New Palestine High School

The New Palestine boys basketball team had a fast start, but made big plays on both ends late to hold off Whiteland 57-54 Saturday at Whiteland's Glenn Ray Gymnasium. This contest was much tighter than their last meeting - a 75-55 victory by the Dragons seven days ago. This marked the first time since 1976 the Dragons had played a team in two consecutive games. The Dragons improved to 9-2 on the season with the victory. The contest was a back-and-forth game throughout the second half, with the lead swapping hands several times. The Dragons led 37-36 after the third quarter. Julius Gizzi and Austin McMahan scored early baskets, but each was answered by a Whiteland score. The Warriors eventually took the lead, but Gizzi began to take things over for the Dragons, hitting three free throws and a basket, but Whiteland led 48-46. On the next possession, Whiteland switched to a zone and the Dragons rotated the ball to Will Davison, who drilled a 3-pointer from the left wing with 3:40 left to put the Dragons up 49-48 and take the lead for good. Gizzi hit back-to-back baskets inside, sandwiched around a Whiteland score, to push the lead to 53-50. Moses Haynes followed with a layup to extend the edge to 55-50 with a minute to go. Whiteland answered, then its press forced a turnover, which led to another layup to slice the lead to 55-54. The Dragons answered by breaking the press and finding McMahan open under the hoop for a layup to push the lead to 57-54 with 30 seconds left. Whiteland struggled to find an open look, taking 15 seconds before drawing a foul on the perimeter, then calling a timeout with nine seconds left. They found an open shooter on the wing, but his shot missed and the horn sounded to secure the victory. Gizzi scored 26 points - with 11 coming in the fourth quarter - to lead the Dragons. McMahan added 12 points, tallying eight in the second half. The Dragons had a hot start, opening the game with a 15-2 run, with Gizzi and McMahan scoring four points each. Whiteland was held without a field goal until Ethan Edwards scored with 1:19 left in the first quarter, but the Warriors scored the final five points of the opening frame to cut the lead to 15-7. Edwards hit a 3-pointer in a five-point spurt to start the second, extending the run to 10 straight points and cutting the lead to 15-12. A Haynes steal-and-score blunted Whiteland's momentum, but the Warriors kept coming, hitting another 3-pointer and earning multiple trips to the line. Gizzi answered with five free throws and a basket to help the Dragons stay in the lead, but Whiteland's Jordan Kalkat hit a 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer to tie the game at 24-24. In the third, the Warriors took a quick lead and it bounced back-and-forth. Gizzi and McMahan scored four points each in the frame and Slagley tallied three in the middle of the quarter. The Dragons had a late four-point lead, but Edwards scored a three-point play to end the quarter to cut the edge to one. In addition to the Dragons' two double-figure scorers, Haynes tallied eight points and Slagley five. Davison and Evan Darrah each tallied three points. Edwards led Whiteland with 22 points, while Gavin Stubbe scored 16. The Dragons won the JV game 71-53. The Dragons, ranked No. 7 in Class 3A, next play Friday at Delta.