New Palestine High School

The New Palestine boys basketball team is in action tonight as it faces Lawrence North in a Top 15 matchup. (5/4A 6) Lawrence North Wildcats (12-3) at (12/3A 5) New Palestine Dragons (13-2) Time: 6 p.m. JV/7:30 p.m. V Site: New Palestine HS Tickets: $6/cash at gate or online https://public.eventlink.com/tickets?t=112034 Audio broadcast: NewPalRadio.com Video broadcast: IHSAAtv.org/NewPalestine ($) SETTING THE SCENE For the first time in 39 days, the Dragons return home for a matchup against Lawrence North. The Dragons had played nine consecutive games away from home, including six true road games, and went 8-1 in the stretch. This will be the Dragons’ third game against a ranked team and fourth against the Sagarin Top 25 this season. LN has won both meetings in the series, but both contests have been close. The Dragons dropped a 59-58 decision at home in 2023. Last season, playing without guard Moses Haynes, they led after each of the first three quarters before falling 57-48. Julius Gizzi tallied 36 points for the Dragons in that game. DRAGONS NOTES The Dragons are now 5-0 in 2025 after posting two road wins in come-from-behind thrillers last weekend. Friday night, they trailed Roncalli by six midway through the fourth quarter, and were on defense with a four-point deficit in the final two minutes. The defense forced three straight turnovers, and Julius Gizzi hit a 3-pointer, a reverse layup and a free throw - the latter coming after a steal - to give the Dragons a 64-62 victory. On Saturday at Franklin, the Dragons trailed by nine points with three minutes left. Gizzi launched a 13-2 run with a three-point play. After a stop, he was fouled and hit two free throws to cut the deficit to four. Moses Haynes cut it to one with a 3-pointer after a Franklin turnover. Two missed free throws gave the Dragons the ball with a chance to take the lead, where Gizzi was fouled and hit two FTs with 19 seconds left. Franklin answered with two FTs with 10 seconds left, but Haynes took a feed from Ben Slagley and drained an open 3-pointer to answer and give the Dragons a 66-64 victory. Gizzi tallied 28 points and six rebounds in Friday’s game at Roncalli. Austin McMahan added nine boards, while Haynes scored 13 points and dished four assists. Against Franklin, Gizzi tallied his third 3-point game of the year, scoring 34 points on 12-18 shooting and 8-10 from the line. Haynes added 13 points - six in the fourth quarter - and Slagley tallied 10 second-half points to go along with nine rebounds and six assists. The Dragons shot 53% from the floor against the Grizzly Cubs. The Dragons’ magic number has been 70 this season. When the Dragons hold a team to fewer than 70 points this season, they are 13-0. Gizzi has scored 20+ points in 13 of the Dragons’ 15 games this season and 30+ three times, with a season high of 35 against Silver Creek. He now has 1,435 career points and needs 177 to catch his older brother Maximus, the Dragons’ career scoring leader. He is second in the HHC and fifth in the state in scoring at 25.7 ppg. Over the last eight games, Austin McMahan is shooting 76.1% (35-46). Slagley moved into a tie for fifth place on the NPHS career rebounding list last weekend. He now has 524, tying Dawson Eastes. He is also eighth on the career assists list (214) and second in blocks (88). Haynes is seventh in the state and leads the HHC in assists (6.9 apg), while Slagley is third (4.5 apg). Slagley leads the HHC in blocks (1.3 bpg) and is third in rebounds (6.9 rpg). Haynes is closing in on a pair of records. He has 107 career steals, eight shy of Maximus Gizzi’s mark of 115. He also has 359 career assists, 64 back of recordholder Blaine Nunnally. SCOUTING THE WILDCATS LN has won two straight games, beating Plainfield 70-61 and North Central 88-70 last week. The Wildcats are led by Butler signee Azavier Robinson, who tallies 19.5 points and 4.4 assists per game. Junior Brennan Miller adds 13.2 ppg and 8.4 rpg, while junior Kai McGrew tallies 11.8 ppg and 7.6 rpg. Robinson tallied 21 points and Miller 10 in last season’s meeting. LOOKING AHEAD This game begins a stretch of five games in 11 days. The Dragons conclude continue their week Friday vs. Yorktown and Saturday at Indian Creek. 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.