Daily Reporter staff reports
The New Palestine boys basketball team lost a heartbreaker Saturday night as the visiting Franklin Grizzly Cubs buried a buzzer-beater to win 51-49.
Franklin broke the stalemate in the final two seconds of regulation after charging back from a 47-42 deficit against the host Dragons in the final five minutes.
Matthew True, Dylan Romine and Gavin Hausz each had 11 points for the Dragons, while Maxen Hook supplied their fourth scorer in double figures with 10.
New Palestine trailed 24-22 at halftime before taking a 42-40 lead in the third quarter. The margin grew to five points in the fourth prior to Franklin’s rally.
The loss snapped the Dragons’ four-game winning streak. New Palestine (8-6) travels to Yorktown on Friday.
Royals tied for 1st
The Eastern Hancock boys basketball team moved into a first-place tie with Shenandoah atop the Mid-Eastern Conference after defeating the Raiders 55-47 on Saturday.
The Royals opened their home matchup with the Raiders up 14-9 after the first quarter. The lead held up the rest of the way as Eastern Hancock improved to 11-3 on the season and 5-1 in the MEC.
They host Lapel in a nonconference matchup on Friday.
Marauders lose in OT
The Mt. Vernon boys basketball team rallied against Class 4A No. 8 Hamilton Southeastern to force overtime, but the visiting Royals prevailed 59-55.
The Marauders trailed by two points at halftime and tied the game in the second half at 53-all by the end of regulation. The Royals outscored the Marauders 6-2 in overtime to win.
Damari Gatewood led Mt. Vernon with 21 points. Logan Smith added 18, while Cade Gentry had eight.
Mt. Vernon (7-6) travels to Connersville on Friday.
Cougars fall short
The Greenfield-Central boys basketball team just came up short on Saturday night, losing to host and Hoosier Heritage Conference foe Shelbyville 59-57.
The loss drops the Cougars’ season record to 4-9 and 1-4 in the HHC.
The Cougars limited the Golden Bears to 22 points in the second half and only eight in the fourth quarter, but Greenfield-Central’s 29-point second-half rally fell two points shy of tying the game.
Matt Turner lead the Cougars with 15 points. Brady Mundell added 12 points, while Logan Graddy and Brian Long both had 10 points. Will O’Connor chipped in eight points.
Greenfield-Central travels to Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Friday for Rivalry Night to play HHC foe Pendleton Heights at 8:45 p.m.
Swimming
Cougars finish third
The Greenfield-Central boys and girls swimming teams each placed third at the Fishers three-way meet Saturday.
The boys scored 79 points while Fort Wayne Carroll won with 124 points. Fishers was second at 113.
Chris Joven won the 50-yard freestyle and the 100 freestyle for the Cougars, and was part of the winning 200 freestyle relay team. Zach Cook won the 100 butterfly and was on the relay team as well.
The girls scored 42 points, with Fishers winning at 160 points. FW Carroll was second with 154 points.
Royals take fifth
The Eastern Hancock boys and girls swimming teams both placed fifth at the Warren Central Invitational on Saturday.
The boys scored 224 points to finish fifth out of 16 teams. The girls tallied 198 points for fifth overall.
The boys 400 freestyle relay team set a new school record to lead the Royals, dropping their time by almost four seconds at 3:36.43.
The Royals return to the pool Wednesday for senior night against Hagerstown.
Gymnastics
Dragons finish 2nd
The New Palestine gymnastics team finished second Saturday during the New Castle four-way.
The Dragons scored 96.4 points behind meet winner Richmond with 98.275. New Castle was third with 94.5. Muncie Central placed fourth with 76.725.
Grace Shanahan won the uneven bars (8.65) to secure an event victory for the Dragons. She was also third in the all-around with a score of 33.75. Shanahan placed fourth on floor exercise (8.7) and was fifth on the balance beam (8.225).
Taylor Brown was sixth on vault (8.6), and Kinsey Dilley was fifth on floor (8.4).
The Dragons at at Morristown tonight at 6 p.m.
