New Palestine High School

The New Palestine girls basketball team fell behind early, but seized the lead early in the third quarter and never looked back in a 43-34 victory over Batesville in Saturday's home opener for the Dragons. The Dragons were celebrating 50 years of girls basketball, and put together a solid performance in front of a large number of alumnae. An aggressive defense that forced 23 turnovers and held Batesville to just six field goals in the final three quarters carried the Dragons to the victory. NP trailed 12-4 early before a basket by Tylar Whitaker cut the deficit to six after one. A solid defensive second quarter saw the Dragons claw back into the game, with Gabbie Brown's 3-pointer igniting it and drawing the Dragons within two at halftime at 19-17. NP quickly took a lead, scoring the first four points of the second half on baskets by Whitaker and Sadey Hughbanks to go up 21-19. The Dragons wouldn't look back. Kendra Moore came off the bench to push the lead to 28-22. Batesville answered with five straight points to cut the lead to one, but Moore launched and drained a 3-pointer at the third-quarter buzzer to extend the lead to 31-27. Batesville scored to open the fourth, but freshman Haven Flagle again answered with back-to-back 3-pointers - sandwiched around a Batesville free throw - to push the lead to 37-30. From there, the Dragons' defense forced a number of turnovers and misses - the Bulldogs went seven and a half minutes without a field goal. NP hit 6-of-10 from the line in the fourth quarter to put the game away. Flagle led the Dragons with nine points. She scored seven in the fourth quarter. Whitaker tallied eight. Moore and Hughbanks each scored seven points. Brown and Kylee Beranek tallied five each, while Brooklyn Crim added two. Sydney Campbell led Batesville with 11 points. She scored all seven of their fourth-quarter points. The Dragons also won the JV game 32-28. The Dragons (1-1) are next in action Wednesday at home against Greenwood.