New Palestine High School

The New Palestine boys basketball team used a strong defensive effort to hold off Brownstown Central for a 47-43 victory in Saturday's semistate semifinal. The Dragons (26-3) advance to the state's final four, where they will face either Princeton or Crispus Attucks at 8 p.m. in the Southport semistate championship game. The Dragons used an 8-0 run to take a 40-36 lead going into the fourth, but Brownstown quickly cut the lead to 40-38. Julius Gizzi was fouled and split two free throws to push the lead to 41-38 before the Braves again answered to cut the lead to one. From there, Will Davison drained a long 3-pointer to push the lead to 44-40. The Dragons' defense, led by Ben Slagley, helped limit the Braves' inside game. Center Colby Hall scored inside to cut the Dragons' lead to 44-42 with two minutes left, and the Braves' 1-3-1 zone forced a turnover to give Brownstown a chance, but the Dragons were able to force two straight stops - including one on a 90-second possession. Slagley grabbed a rebound with 24 seconds left to seal possession for NP. He hit one of two free throws with 13 seconds left to extend the lead to 45-42. The Dragons fouled intentionally and Brownstown hit one free throw with nine seconds left to cut the lead to one. The Dragons inbounded and Gizzi hit two free throws to seal the victory. NP started the game down 9-2, but finished the first quarter on an 11-0 run led by four points from Moses Haynes and a 3-pointer from Davison, to go up 13-9. Triples by Haynes and Gizzi helped the Dragons push the lead to 21-14 before Brownstown went on an 11-0 run fueled by three straight 3-pointers. Slagley hit a late basket before halftime to cut the Braves' lead to 25-23. In the third, Slagley scored six early points to help the Dragons maintain contact, including a three-point play, and Gizzi hit a triple, but NP trailed 36-32. Gizzi sliced inside for a three-point play to cut the deficit to one. Davison followed with another 3-pointer and Gizzi scored inside to cap an 8-0 run and give the Dragons a four-point lead going to the final frame. Gizzi led the Dragons with 18 points - giving him 1,799 for his career - tallying 11 after halftime. Slagley scored seven of his 11 points in the second half. Davison scored nine, all on 3-pointers. Haynes also scored nine first-half points. Hall led Brownstown with 17 points. Chance Cooler scored 12, while Lane Pendleton and Micah Sheffer had seven each. The Braves were held to 18 second-half points.