New Palestine High School

The No. 16 New Palestine boys basketball team opens 2023 with two games against quality opponents, starting with a conference matchup Friday at Delta before a 3:30 p.m. home Saturday matinee against Southport. Friday New Palestine Dragons (9-0, 2-0 HHC) at Delta Eagles (8-3, 0-1 HHC) Time: 6 p.m. JV/F, 7:30 p.m. V Site: Delta HS, Muncie (directions: https://goo.gl/maps/FEc5VHLxWqQJ85Sr7) Tickets: $5, cash at gate Audio broadcast: NewPalRadio.com Saturday New Palestine Dragons (9-0) vs. Southport Cardinals (6-3) Time: 2 p.m. JV/F, 3:30 p.m. V Site: NPHS gymnasium Tickets: $6, cash at gate or https://public.eventlink.com/tickets?t=26585 Audio broadcast: NewPalRadio.com Video broadcast: https://www.ihsaatv.org/newpalestine ($) SETTING THE SCENE The Dragons enter 2023 with a perfect 9-0 start and the title in the Lebanon Holiday Classic, but reenter conference play with a trip to Delta. This is the 28th meeting between the Dragons and Eagles. Delta leads the series 14-13, with the home team having won the last six matchups. The Dragons won last year’s meeting 56-32, with Ian Stephens scoring 15 points The Dragons are ranked No. 16 in the IBCA Top 20 poll. Saturday's game is the ninth known all-time meeting between the Dragons and Southport and the fifth consecutive year they’ve played. The first recorded games were in 1931 and 1932. Southport has won seven of the eight meetings, including a 62-57 overtime decision last year. Ian Stephens and Blaine Nunnally scored 13 points each in last year’s meeting. Southport plays Franklin Central Friday night. DRAGONS NOTES The Dragons won the Lebanon Holiday Classic title last week, beating Metropolitan 61-60 on two Julius Gizzi free throws with no time left, followed by a 76-57 victory over 2A No. 7 Gary 21st Century and a 59-48 win over host 3A No. 10 Lebanon. The Dragons’ last two wins were their second and third over ranked teams. The Dragons are off to the fourth-best start in school history. The best start came in 1958-59 and then again in 1978-79, when the Dragons started 11-0. They were 10-0 in 1956-57. Senior Blaine Nunnally was the MVP of the Lebanon Holiday Classic. He scored 23 points in the semifinal victory over Gary 21st Century and added five assists. In the championship game, he scored 17 of his game-high 25 points in the second half to lead the Dragons back from a seven-point deficit to win 59-48. His 25 points were the third-most in his career. Nunnally has 971 career points and needs three to catch Matthew True for 10th on the NPHS all-time scoring list and needs 29 to catch Ray Hobbs for ninth. He also has 330 assists, moving into second place on the NPHS career list behind Maximus Gizzi (375). Sophomore Ben Slagley had 22 points and 12 reobunds, while Ian Stephens tallied 16 points and 10 rebounds against Gary 21st Century, the first time two Dragons had double-digit rebounds in a game since Feb. 5, 2022 against Perry Meridian. It was the first time two Dragons had double-doubles in the same game since Maximus Gizzi & Dawson Eastes Dec. 21, 2019 at Franklin Central. Slagley followed with a double-double against Lebanon, tallying 12 points and 10 boards. Stephens had a double-double against Metropolitan, tallying 20 points and 11 boards. He has 12 career double-doubles, including three this season. SCOUTING THE EAGLES Delta is 8-3 after finishing third in last week’s Northeastern Tournament. The Eagles are led by juniors Jackson Wors (13.4 ppg), Jayden Furney (11.7 ppg) and Damare Hood (11.3 ppg). SCOUTING THE CARDINALS Southport enters having dropped a 59-44 decision at Plainfield Dec. 30, snapping a three-game winning streak. A.J. Dancler and Nick Lemba lead the Cardinals.