New Palestine High School

The New Palestine boys basketball team took command early and kept adding on in a 73-43 victory over New Castle Friday at the Dragons' Den. The Dragons led by as many as 40 points in the fourth quarter in the victory. New Castle scored the game's first basket, and then the Dragons seized command, scoring the last 10 points in a 17-2 run that put them up by double digits. Moses Haynes fueled it with a pair of steals as the Dragons forced four straight turnovers and turned them into points. He and Julius Gizzi scored five points each in the quarter, while Ben Slagley scored four as the Dragons built a 22-9 lead. Gizzi took over in the latter stages of the second quarter, scoring 11 points in the frame to push the lead to 39-18 at the break. In the third, the Dragons kept pouring it on, outscoring the Trojans 25-8, with Gizzi hitting three 3-pointers and adding 13 points to build a 64-26 lead after three. Gizzi led the Dragons with 29 points in three quarters. Haynes added 13 points. He also played dogged defense on New Castle leading scorer Mason Miller, holding him to three points - 20 below his average. Slagley scored 10 points. Keagan Harrison tallied five points. Austin McMahan, Evan Darrah and Axtyn Hamblen scored four each. Eli Parrett and Sam Hirschy scored two each. Landon Thompson led New Castle with 20 points. The Dragons are now 4-1 (1-1 HHC). They next play Saturday against Franklin Central, with a 4 p.m. JV start. The Dragons JV won 61-40.