New Palestine High School

The HHC champion New Palestine girls basketball team opens sectional play Wednesday at Pendleton Heights against Greenfield-Central. WEDNESDAY: New Palestine Dragons (12-10) vs. Greenfield-Central Cougars (17-6) Time: 6 p.m. Location: Pendleton Heights Tickets: $7/at gate or https://public.eventlink.com/tickets?t=65846 Audio: NewPalRadio.com SETTING THE SCENE The Dragons’ 50th season of girls basketball heads to the postseason with a familiar foe. This is the 68th meeting between the county rivals and the 10th sectional meeting. G-C is the lone opponent that has been on the schedule for each of the 50 years of Dragons varsity basketball. NP leads the all-time series 34-33 and has won nine of the last 11 meetings. The two teams met Dec. 8, a game the Dragons dropped 60-52 in overtime. Allie Blum scored 19 points and Kenna Tweedy 12 to lead the Dragons. The Dragons have won six sectional titles in their history - in 1990, 1992, 1993, 2004, 2018 and 2020. The only other time NP has played in a sectional at Pendleton Heights was in 2004. The Dragons won the title, beating New Castle 75-54 and Pendleton Heights 39-35. NP is 39-42 overall in sectional games and 22-21 in the class era (post-1998). In Class 4A (since 2012), the Dragons are 15-10 in sectional games and 15-12 in tourney games. The winner of this game faces either Pendleton Heights or Muncie Central at 7:30 p.m. Friday. DRAGONS NOTES The Dragons clinched their ninth overall conference championship and third Hoosier Heritage Conference title this season, going 6-1 in conference play. They clinched it with two victories in January, beating Pendleton Heights 52-48 Jan. 12 and clinching it with a 47-35 victory over Yorktown in the Jan. 25 regular season finale. The Dragons clinched a winning record for the ninth straight season - setting a program record. The streak began in 2015 and has lasted through three head coaches. Previously, the Dragons posted eight straight winning seasons from 1991-99 under the direction of Allen Cooper. Against Yorktown, the Dragons shot a season-best 51.5% from the field (17-33) and used a big start. NP jumped out to an 18-6 lead after a quarter and extended it as high as 33-12 midway through the third, cruising to the victory. With a title on the line, the Dragons’ senior starters delivered. Allie Blum had a strong all-around game with 16 points on 6-10 shooting, eight rebounds, five assists and three steals. Vivian Miller added 12 points on 4-8 shooting, six rebounds and three steals. Sadey Hughbanks added seven points and Kylee Beranek six as the Dragons played a strong defensive game. On the Jan. 23 Senior Night against Greensburg, the Dragons jumped out to an 18-8 lead against a Top 5 team, then rallied in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 35 before the Pirates scored the game’s last 10 points. Miller scored 12 points to lead the Dragons, while Blum added 11 points, six boards and three steals. Blum reached 200 career steals against Yorktown. She needs 12 points to reach 700 for her career. Miller hit the 500-point mark against Yorktown and has 504 for her career. She needs four rebounds for 200 and two assists for 150 for her career. Blum ranks third in the HHC in scoring (17.4 ppg), with Miller 10th (11.6 ppg). Miller is the HHC’s leader in assists (3.3 apg), with Blum fifth (2.5 apg). Blum ranks fourth in the league in steals (3.7 spg). Among players with at least 10 made 3-pointers this season, Kenna Tweedy ranks second in 3-point percentage at 40%. SCOUTING THE COUGARS With 17 wins, G-C is experiencing its best season since going 17-11 in 2016-17. It’s their most regular season victories since going 23-5 in 2015-16, their last sectional championship season. Junior Madison Sonsini leads G-C at 14.2 ppg and 8.8 rpg, while junior Chaney Brown adds 13.7 ppg and 2.4 apg. Junior Brooklyn McConnell tallies 10.3 ppg. LOOKING AHEAD The winner plays either Pendleton Heights or Muncie Central at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Pendleton Heights. FOLLOW US Follow the Dragons on Facebook (@newpalestinedragons), Twitter (@NPHSDragons), Instagram (@newpalestinedragons) and online (NewPalestineAthletics.com). All Dragons home games are broadcast live at NewPalRadio.com and available via pay-per-view at IHSAAtv.org. NewPalRadio.com also broadcasts all IHSAA tournament games and select road games.