New Palestine High School

Coming into Tuesday night, seven unbeaten boys basketball teams remained in Indiana. That number dropped to six by the evening’s end, as the New Palestine Dragons took control in the second half at the Tiernan Center and held off Richmond for a 63-59 victory, handing the Red Devils their first loss of the season. Julius Gizzi continued his run of scoring, tallying 33 points for his eighth 30-point outing in his last nine games and helping the Dragons to a 10-2 record. Richmond fell to 16-1. Richmond junior Cedric Horton scored 18 of his 27 points in the opening half, helping stake Richmond to a 14-9 lead late in the first quarter. But Gizzi went coast-to-coast ahead of the buzzer and scored a three-point play to draw NP within three. The Dragons took the lead in the second, behind nine points from Gizzi and a 3-pointer by Austin McMahan out of the corner. Richmond tied the game with four seconds left in the half, but Moses Haynes went coast-to-coast and drilled a triple at the horn to put the Dragons on top. NP jumped out to a nine-point lead in the third, buoyed by 3-pointers from Haynes and Gizzi and a 10-point quarter for the Dragons’ leading scorer, but an 8-0 run by Richmond drew the Red Devils within one. There, Keagan Harrison drilled an open 3-pointer from the wing to restore a four-point edge. Richmond kept coming, and Braiden Hogg hit a late shot to give the Red Devils a 47-46 edge. Gizzi again scored at the buzzer off a feed from Haynes to put NP up 48-47. Haynes hit a driving shot in the lane and Ben Slagley a basket to give NP a 52-49 edge early in the fourth. The Dragons then switched to a zone defense to slow the Red Devils down, and it stunted the Red Devils’ offensive rhythm, as Richmond scored just two fourth-quarter field goals. After Richmond drew within one, Gizzi hit a three-point play - his third of the game - and then added another free throw on a subsequent trip to put NP up 59-54. From there, the Dragons’ ballhandling and foul shooting kept enough distance In addition to Gizzi’s 33 points, Haynes scored 12. Harrison added seven and Austin McMahan five. The latter duo also guarded Horton for much of the game. Slagley scored three and Brady Armstrong two. The victory was the 126th in Whitaker’s nine-year coaching career, tying him with Brian Kehrt as the Dragons’ career coaching wins leader. The Dragons continue a busy week with a pair of weekend home games, as they host Roncalli Friday and Franklin Saturday.