New Palestine High School

The New Palestine boys basketball team hosts Mt. Vernon for Senior Night, as the Dragons will honor seniors Julius Gizzi, Keagan Harrison, Moses Haynes, Austin McMahan and Ben Slagley. FRIDAY: (RV/4A --) Mt. Vernon Marauders (15-4, 4-1 HHC) at (6/3A 4) New Palestine Dragons (20-2, 5-1 HHC) Time: 6 p.m. JV/7:30 p.m. V Location: New Palestine High School Tickets: $6/at gate or https://public.eventlink.com/tickets?t=115726 Audio: NewPalRadio.com Video: IHSAAtv.org/NewPalestine SETTING THE SCENE A tradition that dates back more than a century continues, as the Dragons host arch-rival Mt. Vernon. This is the 93rd meeting in the series, which dates to the 1963-64 season, but prior to that, the Dragons played at least one of MV’s predecessor schools in every year of their recorded history. This game has been scheduled on the third Friday in February every year since 1963, when NP met Vernon Township. The Dragons trail the all-time series 55-37, but have won seven of the last 10 meetings. They have played twice in three consecutive years. NP won the most recent meeting 58-56 in last year’s sectional behind 21 points from Julius Gizzi and two free throws in the final seconds from Ben Slagley. Tonight is the Dragons’ Senior Night, as they will honor Gizzi, Slagley, Moses Haynes, Austin McMahan and Keagan Harrison. Combined, they are the winningest class in program history, with an 84-18 four-year record, two sectional titles and an HHC title. DRAGONS NOTES The Dragons are 20-2 for the third time in school history, equaling the program’s best record through 22 games. They also posted 20-2 starts in 2022-23 and 1988-89. They have clinched the fourth 20-win season in school history - and third consecutive. NP won 22 games last year and 23 in 2022-23. The other 20-win season was a 21-3 mark in 1988-89. The Dragons continue to roll, having won 13 consecutive games - the second-longest streak in program history. The longest is 15, set in 2022-23. Their most recent win was a historic 63-42 victory over Shelbyville, in which they set three individual school records. Julius Gizzi led four double-figure scorers with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Ben Slagley added 13 points, Austin McMahan 11 and Evan Darrah 10. With a second-quarter 3-pointer last Friday, Gizzi passed his older brother Maximus to become the Dragons’ career scoring leader. He now has 1,622 career points. Gizzi has 573 this season, and is averaging 26.0 ppg. He has tallied 20-plus points 20 times this season and 30-plus points five times. Moses Haynes broke two records Friday night. He had 13 assists to became the school’s career assists leader with 426, breaking Blaine Nunnally’s two-year-old record. The 13 assists were one off his school record of 14, set in 2024 against Guerin Catholic. Haynes has double-digit assists in three of his last four games, averaging 11.0 apg in that stretch. He is 10 assists away from his single-year mark of 181. Haynes, who became the NPHS all-time steals leader Feb. 6, extended that mark to 131 with five steals against Shelbyville. That also gave him 53 for the season, breaking his own one-year-old mark of 51. He is averaging 4.0 spg in his last four games. The Dragons were all over the glass Friday night, outrebounding Shelbyville 39-17. The Dragons have posted 10 double-doubles this season. Haynes, Gizzi and Slagley have three each - one of Slagley’s is a triple-double and another is a rebounds/assists double-double. Both of Haynes’ are points/assists double-doubles. McMahan has one. At 26.0 ppg entering the week, Gizzi is fourth in the state in scoring and second in the HHC. At 7.8 apg, Haynes is fourth in the state and first in the HHC in assists. Slagley leads the HHC in blocked shots (1.3 bpg). Slagley has 97 career blocks and is three away from becoming the second Dragon to tally 100 in his career. SCOUTING THE MARAUDERS MV is enjoying its second straight 15-win season under coach Joe Bradburn. Purdue commit Luke Ertel leads the Marauders with 21.2 ppg, 6.4 rpg and 3.9 apg. Elijah Parra adds 9.3 ppg. MV has five players averaging at least 7 ppg. MV has won three straight games and seven of its last eight, including a 3-0 week last week with wins over Pike (66-58 OT), Marion (73-56) and Southport (67-43). LOOKING AHEAD The Dragons close the regular season next Thursday at Warren Central. They will learn their path in the Shelbyville sectional at 5 p.m. Sunday. 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