton Heights. GIRLS: Pendleton Heights Arabians (11-6, 6-0 HHC) at New Palestine Dragons (9-9, 4-1 HHC) BOYS: Pendleton Heights Arabians (6-7, 0-1 HHC) at (RV) New Palestine Dragons (8-2, 2-1 HHC) Time: 6 p.m. girls/7:30 p.m. boys Site: NPHS Tickets: $6/at gate or https://public.eventlink.com/tickets?t=64143 Audio: NewPalRadio.com Video: IHSAAtv.org/NewPalestine ($) GIRLS SETTING THE SCENE The Dragons and Arabians meet with first place in the Hoosier Heritage Conference on the line. The Dragons can move into a first-place tie in the loss column with a victory, while PH has already clinched a share of the title and can win it outright with a victory. The Dragons enter having won back-to-back home games and six of their last seven at the Dragons’ Den. This is the 47th all-time meeting between the schools. The Dragons trail the series 28-18 and have dropped three straight meetings over the last two seasons. DRAGONS NOTES The Dragons rallied from a 14-point deficit Tuesday to beat Triton Central 43-37, using a three-point barrage in the second quarter. The Dragons scored 24 consecutive points from behind the 3-point arc, hitting a season-high eight triples for the game. Sadey Hughbanks hit four 3-pointers and scored 16 points in the contest, tallying 14 in the second quarter. The 16-point effort was one shy of her career high of 17, set Dec. 5 against Shelbyville. Kenna Tweedy started the outside shooting run with a 3-pointer to end the first quarter. Kendra Moore hit two and Allie Blum one. NP hit 8-of-12 from deep in that stretch and finished the first half with a 17-0 run. The Dragons locked TC down defensively, not allowing a basket for the final 6:10 of the game Tuesday. The Tigers were 1-for-10 from the field in the fourth quarter. Blum tallied 11 points against TC, including four critical free throws in the fourth quarter. She hit two early in the fourth to break a 37-all tie, and added two in the final minute to extend the lead to four. Kylee Beranek had a huge game on the boards Tuesday. The junior tallied a career-high nine rebounds, including five on the offensive glass. She also had four deflections and three steals. Hughbanks added seven boards. The Dragons have rallied from double-digit deficits in their last two home games. They trailed Franklin County 33-22 early in the third quarter Dec. 28, then rallied to win 52-47. They trailed Triton Central 18-4 and 24-10 Tuesday and won 43-37. The Dragons opened 2024 with a 57-49 loss at Bloomington North Thursday. Senior Blum scored 19 points and classmate Vivian Miller added 13. Blum and sophomore Natalie Sevier both had six rebounds. Blum added five steals. Blum has scored 77 points in her last four games - an average of 19.3 ppg - including 19 each in two of the Dragons’ last three contests. She also had 28 points against Southport. She has also led the Dragons in assists in those three contests. She hit 600 career points in last week’s game at Bloomington North. Blum dished a career-high seven assists Tuesday against TC. Miller ranks second in the HHC in assists, dishing 3.5 per game. Blum is fifith at 2.6 assists per contest. Blum ranks third in the HHC in scoring at 17.8 ppg. Miller is 11th at 10.3 ppg. Blum also ranks third in the conference in steals at 3.8 per contest. Miller is tied for eighth (2.5 spg). SCOUTING THE ARABIANS PH is 11-6 after finishing third in last week’s Madison County Tournament. They have clinched a piece of their second HHC title in three years and 10th overall. Junior Kaycie Warfel leads the Arabians, averaging 25.1 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. Freshman Adah Hupfer adds 10.0 points and 10.6 boards per game. Sophomore Olivia Jones tallies 9.6 points per contest. LOOKING AHEAD Next week, the Dragons have a single game, Thursday at home against Waldron. The IHSAA sectional draw will be held Sunday, Jan. 21. The Dragons will compete in the sectional at Pendleton Heights this season. BOYS SETTING THE SCENE The Dragons return to conference play with a home game against Pendleton Heights. The Dragons are looking to win their fourth straight contest. This is the 40th meeting between the two programs. NP trails the series 20-19, but has won seven consecutive meetings since 2018. The Dragons swept two meetings last year, winning 48-35 in the sectional behind Julius Gizzi’s team-high 13 points. Gizzi had 15 in a 58-41 regular-season victory. The Dragons are receiving votes in the IBCA single-class poll for the second straight week and the fourth poll week this season. DRAGONS NOTES The Dragons enter this contest on a three-game winning streak, including last Friday’s 62-54 victory over then-3A No. 2 Delta, their first win over a ranked team this season. The Dragons shot 60% last Friday against Delta, hitting 25-42. Austin McMahan was a perfect 5-of-5 for a career-high 10 points. Julius Gizzi was 11-18 for 34 points and Ben Slagley 8-13 for 16 points. It was their second-best shooting performance of the year - they hit 62.5% against Jennings County. As a team, the Dragons are shooting 54% from the floor and 38% from deep. McMahan (68%) and Slagley (64%) are the top field goal shooters, while Gizzi (45%) leads the Dragons from beyond the arc. Junior Moses Haynes is one of the state’s top point guards, and showed why Friday, as he dished 13 assists in the Dragons’ victory over Delta. He became the first Dragon to have double-digit assists since Duke Blackwell had 10 against Perry Meridian Jan. 31, 2016. Prior to that, the previous 10-assist game was produced by Moses’ older brother Solomon Haynes, when he had 11 Dec. 16, 2010 against Morristown. Gizzi’s 34 points against Delta marked his second straight 30-point game and his sixth 30-point game in his last seven contests. The 34-point performance was the third-highest of his season and career. He had 43 against Franklin Central and 35 against Newport (Ky.). Gizzi just missed a double-double, as he had nine rebounds, one shy of his career high. Gizzi and Slagley both reached 500 career points against Delta. Gizzi now has 530 points, Slagley 511. Gizzi has scored 291 points this season. Slagley now has 51 career blocked shots, fourth-most in school history. He needs three blocks to tie Seth Cox for third place. Gizzi is third in the state in scoring at 29.1 ppg, trailing International’s Philip Randolph (31.6) and Maconaquah’s Josiah Ball (30.1). Slagley (7.5) and Gizzi (7.5) are tied for the HHC lead in rebounding. Haynes (6.6) leads the conference in assists, with Slagley (3.9) fourth. Haynes also ranks sixth in the state in assists. Haynes is fourth in steals (2.1). SCOUTING THE ARABIANS Pendleton Heights finished fourth in last week’s Madison County Tournament, falling 53-50 to Anderson in the first round, then beating Elwood 63-26 and Anderson Prep 75-38 in the consolation bracket. Senior Josiah Gustin (13.3 ppg, 6.3 rpg) leads the Arabians. Junior Evan Mozingo adds 10.6 ppg, while sophomore Caden Sims and senior Sam LaRavia each score 7.2 ppg. Joe Buck has returned the head coaching position after a 17-year absence, much of which was spent as Pendleton Heights’ superintendent. He led the Arabians to six sectional titles from 1993-2006 in his first stint as head coach. LOOKING AHEAD The Dragons play a three-game week next week, with a Jan. 16 trip to No. 11 Richmond followed by weekend games against Roncalli and No. 20 Franklin at home, their lone January double-weekend. 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 girls home and tournament games are also broadcast at NewPalRadio.com. All boys and girls basketball home games are also streamed via pay-per-view at IHSAAtv.org.