New Palestine High School

The New Palestine girls basketball team used a lockdown fourth quarter Wednesday to pull away to a 45-27 victory over Richmond in the Class 4A Mt. Vernon sectional opening round. The Dragons (12-11) advance to Friday's 7:30 p.m. semifinal to face Anderson. Mt. Vernon will face Pendleton Heights in Friday's first semifinal. The Dragons led 29-24 going into the final quarter and surrendered a basket on the first possession of the frame to see the lead cut to 29-26. From there, the Dragons outscored the Red Devils 16-1 to put the game away. Isabella Gizzi drew a foul and hit two free throws to extend the lead to five before a Richmond free throw cut it to four. On the next possession, Sadey Hughbanks buried a fifth-chance rebound high off the glass and in to put the Dragons up 33-27. She was fouled on the play. Allie Blum rebounded the ensuing missed free throw and hit a basket to extend the lead to eight. The Dragons switched back to a man-to-man defense and held Richmond scoreless over the last six minutes, while Gizzi hit eight straight free throws and Vivian Miller two to put the game away. The Dragons started the game on a 12-1 run, with Gizzi hitting three first-quarter 3-pointers and Blum one. Foul trouble hit the Dragons hard and Richmond took advantage, drawing within two on a nine-point run before a triple by Miller extended the lead to 15-10. Gizzi and Kylee Beranek each hit shots in the later stages of the quarter to give the Dragons a 19-13 halftime lead. Richmond began the third quarter with an 8-2 run to tie the game at 21, hitting back-to-back 3-pointers to draw within two and adding a basket from leading scorer Madison Sonsini. Miller gave the Dragons the lead back with a 3-pointer, but it was answered by a three-point play by Sonsini that tied the game again. The Dragons again responded as Beranek hit a three-point play to put the Dragons up 27-24. Tylar Whitaker added a late basket to extend the lead to five going into the fourth. Gizzi led the Dragons with 21 points, becoming the school's career scoring leader - encompassing boys and girls basketball - as she now has 1,629 points. That eclipses the mark of 1,612 set by her brother, Maximus Gizzi, in 2020. Miller added 10 for her 13th double-digit game of the year. Blum and Beranek scored five points each. Hughbanks and Whitaker tallied two each. Sonsini led Richmond with 10 points.