New Palestine High School

With 10 seconds left, the New Palestine girls basketball team had seen Pendleton Heights rally from a nine-point lead and threatening to go ahead with a free throw. With chaos reigning, the Dragons' senior leader Allie Blum calmly made the winning play. She boxed out the 6-foot-3 Adah Hupfer, grabbed a rebound of a missed free throw and roared up court, drawing a foul with 8.7 seconds left. She calmly hit both free throws and the Dragons forced a miss on the other end to secure a 46-44 sectional semifinal win over PH. The Dragons (14-10) advance to Saturday's 7:30 p.m. championship game to face arch-rival Mt. Vernon (12-13), a 44-21 victor over Richmond in Friday's first game. The Dragons led throughout the second half until the final minute, but made two big plays after PH tied the game twice. NP led 35-26 after three quarters after Kylee Beranek's three-point play late in the frame. But PH began charging back in the fourth, led by likely Junior All-Star Kaycie Warfel. She scored on the quarter's first possession, then had a steal-and-score to cut the Dragons' lead to 35-30. But immediately on the other end, Blum drilled a 3-pointer to extend the lead to 38-30. Warfel hit a free throw and followed with a basket to cut the lead to 38-33, but PH's aggressive defense began to put the Dragons on the free throw line. Vivian Miller hit two shots and Blum one, but Warfel scored twice to cut the lead to 41-37. Warfel fouled out with two and a half minutes left, but PH climbed back into the game without its leading scorer. After the Dragons were unable to secure a defensive rebound twice, PH sophomore Mamie Trout took advantage by drilling a 3-pointer on the wing to cut the lead to one in the final minute. Blum was fouled on the other end and hit one free throw to push the lead to 42-40, but freshman Aubree Warfel sliced through the defense to tie the game. On the ensuing possession, the Dragons missed, but Beranek kept the offensive rebound alive and NP swung the ball to Miller, who hit a 10-foot baseline jumper to give the Dragons a lead. Trout answered with a driving shot and foul with 10 seconds left to tie the game again at 44-44. Blum's rebound of the ensuing free throw set her up for the winning free throws. Blum scored 24 points to lead the Dragons, coming up big at key moments. The teams swapped the lead several times in the opening quarter. Sadey Hughbanks got the Dragons going with two early 3-pointers. Warfel answered with nine first-quarter points for PH to bring the Arabians into an 11-11 tie after one. PH scored the first four points of the second to go up 15-11, but NP then answered with an 11-4 run the rest of the frame. Beranek drilled a 3-pointer to launch the run. Blum led the way with eight points in the quarter, including a three-point play that gave the Dragons a 17-15 lead. In the third, the Dragons gradually extended the lead, with Blum hitting two 3-pointers to start the quarter. Miller had two points and three assists in the quarter, pushing the ball and finding teammates, while the Dragons limited PH to one field goal - a Warfel 3-pointer - to go up by nine going into the fourth. In addition to Blum's 24 points, Beranek scored eight. Miller and Hughbanks scored six each, while Kendra Moore tallied two. The Dragons outrebounded the taller Arabians 35-27, with Beranek grabbing six boards and Blum five. Warfel scored 25 points. Trout was the only Arabian to score more than four, as she scored seven - five of which came in the final minute. The Dragons and Marauders will meet for the 68th time in their histories and the 19th time in a sectional game. It will be their sixth sectional meeting in the last seven seasons and fifth in the sectional final.