New Palestine High School

The New Palestine boys basketball team extended its winning streak to 14 games Saturday, leading from wire-to-wire in a 64-53 victory at Franklin. The Dragons built an early 13-5 lead and never trailed from there, pushing it as high as 11 points in the first half and 18 late. Blaine Nunnally scored 27 points to lead the Dragons, while Ian Stephens added 22 against a tough Grizzly Cubs frontcourt. Nunnally had a strong first quarter, scoring seven early points to stake the Dragons to an early eight-point lead. Eian Roudebush then hit a 3-pointer to push the lead to nine before Franklin's Micah Davis hit a runner at the buzzer to cut the advantage to 16-9. Nunnally and Stephens continued slashing to the basket and drawing fouls in the second quarter, as Nunnally scored six points - including 4-of-4 from the stripe - and Stephens added five in the second quarter. The Dragons pushed their lead to 11 on multiple occasions before a late four-point run by Franklin cut the lead to 29-22 at the break, with the Grizzly Cubs hitting another buzzer-beater. The Grizzly Cubs started the third quarter strongly, as Davis and 6-6 shot blocker Dylan Beverley hit early shots to cut the Dragons lead to 36-33, with Davis taking advantage of Dragons' top defender Bryant Nunnally missing time due to having three fouls. With the Dragons' lead cut to a single possession, Blaine Nunnally drilled a 3-pointer out of the right corner to double the lead, then forced a steal and drew a foul, hitting both shots. Another turnover led to a basket by Stephens to push the lead back to double-digits before the Grizzly Cubs scored the final basket of the quarter to cut the edge to 43-35. In the fourth, the Dragons' defense - led by Bryant Nunnally - took over. Davis, who had scored 16 in the first three quarters, was held to two points as the Dragons gradually extended the lead. Stephens scored 11 points in the frame, including an early three-point play to extend the lead to double digits, while Nunnally added eight. The Dragons eventually extended the lead to 62-44 with a 12-2 run before the Grizzly Cubs hit three 3-pointers in the final minute and a half. Saturday's game marked the fourth time the Dragons have had two 20-point scorers in a game, and the third time the duo was Stephens and Blaine Nunnally. Blaine's 27 points marked a season high. In addition to the two 20-point scorers, Ben Slagley added eight points, Julius Gizzi four and Roudebush three. Davis led Franklin with 18 points. The Dragons dropped the JV game 67-56. The Dragons freshmen won 46-39. The Dragons are back in action Wednesday at home against Lawrence North, with a 6 p.m. JV tipoff, followed by the varsity at 7:30 p.m.