New Palestine High School

The Class 3A No. 6 New Palestine boys basketball team went 1-1 on Saturday to finish third at the Ray Furney Classic in Lawrenceburg. After going 2-0 Friday to win their pool, the Dragons dropped a 77-72 decision to 3A No. 5 Silver Creek in the semifinal. They rallied to beat Whiteland 75-55 in the third place game. Against Whiteland, the Dragons took an early lead, but pulled away in the third quarter. Moses Haynes hit a couple of early 3-pointers to give the Dragons a 16-11 lead after one. The Dragons led 33-29 at the break, but broke the game open in the third, outscoring Whiteland 20-11 in the frame to go up 53-40. Austin McMahan scored eight points in the quarter. The Dragons then pulled away with a 22-point fourth quarter, with Haynes scoring six points in the frame. Haynes led the Dragons with 17 points. Julius Gizzi added 15 and McMahan 14. Ben Slagley's 13 points gave the Dragons four double-figure scorers. Keagan Harrison added eight. Evan Darrah and Will Davison scored three each and Eli Parrett two. The afternoon game against Silver Creek led up to its billing as a matchup of two of Class 3A's top teams. The Dragons had a fast start and jumped ahead 17-2, with Evan Darrah hitting 3-pointers on the first two possessions and Gizzi scoring seven points in the run. But Silver Creek cut the lead to 25-20 after a quarter, with Gizzi scoring 12 points. The teams traded the lead several times in the second. Gizzi tallied eight points and the teams were all square at 40-40 at the half. The Dragons were outscored 21-11 in the third and trailed 61-51 going into the fourth, but went on a quick run to begin the quarter, with Slagley and Gizzi hitting back-to-back shots and Haynes adding a basket to cut the lead to 61-57. The Dragons kept battling, as Silver Creek hit only two field goals in the final frame but tallied 14 points from the line. NP cut the deficit to 72-71 after a steal and score by McMahan, but Silver Creek answered with two free throws, forced a stop, hit another foul shot. Moses Haynes hit a free throw to cut the deficit, but Silver Creek was able to finish off the game. Gizzi scored a season-high 35 points to lead the Dragons. Haynes added 15 and Slagley 10. Darrah and McMahan scored six points each. The Dragons are now 8-2 on the season. Their next game is a rematch with Whiteland, which will be Jan. 4 with a noon JV tipoff at Whiteland.