New Palestine High School

The New Palestine girls basketball team had a strong start, but fell behind in the second quarter and saw a late rally fall short Saturday in a 59-48 loss to Roncalli in the Class 3A Indian Creek sectional final. The Dragons had a strong start and jumped out to a 16-14 lead after a quarter, as Sadey Hughbanks opened the game with a 3-pointer and scored seven first-quarter points. Haven Flagle added a triple and tallied five points in the opening frame. Hughbanks added four more and Gabbie Brown hit four free throws, the latter two drawing the Dragons to a 26-26 tie late in the second. But Roncalli finished the half on a seven-point run to take a 33-26 lead at the break. Roncalli pushed the lead to double-digits in the third, despite Kylee Beranek scoring seven points - including a 3-pointer - and a triple from Brown that cut the deficit from 12 to 45-36 after three. Hughbanks and Tylar Whitaker opened the fourth with baskets to cut Roncalli's lead to five and force a timeout, but the Royals were able to answer the run and pull away, despite five points from Flagle and four from Hughbanks in the finale frame. Hughbanks led the Dragons with 15 points. Flagle added 10, Beranek nine, Brown seven, Whitaker four and Kendra Moore three. The Dragons finished the season with a 12-12 record and their third consecutive sectional championship game appearance.