New Palestine High School

The New Palestine boys basketball team will play for a sectional championship for the fifth time in the last six seasons, as the Dragons led from wire-to-wire Friday to beat Pendleton Heights 48-35 in the Class 4A Muncie Central sectional semifinal. The 14th-ranked Dragons (22-2) will face Mt. Vernon (16-8) at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Muncie Fieldhouse for the title. It is the fifth time the two schools will have met in the sectional in that six-year span. The Dragons scored the game's first six points on back-to-back baskets by Ben Slagley and a shot by Blaine Nunnally, but then went scoreless for the final six minutes of the first quarter. However, they maintained the lead, surrendering only five points to lead 6-5 at the quarter. The Dragons gradually pulled ahead in the second quarter, with Julius Gizzi hitting a pair of early shots and Blaine Nunnally scoring a three-point play to put the Dragons up 13-7. Slagley finished the half with three straight baskets to give the Dragons a 21-14 edge at the break. The Dragons quickly pushed the lead to double-digits after halftime, with Nunnally hitting two free throws, Eian Roudebush tallying a three-point play and Nunnally and Roudebush hitting back-to-back shots to put the Dragons up 30-18. Gizzi then hit back-to-back baskets to keep the lead in double figures at 34-22 going into the fourth. The Dragons gradually pulled away in the fourth, with Gizzi hitting an early 3-pointer and the Dragons using a strong defensive effort to maintain a double-digit lead. Gizzi led the Dragons with 13 points off the bench. Blaine Nunnally scored 11 points, while Slagley talled all 10 of his points in the first half. Roudeubsh and Ian Stephens each scored five. Moses Haynes and Kendall Hill scored two points each. The Dragons had an outstanding defensive effort to limit PH's top two scorers on the season, as leading scorer Josiah Gustin was held to six points and second-leading scorer Evan Mozingo was scoreless. Dontrez Braxton led PH with 13 points and Isaac Wilson scored 12. The Dragons will be seeking their 10th sectional title Saturday and first since 2020, in a sectional that was also held at the Muncie Fieldhouse.