New Palestine High School

The New Palestine basketball teams travel to Pendleton Heights for a Friday doubleheader. GIRLS: New Palestine Dragons (8-7, 1-4 HHC) at Pendleton Heights Arabians (12-6, 4-1 HHC) BOYS: (14/3A 7) New Palestine Dragons (10-2, 2-1 HHC) at Pendleton Heights Arabians (5-6, 0-1 HHC) Time: 6 p.m. girls, 7:30 p.m. boys Site: Pendleton Heights HS Tickets: $6/at gate or https://public.eventlink.com/tickets?t=109848 Audio broadcast: NewPalRadio.com GIRLS SETTING THE SCENE The Dragons return to conference play and put their three-game winning streak on the line tonight as they travel to Pendleton Heights for their annual doubleheader. The Dragons and Arabians have scheduled a boys/girls doubleheader annually since the 2017-18 season. The Dragons trail the all-time series 28-20, but won both meetings last year. They won a 46-44 decision in the sectional at PH, after beating the Arabians 52-48 in the regular season to put themselves in position to win a share of the Hoosier Heritage Conference championship. The Dragons and Arabians shared the 2024 HHC title. DRAGONS NOTES The Dragons enter this contest having won three straight games, tying their longest winning streak of the season. One reason why is free throw shooting. NP is 32-of-37 over the last two games (86.5%), going 16-19 against Bloomington North and 16-18 against Triton Central. Kylee Beranek was 8-9 against Bloomington North, while Sadey Hughbanks was 6-6 against TC. The Dragons’ 47-29 victory over Triton Central marked the first time since Dec. 21, 2023 the Dragons held a team below 30 points. The 10 points allowed in the second half were also a season-low. Guard Gabbie Brown has had back-to-back strong games. She tallied 10 points and five assists Tuesday against TC. Against Bloomington North, she scored 16 points - one shy of her career high - and hit two 3-pointers in the second half, both of which put the Dragons ahead. Hughbanks tallied 10 points and eight rebounds in Tuesday’s victory over TC. Beranek has had two double-doubles this season, most recently a 14-point, 11-rebound performance against Bloomington North. The Dragons have had strong balance this season. Seven different players have scored in double figures in a game this season. Those seven have also led the Dragons in scoring in a game this year. Beranek is fifth in the HHC in rebounding (7.1 rpg). Brown is sixth in assists (2.9 apg). Haven Flagle is the first freshman to start for the Dragons since Hughbanks in the 2022-23 season. SCOUTING THE ARABIANS PH is 12-6 and will clinch its second consecutive Hoosier Heritage Conference title if it wins out. PH has won seven straight games, including sweeping the Madison County Tournament by double-digit scores. The Arabians beat Lapel 61-41, Alexandria 57-45 and Frankton 79-34 to win the county title. Senior Kaycie Warfel leads PH with 22.5 ppg and 5.9 rpg. She is a four-year starter for the Arabians. Sophomore Adah Hupfer averages a double-double, at 13.1 ppg and 12.4 rpg. They score 64% of the Arabians’ points. Junior Olivia Jones adds 7.2 ppg, 6.5 rpg and 3.6 apg. LOOKING AHEAD The Dragons play three games in four nights next week, starting with a Tuesday home game against Roncalli, before they travel to Waldron for a Thursday tilt and play East Central on Friday. The East Central game was rescheduled backward one day to accommodate a weather-related schedule change in EC’s gymnasium. BOYS SETTING THE SCENE The Dragons play Pendleton Heights in their annual doubleheader, with the Dragons continuing a run of nine consecutive games away from home. The Dragons lead the all-time series 21-20 and have won nine straight meetings. Last year, the Dragons won both meetings by tight margins - 57-54 in the regular season and 60-58 in the sectional. Moses Haynes had 18 points in the sectional meeting last season - in which the Dragons rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit. Julius Gizzi tallied 35 points in the regular season matchup. The Dragons are ranked in both the IBCA and USA Today Network polls for the seventh consecutive week this season. NP gained two spots to No. 12 in the IBCA poll and remained at No. 7 in the USA Today Network Class 3A poll. This is the first meeting in the PHHS gymnasium since 2021.The 2023 edition was held at Pendleton Heights Middle School due to water damage at PHHS. DRAGONS NOTES The Dragons are 2-0 in 2025, having led wire-to-wire last week to beat Delta 69-56. The Dragons led by as many as 24 points in the game and held a double-digit lead from early in the second quarter on. The Dragons shot 55% from the floor last week (22-40), including 9-19 from 3-point range. Julius Gizzi scored 24 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the floor., to go along with five rebounds Moses Haynes tallied 18 points on 5-of-8 from the floor - including 4-of-5 from beyond the 3-point line. He also had seven assists and five rebounds. Ben Slagley had six rebounds and six assists. The Dragons outrebounded Delta 33-18 last week. Gizzi has scored 20+ points in 10 of the Dragons’ 12 games this season. He now has 1,350 career points and needs 262 to catch his older brother Maximus, the Dragons’ career scoring leader. Over the last five games, Austin McMahan is avearging 11.0 ppg. He is shooting 77% from the field (27-35) in that stretch. Gizzi ranks ninth in the state and second in the HHC in scoring at 25.1 ppg. Haynes ranks fifth in the state in assists at 7.3 apg. Haynes leads the HHC in assists, while Slagley is third (4.7 apg). Slagley leads the HHC in blocks (1.5 bpg) and fourth in rebounds (6.9 rpg). Haynes became the second Dragon to tally 100 career steals at the Lawrenceburg tournament. His total of 105 is second all-time in school history, 10 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. John Allison holds the record with 371. SCOUTING THE ARABIANS PH finished third in the Madison County Tournament, beating Frankton 51-34 in Monday’s third-place game after falling to Anderson in the semifinal. The Arabians have won four of their last five games. Junior Cooper Sims leads the Arabians, scoring 19.5 ppg. He has broken 20 points five times, including scoring 33 against Lawrence Central Dec. 21, and 30 against Chatard a week later. Senior Evan Mozingo adds 10.0 ppg. LOOKING AHEAD The Dragons conclude their road swing with two games next weekend - Friday at Roncalli and Saturday at Franklin. 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. Photo: Landyn Muffler