New Palestine High School

The New Palestine boys basketball team downed 2A No. 7 Gary 21st Century 76-57 Thursday afternoon, advancing the Dragons to the title game of the Lebanon Holiday Classic. The Dragons (8-0) move on to face host Lebanon (8-1) in the 7 p.m. title game at Rosensthil Gym in Lebanon. The Dragons surrendered the game's first seven points, but quickly found their offense and took a 16-12 lead after a quarter. The Dragons then broke the game open in the second, with Ian Stephens scoring eight points and Julius Gizzi hitting two 3-pointers in the frame. A solid defensive performance allowed the Dragons to build a 39-25 halftime edge. Gary 21st Century opened the third quarter with hot shooting, drilling three 3-pointers on its first three possessions and eventually cutting the Dragons' lead to 49-43. The Cougars had a chance to cut into the lead, but the Dragons rebounded a miss. Ben Slagley was fouled on the other end. In the interim, a technical foul was issued to 21st Century due to a substitution violation. Slagley and Blaine Nunnally hit all four free throws. Slagley then scored on the ensuing possession, and the Dragons followed with another basket to go up 57-43. The lead was in double-digits the rest of the game, as Nunnally added a three-point play and a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Dragons a 63-48 edge going into the fourth. Nunnally tallied 12 of his game-high 23 points in the quarter, while Slagley added eight points. The Dragons pushed the lead as high as 20, with Slagley scoring six fourth-quarter points and the defense allowed the high-scoring Cougars just nine in the frame to seal the victory. In addition to Nunnally's 23 points, Slagley scored a career-high 22. Stephens tallied 16 points, Gizzi 13 and Bryant Nunnally two. DJ Moss led three Cougars in double figures with 20 points, but he was held to six in the second half.