New Palestine High School

The New Palestine boys basketball team hosts Guerin Catholic in a top-5 matchup. TUESDAY: (17/3A 3) Guerin Catholic Golden Eagles (17-3) at (10/3A 5) New Palestine Dragons (18-2) Time: 6 p.m. JV, 7:30 p.m. V Site: New Palestine HS Tickets: $6, at gate or https://public.eventlink.com/tickets?t=114308 Audio broadcast: NewPalRadio.com Video broadcast: IHSAAtv.org ($) SETTING THE SCENE The Dragons face Guerin Catholic in a matchup of two of Class 3A’s Top 5 teams. This game could be a preview of a regional or semistate tilt, as both teams are in the same regional field. This game is the second of five consecutive games to finish the season against teams in the top 60 of Jeff Sagarin’s computer rankings, and one of three against Top 25 teams. The Dragons are ranked No. 6 in the state, Guerin is No. 16 in the computer rankings. NP leads the series 3-0, but each game has gone down to the wire. The Dragons won a 63-61 decision last season on Ben Slagley’s putback at the buzzer. He had 16, while Julius Gizzi and Moses Haynes tallied 17 points in the victory. DRAGONS NOTES The Dragons are 18-2 for the fifth time in school history, equaling the program’s best record through 20 games. They also posted 18-2 starts in 2022-23, 1988-89, 1958-59 and 1944-45. NP won sectional titles in 2023 and 1989. The Dragons had another hot-shooting performance against Southport in Saturday’s 77-64 victory, hitting 62% from the floor. It was their third time eclipsing 60% in the last four games. Julius Gizzi hit 10-16 for 26 points, while Moses Haynes was 5-8 for 13 points and Austin McMahan 5-6 for 11 points. Keagan Harrison was a perfect 4-4 for eight points, one off his career high. Haynes had 11 assists in both of last week’s games, giving him 404 for his career. He needs 19 assists to reach Blaine Nunnally’s record of 423, set in 2023. He also has 149 assists this season, 32 shy of the record Haynes set last year. Haynes set the NPHS career steals record last week against Perry Meridian. He now has 120 steals over his career, breaking Maximus Gizzi’s mark of 115. The Dragons have won 11 consecutive games, tying the fifth-longest winning streak in school history. The record is 15, set in 2022-23. Austin McMahan had his first career double-double against Perry Meridian with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Coupled with Gizzi’s 23 points and 12 boards, it marked the first time since the opening game in 2023-24 the Dragons had two double-doubles in the same game. Gizzi now has 1,576 career points. He is 36 points shy of the school scoring record of 1,612 points, held by his brother Maximus since 2020. His 527 points this season are fourth-most in school history. He needs 16 points to catch Royce McDougall for third place on the single-season list. At 26.6 ppg, Gizzi is fourth in the state in scoring and second in the HHC. Haynes is fifth in the state in assists (7.5 apg). He leads the HHC, while Ben Slagley is third (5.2 apg). Slagley also leads the HHC in blocked shots (1.2 bpg). SCOUTING THE GOLDEN EAGLES Guerin enters the game with a 17-3 mark and wins in 11 of its last 12 games. The Golden Eagles won the Ray Furney Classic this December, a tourney in which the Dragons finished third. Guerin is led by senior Bryson Cardinal (19.4 ppg, 9.3 rpg), the son of former Purdue standout Brian Cardinal. Sophomore Jake Grissom adds 13.5 ppg. LOOKING AHEAD The Dragons head back into conference play Friday night with a trip to Shelbyville, which will also be a trip to the sectional site. Senior Night will be Feb. 21 against Mt. Vernon. 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. Photo credit: Landyn Muffler