New Palestine High School

The New Palestine boys basketball team travels to Delta for a Saturday night conference tilt. The game was initially scheduled for Friday, but was postponed 24 hours due to inclement weather. The JV and freshman games will tip off at 6 p.m. Saturday, with the varsity to follow. SATURDAY: #14/3A #7 New Palestine Dragons (9-2, 1-1 HHC) at Delta Eagles (9-1, 1-1 HHC) Time: 6 p.m. JV/F, 7:30 p.m. V Site: Delta High School (directions: https://maps.app.goo.gl/1tkJkPR9vYY2yTxN7) Tickets: $6/at gate Audio: NewPalRadio.com SETTING THE SCENE The Dragons return to conference play with a trip to Delta, continuing a run of nine consecutive games away from home. Both teams are 1-1 in HHC play. The Dragons lead the all-time series 15-14 and have won three straight meetings, including a 62-54 decision last season. Julius Gizzi tallied 34 points and Ben Slagley 16 in the victory. The Dragons are ranked in both the IBCA and USA Today Network polls for the sixth consecutive week this season. NP dropped two spots to No. 14 in the IBCA poll despite going 4-1 since the last poll. DRAGONS NOTES Playing the same team for the second time in a week, the Dragons got off to a hot start Saturday at Whiteland, building a 15-2 lead. They made several big plays down the stretch to hold on for a 57-54 victory. Julius Gizzi tallied 26 points, scoring 11 in the fourth quarter. He also had seven rebounds. Austin McMahan reached double figures for the third time in four games, tallying 12 points on 6-7 shooting, to go along with four boards - three offensive. Moses Haynes had eight points and four assists. Ben Slagley corraled eight rebounds and dished a team-high five assists. The Dragons’ defense was solid, holding Whiteland to 38% shooting for the game. Gizzi ranks ninth in the state and second in the HHC in scoring at 25.2 ppg. Haynes ranks fifth in assists at 7.3 apg. Haynes leads the HHC, while Slagley is second (4.5 apg). Slagley leads the HHC in blocks (1.5 bpg) and fifth in rebounds (6.9 rpg). Haynes is second in steals (2.4 spg). Moses Haynes nearly had a triple-double Dec. 28 against Whiteland with 17 points, eight rebounds and 11 assists. The day before against Castle, Ben Slagley nearly had one, with 10 points, nine rebounds and nine assists. Gizzi passed Tom Giles to move into second place on the NPHS career scoring list on Dec. 28. He now has 1,326 points and is 286 back of his brother Maximus, the school’s career scoring leader. Haynes became the second Dragon to tally 100 career steals at the Lawrenceburg tournament. His total of 104 is second all-time in school history, 11 back of recordholder Maximus Gizzi, who is Haynes’ cousin. Slagley moved into second on the NPHS career blocked shots list at the Lawrenceburg tournament, passing Jeff Geurin. He now has 87 blocks after swatting three shots in the last game against Whiteland. John Allison holds the record with 371. This is the second of three consecutive single-game weeks for the Dragons. They travel to Pendleton Heights next Friday. SCOUTING THE EAGLES Delta has won eight consecutive games after an early loss to Mt. Vernon to open conference play. This will be the Eagles’ first game since Dec. 28, when they beat Fort Wayne South 54-49, Scecina 63-41 and Providence 45-26 to claim the title in the Delta tournament. The Eagles will step back into tourney play next week, when they contest the Delaware County Tournament. Delta has three players averaging in double figures. Senior Jordan Furney tallies 15.1 ppg. Senior Bronson Edwards tallies 10.7 ppg and 7.0 rpg, while junior Lucas Bragg adds 10.7 ppg. FOLLOW THE DRAGONS All Dragons games, home and away, are broadcast at NewPalRadio.com. The Dragons are also on Facebook and Instagram (@newpalestinedragons) and X (@NPHSDragons), and can be found online at NewPalestineAthletics.com.