New Palestine High School

The No. 15 New Palestine boys basketball team travels to Southport for Saturday's regional, where they will face the No. 10 Ben Davis Giants. IHSAA REGIONAL: New Palestine Dragons (22-5) vs. Ben Davis Giants (20-5) Time: 4 p.m. Saturday Site: Southport Fieldhouse Tickets: $10, https://public.eventlink.com/tickets?t=71701 Audio: NewPalRadio.com SETTING THE SCENE For the 11th time in school history, the Dragons have won a sectional championship. They head to Southport for the second consecutive year to contest the regional, facing the defending state champion Ben Davis Giants. BD has won four state titles. The Dragons and BD have met once in their histories - a 53-47 Dragons loss in the 2019 regional final. BD advanced to the State Finals that season. This is the Dragons’ 107th appearance in the IHSAA tournament, dating back to 1916-17. NP has won 11 sectional titles in its history, six of which have come since 2009. Head coach Trent Whitaker has led NP to four sectional championships, the most of any NPHS head coach. In nine seasons in Class 4A (2012-15, 2018-present), the Dragons are 21-9 in tournament games and have won five sectional championships. The Dragons finished in the IBCA the Top 20 for the second straight year. The Dragons finished No. 14 in 2023. The Dragons have played on the Southport Fieldhouse floor this year, winning 73-60 Feb. 3, also in a matinee game. Julius Gizzi scored 37 points in that contest. DRAGONS NOTES The Dragons have had the flair for the dramatic, as Ben Slagley scored the winning points with four seconds left in Tuesday’s sectional opener against Mt. Vernon, then hit a buzzer-beater Friday in the victory over Pendleton Heights. On Saturday night, the Dragons beat the state’s last remaining unbeaten team, knocking off Greenfield-Central 60-48. The Dragons shot 67% from the floor (19-27) and outrebounded G-C 18-11. The 67% shooting clip tied a season-high. NP took the lead for good with an 11-0 four-possession second-quarter run, fueled by six points from Evan Darrah and five from Julius Gizzi. Gizzi scored 31 points, his 14th 30-point game of the season. He hit 9-14 from the floor and 11-15 from the line. He scored 21 in the second half. Slagley added 10 points, four rebounds and four assists. Guard Moses Haynes had six assists and a career high-tying five rebounds against G-C. His single-season assists record is now 177. Gizzi became the 11th player in NPHS history to reach 1,000 career points Saturday night. He now has 1,018 points and is 10th on the Dragons’ all-time scoring list. His school record single-season total is 779. Friday night, Slagley took a feed from Moses Haynes and laid it in for the winner. It was Slagley’s fourth time this season scoring the winning basket in the closing seconds. He hit two free throws with four seconds left in the sectional opener against Mt. Vernon. Slagley also hit a buzzer-beater against Guerin Catholic and a late three-point play against New Castle. The Dragons hit 10 3-pointers Friday against PH, their second-highest total of the season. They hit 11 Feb. 10 against Connersville. With 22 wins, the Dragons have the second-highest win total in school history. The school record is 23-3, set last year. This is the third 20-win season in school history. Gizzi, Slagley and Haynes were all named All-Hoosier Heritage Conference. Haynes ranked fourth in the state at 7.1 apg in the regular season. Gizzi (8.4) and Slagley (7.2) finished first and second in the HHC in rebounding. Haynes finished the regular season fifth in the HHC in steals (2.1). SCOUTING THE GIANTS Ben Davis, the defending state champion, won its third straight sectional and sixth in seven years last week, beating Roncalli 50-32 in the title game. The Giants tied Lawrence North as MIC champions. The Giants are led by K.J. Windham, who has 1,112 points and is fourth on the program’s scoring list. He averages 15.7 ppg. Junior Mark Zackery adds 9.8 ppg and senior Mark White 8.1 ppg. LOOKING AHEAD Today’s winner advances to next week’s semistate, which will be at one of four sites (New Castle, Southport, Seymour, Washington). Pairings and sites will be announced Sunday. 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: Jim Voelz