Daily Reporter staff reports
The New Palestine boys basketball team saw its four-game winning streak snapped Saturday in a 73-57 home loss to Franklin Central.
The Dragons moved to 4-2 on the season.
FC led for much of the contest, building a 20-12 lead after a quarter on the back of four 3-pointers. The Dragons cut the Flashes’ lead to six on multiple occasions in the second as Blaine Nunnally scored six points in the quarter and Steele Brasfield five, but four late FC points pushed the edge to 37-27 at the half.
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After the Dragons cut the deficit to five early in the second half on a 3-pointer by Brasfield, FC went on a 13-0 run to push its edge to 53-34, and eventually as high as 22 points.
Nunnally led the Dragons with 17 points, hitting 7 of 8 from the line. Brasfield hit three 3-pointers en route to a 13-point game. Damon Hockett added eight points on 8 of 8 free-throw shooting. Matt Brown and C.J. Oliver scored six each. Ian Stephens scored three and both Kyle Bastian and Logan Strong tallied two points each.
The Dragons next play today at Benton Central, with a 4 p.m. JV tip-off and a 5:30 p.m. varsity tip.
On Friday night, the New Palestine boys basketball team rallied from a 15-point fourth quarter deficit to force overtime, then never trailed in the extra session en route to an 82-75 victory over New Castle.
The Dragons’ victory was their fourth straight and improved the team’s record to 4-1 and 2-0 in Hoosier Heritage Conference play.
Steele Brasfield scored 25 of his career-high 32 points in the second half and OT, helping lead the Dragons back from a 50-35 deficit entering the fourth quarter.
Nunnally scored 10 points in the quarter and four more in OT en route to a career high 22 points. Brasfield tallied the Dragons’ first 30-point game since Maximus Gizzi scored 41 against Whiteland on Feb. 22. He also added 11 rebounds for the Dragons’ first double-double since Dawson Eastes had one against Mt. Vernon March 6.
Matthew Brown scored 12 points. C.J. Oliver scored five points.
Cougars top Tigers in OT
The Greenfield-Central boys basketball team lost hold of an early lead on Friday night, but the Cougars charged back in overtime to defeat HHC foe Yorktown 54-50.
Sharp-shooting junior Adam Lester’s 3-point efficiency saved the day as he converted 6 of 7 from long range en route to 20 points.
Gavin Robertson added 14 points and Dylan Moles had 12 points. The Cougars combined to bury 10 3-pointers in the game.
Greenfield-Central outscored Yorktown 13-9 in the bonus period to improve their season record to 4-2 and 1-1 in the HHC.
Will VanDuyn added five points for the Cougars. Joey Roland had two points and a team-best seven rebounds, while VanDuyn and Caleb McIntire each had four rebounds.
Royals sweep back-to-back weekend
The Eastern Hancock boys basketball team improved to 4-0 on the season with a back-to-back weekend sweep.
After rolling past rival host Knightstown 60-34 on Friday night, the Royals defeated Cambridge City Lincoln 72-64 on Saturday at home.
Eastern Hancock built a 22-19 lead after the first quarter, but the visiting Eagles charged back to take a 34-31 lead by halftime.
A 20-12 third quarter put the Royals back in control followed by a 21-point fourth quarter to keep the Eagles at bay.
Landon O’Neal led the Royals with 21 points on 8 of 13 shooting. Jacob Spaulding posted 18 points, finishing 7-for-7 from the field.
Silas Spaulding finished with nine points, Cyrus Burton had eight points and Drew White added six points. Edric Miller chipped in five points.
The Royals were 10 of 20 from 3-point range with Jacob Spaulding burying 3 of 3 from deep. Burton shot 2 of 3 from beyond the arc.
Cameron Wise, White, Cole Rainbolt and O’Neal each hauled in three rebounds apiece. White had a team-best four steals.
Girls Basketball
Marauders defeated Dragons in HHC showdown
The New Palestine girls basketball team dropped its first Hoosier Heritage Conference game of the year Saturday, falling 43-29 at Mt. Vernon.
The Dragons held the host and defending HHC champion Marauders to just 12 field goals for the game, but MV was 13 of 15 from the free-throw line.
New Palestine fell behind 9-0 early and went scoreless for the game’s first 10 minutes, but clawed back into the game and finished the half on a 12-6 spurt to cut the deficit to 17-12 at halftime.
The Dragons were outscored 13-6 in the third quarter to fall behind 30-18 and were unable to overcome the double-digit deficit.
Anna Ackerman led the Dragons with 11 points. Isabella Gizzi tallied eight points. Addi Jones added five. Koryn Marshall scored three points and Grace Marshall two. The Dragons were 14-of-22 from the line.
The Dragons (7-4, 4-1 HHC) are next in action Dec. 30 at the Greensburg tournament. They open at noon against Noblesville.
Cougars win big over Eagles
The Greenfield-Central girls basketball team broke an early 8-8 tie after the first quarter on Saturday with an 18-0 run in the second to win big over visiting Delta 54-19.
The victory marked the Cougars’ second straight and improved their season record to 4-7 and 2-2 in the HHC.
Brooke Herrell led the Cougars with 17 points, followed by Addie Hill with 15. Aryana Hibbard added nine points. Caroline Gibson finished with six points. Annan Tiede had five points.
The Cougars host Connersville tonight at 6 p.m.
Wrestling
Cougars place second at Covington Invite
The Greenfield-Central wrestling team finished 4-1 at the Covington Invitational on Saturday to take second overall.
The Cougars placed ahead of West Vigo and behind Center Grove. West Central was fourth, followed by Covington and Avon.
Greenfield-Central defeated West Central (51-33), Avon (81-0), Covington (60-16) and West Vigo (48-34). Center Grove beat the Cougars 59-15.
Nate Miller (106 pounds), Dakota Herald (113), Cohen Hager (120), Matt Wickham (132), Clay Guenin (152), Brady Durnell (170), Jacob Blevens (220) each went 4-1 at the invite.
Josh VanOsdol (138), Dewey Woolsey (182), Scott Stanley (195) and Brayden Fleener (285) were 3-2 on the day.
Royals sweep to win Raider Rumble
The Eastern Hancock wrestling team finished 4-0 Saturday to even its season record to 4-4 by winning the Wapahani Invitational Raider Rumble.
The Royals defeated rival Knightstown 60-18, Eastbrook 66-12, Shenandoah 51-24 and host Wapahani 47-27.
Sam Kesler (160 pounds) and Logan Gillman (106) both record pins during the event. Kyle Murphy (126) had a pair of falls.
Brayden Tincher (170) won by decision 14-13 against Shenandoah and by fall against Wapahani.
Carter Wickard (132) scored a technical fall 16-1 against Wapahani. Dylan Bowman (138) and Avery Wills (152) both had pins against Wapahani.
