New Palestine High School

The No. 10/14 New Palestine boys basketball team opens sectional play at 6 p.m. Friday against Pendleton Heights, a fellow Hoosier Heritage Conference foe. The winner faces either Mt. Vernon or No. 17 Anderson at 7 p.m. Saturday for the sectional championship. Friday: IHSAA Class 4A Muncie Central sectional No. 14/4A No. 10 New Palestine Dragons (21-2) vs. Pendleton Heights Arabians (8-16) Time: 6 p.m. Site: Muncie Fieldhouse, Muncie https://goo.gl/maps/oQaxhV3p3KbynqLw8 Tickets: $7, available at door. DOORS OPEN ONE HOUR PRIOR TO TIPOFF Audio: NewPalRadio.com Saturday: Sectional championship game, 7 p.m. SETTING THE SCENE The Dragons enter sectional play seeking their 10th sectional championship and first since 2020, a tournament also held at the Muncie Fieldhouse. The field features two ranked teams in the final four of the sectional. The Dragons face a semifinal rematch with Pendleton Heights. NP won a 58-41 decision Jan. 12 in a game played at Pendleton Heights Middle School. Ian Stephens tallied 19 points and Julius Gizzi 15 to lead the Dragons. This is the Dragons’ first tournament meeting with the Arabians since a 71-56 victory in the 2018 Richmond sectional. The Dragons’ first-ever tournament win came against PH’s predecessor Markleville, a 26-12 victory in the 1918 Anderson sectional. The winner faces either Mt. Vernon or Anderson in the sectional final. If the Dragons and Marauders advance, it would be their 90th meeting and 17th in the tourney. NP has faced MV more times than any other school in the tournament. If the Dragons advance to face Anderson, it would be their first meeting in 102 years. They last met in the 1921 Anderson sectional final, a 60-10 Indians win. The Dragons finished the regular season ranked No. 14 in the IBCA poll and No. 10 in the AP Class 4A poll. It marks the first time they’ve been ranked at the end of the season and their ninth consecutive week in the poll. DRAGONS NOTES The Dragons have tied the school record for victories with 21, a total also achieved in the 1988-89 season, when the Dragons went 21-3. Senior Blaine Nunnally became the third Dragon to tally 1,200 career points last week against Greenwood, when he scored 15 points to lead the Dragons. He now has 1,214 for his career. He added four assists to his school-record total, which is now 408. Nunnally will also break another record the next time he steps onto the floor. The first sectional game will be the 95th of his career, the most ever played by a Dragon. Senior Ian Stephens is closing in on the 500-rebound mark. He has 494 career boards. Six rebounds would not only give him 500, but move him into the NPHS top five all-time. The Dragons were efficient on both ends in Friday’s season-ending 61-31 victory over Greenwood. Nunnally scored 15 points, Stephens had 12 points and seven boards and Eian Roudebush tallied 10 points. The Dragons shot 54 percent (22-41) and held Greenwood to 28 percent (11-40). Blaine Nunnally has tallied 20-plus points in three of the Dragons’ last four games. Nunnally is third in the HHC in scoring at 17.6 ppg, with Stephens ranking seventh (15.9 ppg). Stephens (7.9) and Slagley (6.7) rank first and third in rebounding. Nunnally leads the league and ranks 21st in the state in assists (5.2 apg), with Moses Haynes seventh in the HHC (2.7 apg). Stephens ranks seventh in steals (1.4 spg). Slagley is second in blocked shots (0.9 bpg), with Stephens eighth (0.5 bpg). SCOUTING THE FIELD Friday’s foe Pendleton Heights is coming off a 62-58 victory over Richmond. The Arabians are led by 6-7 junior Josiah Gustin, who tallied 24 points and nine rebounds Tuesday. Sophomore wing Evan Mozingo added 14 points and eight boards. Gustin averages 13.6 ppg and 7.5 rpg, while Mozingo tallies 11.8 ppg and 4 rpg. In the Dragons’ 58-41 victory over PH Jan. 12, Gustin had 15 points. Stephens led NP with 19 points and Gizzi 15. Mt. Vernon pulled away from Muncie Central to win 62-32 Wednesday, outscoring the host Bearcats 24-4 in the fourth quarter. Freshman guard Luke Ertel had 16 points and nine rebounds and forward Adam Hackett added 13 points. When the Dragons beat MV 66-52 Feb. 17, Julien Smith led MV with 13 points and Ertel scored 12. Stephens scored 20 and Blaine Nunnally 17 for the Dragons. Smith (13.5 ppg) and Ertel (12.8 ppg) lead the Marauders. Anderson held off Greenfield-Central 55-48 Wednesday. Ja’Quan Ingram scored 20 points, Damien King 15 and Ahmere Carson 12 for the Indians. Carson leads AHS with a 21.9 ppg average, while Ingram tallies 14.1 ppg.