New Palestine High School

A historic season for the New Palestine boys basketball season ended Saturday in the regional, as the 10th-ranked Dragons fell 66-39 to No. 8 Brownsburg. The Dragons finish the season with a 23-3 mark, setting a school record for wins. They won both the Hoosier Heritage Conference and sectional championships for the second time in four seasons. The Dragons got off to a good start, with Ian Stephens hitting a three-pointer on the first possession and adding a flying dunk later in the quarter, but Brownsburg finished the quarter on a 10-2 run to take a 16-7 lead after a quarter, as Grant Porath scored 10 points for the Bulldogs in the opening frame. Brownsburg pushed its lead to 12 early in the second, but the Dragons responded with back-to-back 3-pointers by Moses Haynes to cut the deficit to 24-18. The Dragons struggled to score the rest of the quarter and the Bulldogs went on an 11-0 run before a late Blaine Nunnally free throw cut the deficit to 35-19 at the break. The Dragons played a strong third quarter, holding the Bulldogs to eight points and getting solid balance - a three-point play by Nunnally, a 3-pointer from Julius Gizzi and baskets by Stephens, Eian Roudebush and Ben Slagley, cutting the deficit to 43-31 going into the fourth. The Dragons cut the deficit to 10 early in the fourth quarter on a basket by Slagley, but Brownsburg answered with seven straight points. A three-point play and a basket by Nunnally cut the deficit to 52-38, but Brownsburg finished the game on a 14-1 run over the final 4:30 to push the final margin to 27. Nunnally led the Dragons with 11 points. Stephens added nine, Slagley eight, Haynes six, Gizzi three and Roudebush two. Porath led Brownsburg with 20 points. Kanon Catchings added 17. Nunnally finishes his career with 1,258 points, the third-highest total in NPHS history. The Dragons' senior class of Blaine and Bryant Nunnally, Stephens, Roudebush, Kendall Hill and Daniel Tippit combined for a 70-31 record over their four seasons, with two sectional and two conference championships and school records for the best start to a season (15-0), most consecutive wins (15) and most wins in a season (23). The Dragons' record of 42-10 over the last two years is the best two-season run in school history.