New Palestine High School

The Dragons girls basketball team has won five of its last six games and concludes a run of five straight HHC contests this week. The Dragons also return home after a four-game road swing Thursday. TUESDAY New Palestine Dragons (7-4, 3-1) at Mt. Vernon Marauders (8-2, 2-0) Time: 6 p.m. JV, 7:30 p.m. V Site: Mt. Vernon High School, Fortville (directions: https://goo.gl/maps/aw7UU4bB4dRCyqJdA) Tickets: $6, available at gate with cash or online at https://events.ticketspicket.com/agency/9b596337-b3bd-4af4-9aa0-f6edbcd98b83/events/f5d79ae3-bf41-480a-b6c0-94aafd0c2b35 THURSDAY Cathedral Irish (5-4) at New Palestine Dragons (7-4) Time: 6 p.m. JV, 7:30 p.m. V Site: NPHS Tickets: $6, available at gate with cash or online at https://public.eventlink.com/tickets?t=25406 Audio: NewPalRadio.com Video: IHSAAtv.org/NewPalestine SETTING THE SCENE The Dragons face their oldest rival as they renew acquaintances with Mt. Vernon. This is the 65th meeting between the two programs, who have met every year since the 1981-82 season. The Dragons trail the all-time series 46-18, but NP has won five of the last 11 meetings between the two schools. The Dragons dropped a 57-37 decision last season at home. This game concludes a run of five consecutive conference games for the Dragons, and also finishes one of two four-game road swings for the team. The Dragons return home Thursday where they are 4-2 on the season with a matchup against Cathedral. It is the third all-time meeting between the schools, with the Irish having won the first two. Last year, the Dragons dropped a 57-37 decision on the road. DRAGONS NOTES The Dragons posted an impressive 59-51 victory over Shelbyville Tuesday, with the team rallying from a six-point halftime deficit to take the lead in the third quarter. Senior Isabella Gizzi scored 35 points - the second-most in her career and third-most in school history. It marked her sixth career 30-point game. She hit 9-16 from the floor, 5-8 from the 3-point arc and 12-13 from the free throw line. Junior Vivian Miller has scored in double-figures in five consecutive games. She tallied 14 points on 6-12 shooting against Shelbyville and followed up with a team-high 16 points Friday at Greenfield-Central, the latter marking her first time leading the team in scoring. Miller is shooting better than 50 percent (27-53) from the floor in those five contests. She tallied her career high with 18 points against Delta. Junior Allie Blum also tallied a career high against Delta, scoring 21 points on 7-of-14 shooting. She had a team-high six rebounds Friday against Greenfield-Central. Gizzi now has 1,353 career points and is averaging 24.5 ppg. She also has 198 career assists, needing to to reach 200, and 209 career steals. Blum currently averages 5.2 rebounds per game, second on the team to Gizzi’s 5.5. Sophomore Tylar Whitaker has had a strong season on the glass and in distributing the ball. She had four rebounds against Greenfield-Central and tallied four boards and four assists against Shelbyville. SCOUTING THE MARAUDERS Mt. Vernon enters the week with an 8-3 mark after a 53-46 victory over Yorktown Saturday morning. The Marauders have won three consecutive games, having also beaten Pendleton Heights and Anderson in that stretch. MV is led by junior forward Ellery Minch (16 ppg, 5 rpg), sophomore Kanyonrae Kenny (8 ppg) and junior Easton Wampler (8 ppg). SCOUTING THE IRISH Cathedral enters the week having dropped three of its last four games, including a 62-56 overtime defeat Saturday at home against Lafayette Central Catholic. Cathedral is led by senior Layla Gold, who averages 24.1 points and 8.5 rebounds per game.