New Palestine High School

The New Palestine boys basketball team has made a lot of history this season. Saturday afternoon, they did something else that had never been done in 108 IHSAA tournaments - win a regional championship. The Dragons led from wire-to-wire Saturday, scoring the game's first eight points and never looking back in a 63-49 victory over Guerin Catholic to win the Class 3A Greenfield-Central regional. The Dragons advance to the March 22 semistate. The site and opponent will be determined at 3 p.m. Sunday. The Dragons will face either Brownstown Central, Crispus Attucks or Princeton. The potential sites are New Castle, Seymour, Southport and Washington. The Dragons jumped ahead quickly, as Julius Gizzi hit a 3-pointer on the game's first possession. Moses Haynes followed with one and Gizzi an inside shot to give the Dragons an 8-0 lead. Ben Slagley later added a basket inside to push the lead to 10-1. Guerin hit a couple of late shots in the first quarter, but the Dragons held a 12-6 edge after one with a torrid defensive effort. The defense continued in the second, as NP opened with a 10-2 run, fueled by 3-pointers from Slagley and Evan Darrah, to go ahead 22-8. The Golden Eagles got hot from outside and went on a mini-run to cut the lead to 26-17, but Gizzi hit a reverse layup in the closing seconds and Austin McMahan blocked a 3-pointer by Guerin's Bryson Cardinal at the buzzer to give NP a 28-17 halftime edge. The Dragons' defense held Guerin to 25% shooting in the first half (6-24), while holding Cardinal - the Golden Eagles' leading scorer at 19.8 ppg - scoreless for the first 16 minutes. Guerin tried to establish Cardinal in the third, but the Dragons quickly jumped the lead to 15 by scoring the first four points of the frame on baskets by Gizzi and Slagley. Cardinal quickly answered with a three-point play to cut the lead to 32-20. The Dragons quickly got Guerin into the penalty, and took advantage, going 7-of-10 from the line in the third quarter. Gizzi was 5-of-8. McMahan and Gizzi hit two free throws each to answer Guerin baskets to push the lead to 36-25. On the next possession, Gizzi was fouled and split two free throws. On the miss, Keagan Harrison - who had just checked into the game - tipped the ball twice against taller Golden Eagles to secure the offensive rebound, then kicked out to Haynes for a long 3-pointer to put the Dragons up 40-25 after a four-point possession. Gizzi added two more free throws to push the lead to 42-25. Guerin quickly answered with a 3-pointer by Malcolm Houze, and the Golden Eagles hit another basket to cut the lead to 42-30. Gizzi hit a shot, but Cardinal answered with a free throw, giving NP a 44-31 lead going into the fourth. The Golden Eagles warmed up early in the fourth, as Cardinal drew a foul and hit two free throws and Houze hit a long 3-pointer to cut the lead to 44-36. Slagley hit a free throw to expand the lead to 9, but Guerin's Jake Grissom hit a long two to cut it to 45-38. Gizzi was fouled shooting a 3-pointer and hit two to extend the lead to nine again, but the Golden Eagles again responded with an inside basket from Ryne Paris to make it a 47-40 game. However, the Dragons were able to respond. Slagley drove inside and brought about a goaltending violation, Gizzi hit two free throws and McMahan dunked to push the lead to 53-40, before Grissom answered with a 3-pointer to quell the run briefly. However, the Dragons maintained a double-digit lead and put it away at the line. NP was 11-of-13 from the stripe in the fourth quarter. Gizzi led the way with 28 points. He was 6-of-7 from the line in the fourth quarter and 13-of-17 for the game. H ewas also 7-of-10 from the floor. He also had nine rebounds. Slagley added 16 points, tallying seven in the fourth quarter. He was 6-of-9 from the floor. Haynes and McMahan scored eight each, while Darrah tallied three. Grissom led Guerin with 13 points, scoring seven in the fourth quarter. Houze and Paris scored 10 each. Cardinal tallied eight - all in the second half - thanks to some tremendous defense from Slagley and McMahan. The Dragons also clinched their first-ever 25-win season with the regional title. They are now 25-3 headed to next week's semistate.