New Palestine High School

The New Palestine boys basketball team rallied late Friday to beat Roncalli 64-62. The Dragons trailed for long stretches of the game, but made plays down the stretch to win it. Moses Haynes hit an early basket in the fourth to put the Dragons up 51-50, but the Royals' Conner Kesler gave Roncalli the lead back, scoring seven straight points to send the Dragons to a 57-51 deficit past the halfway mark of the quarter. The Dragons fought back to 59-55, with Julius Gizzi hitting a shot and both Moses Haynes and Austin McMahan hitting free throws. Ben Slagley's three-point play drew the Dragons within one, but Kesler answered with his fourth 3-pointer of the game, putting the Royals up 62-58 with less than two minutes left. After a Dragons miss, NP's defense forced a turnover. They pushed the ball into the frontcourt, where Gizzi drained a 3-pointer from the right corner. NP's pressing defense again forced a turnover, giving the Dragons the ball and a chance to take the lead with a minute to go. Gizzi caught a feed inside, took a dribble and hit an over-the-shoulder reverse layup to put NP up 63-62. On the ensuing possession, Gizzi forced a steal at midcourt. He was fouled and hit one free throw with 17 seconds left. Roncalli had a contested look at the buzzer, which hit the rim and the Dragons came away with the victory. Gizzi scored 28 points in the win, including the game's last six points over the final two minutes. Haynes added 13 - with 10 coming in the second half. The Dragons started slowly, as Roncalli built early leads of 15-8 and 17-10, buoyed by three first-quarter 3-pointers. Gizzi scored eight first-quarter points to keep the Dragons close, as they trailed 17-12 after eight minutes. Eight of the Dragons' points came on offensive rebounds. The Dragons quickly rallied in the second quarter. After giving up the first basket, the Dragons went on a 12-3 run to take a 24-22 lead. A three-point play by Haynes put the Dragons up 29-26, but Roncalli answered with back-to-back 3-pointers to re-take the lead, before Slagley's free throw cut the deficit to 32-30 at the half. In the third, the Dragons took a 43-39 lead when Gizzi scored, drew a foul, missed the free throw, but McMahan rebounded. Haynes then hit a jumper to give the Dragons a four-point possession and lead. But Roncalli hit three quick 3-pointers in a run to take the lead back. Haynes hit a triple to stem the run and a late basket, but the Dragons trailed 50-49 going into the fourth. Haynes scored seven in the third, while Gizzi tallied eight. In addition to the two double-figure scorers, McMahan added nine points. Slagley scored eight, while Evan Darrah tallied four. Keagan Harrison scored two points. Kesler led Roncalli with 20 points. Noah Schmaltz scored 13 of his 15 points in the third quarter. The Dragons also won the JV game 47-37 and the freshman game 33-30. The Dragons are back in action Saturday at Franklin.