New Palestine High School

The Dragons boys basketball team hits the road for a pair of games this weekend. Friday (10/9) New Palestine Dragons (12-0) at Roncalli Royals (5-7) Time: 4:30 p.m. F/6 p.m. JV, 7:30 p.m. V Site: St. Vincent Gymnasium, Roncalli (enter door 15) (directions: https://goo.gl/maps/7FnTHNuwkGNQJqzh6) Tickets: $6, cash at gate Audio: NewPalRadio.com Saturday (10/9) New Palestine Dragons (12-0) at Franklin Grizzly Cubs (6-7) Time: 6 p.m. JV/F, 7:30 p.m. F Site: Franklin High School (directions: https://goo.gl/maps/5gzxxijmSYENfqgC8) Audio: NewPalRadio.com Tickets: $6, cash at gate SETTING THE SCENE The Dragons step out of conference play for the weekend as they hit the road for a pair of games. Friday’s tilt is at Roncalli. The Dragons won a 67-63 decision last year. Blaine Nunnally scored 13 points in that contest. Roncalli leads the all-time series 11-4, but the Dragons have won three of the last five. The Dragons are ranked for the third straight week in the IBCA poll and in the Top 10 for the first time in school history. They debuted in the AP 4A poll for the first time in school history this week. Saturday, the Dragons finish the road weekend with a trip to Franklin. The Dragons trail the all-time series 18-9, but have won three straight meetings, including a 63-58 decision last year. Blaine Nunnally and Ben Slagley scored 14 points each in that game. DRAGONS NOTES At 12-0, the Dragons have the best start in the program’s 114-year history. The previous best were 11-0 starts in 1958-59 and 1978-79. Senior Blaine Nunnally became the 10th Dragon to reach the 1,000-point mark in Saturday’s 73-68 victory over Southport, tallying 22 points. Nunnally now has 1,012 career points and ranks ninth on the career scoring list. He needs 13 points to catch T.J. Ott for eighth, 15 points to catch Michael Morris in seventh and 27 points to reach Dennis Ulrey in sixth. The Dragons played just one game last week, beating Pendleton Heights 58-41. Ian Stephens scored 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting and added six rebounds. Julius Gizzi added 15 points off the bench, hitting 3-of-3 from deep. Ben Slagley had eight points and nine boards, while Blaine Nunnally had eight points and seven assists. Sophomore Julius Gizzi has been instant offense off the bench and has posted three straight double-figure games. He has averaged 17 points in his last three contests, hitting 19-32 from the floor and 10-15 from deep. He tallied a career-high 19 points against Delta. As a team, the Dragons had 20 assists on 23 made baskets against Delta. Stephens is third in the HHC in scoring at 16.9 ppg, while Blaine Nunnally is fourth at 16.8 ppg. Stephens is the HHC’s leading rebounder (8.8 rpg), with Slagley third at 7.3 rpg. Nunnally, who has led the conference in assists each of the last two years, currently leads the league in that category with 5.2 apg. SCOUTING THE ROYALS Roncalli enters having dropped five of its last six, but the one win in that stretch was a 56-54 victory over North Central in the Marion County Tournament. The Royals dropped a 57-45 decision at Columbus North Tuesday, beginning a three-game week. Senior Luke Keggeris leads the Royals with an 18.4 ppg average. Senior Nolan Tunny adds 13.6 ppg and junior Drew Keggeris scores 12.8 ppg. Tunny also averages 7.0 rebounds per contest. SCOUTING THE GRIZZLY CUBS Franklin was the runner-up in last week’s Johnson County Tournament, beating Greenwood Christian 65-47 and Greenwood 30-29 before falling 65-56 to Center Grove. Junior Micah Davis leads the Grizzly Cubs, scoring 18.3 ppg. Senior Dylan Beverley and junior Wes Nickleson each average 11.2 ppg.