NEW PALESTINE — The New Palestine offense, fresh off a 71-point opening win, started fast Wednesday night.
Greenwood couldn’t keep pace.
The Dragons jumped out to a double-digit lead early, cruising to a 74-31 win in their home opener.
“We have been talking a lot about execution,” New Palestine coach Sarah Gizzi said. “We really are striving to be a lot better than we were last year. We set the bar really high, and I feel like the girls are really buying into that. That really translates into these two nice wins to start the season. A lot of nice passing, ball movement. They are really trying to do the things that we’re asking them to do.
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Jordan Reid, in just her second game back from an ACL tear, had another big night. The junior outscored the Woodmen by herself in the first half, scoring 12 straight points over several minutes to push the Dragons lead above 20.
The junior had 20 points in the first half, while Greenwood had 17 at the halftime break. She finished with 24 points and 12 rebounds — six offensive — and added three assists and a steal.
That followed a big opener, where she scored 17 points and had five rebounds and five steals.
“I’m not going to say it’s surprising me, because we knew what she was capable of,” Gizzi said. “The thing that has been really exceptional this year is the way she has been improving her jump shot. She’s been knocking down the jumper with confidence. She’s super unselfish, and she still had 20 points in the first half.”
Reid had plenty of help around her. Leah Seib had the second double-double for the Dragons, with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Haley Harrison had 11 points and six assists, with three 3-pointers.
Katie Herron also had 11 points and added five rebounds and a steal. Megan Jolly was kept off the scoreboard but had six assists, three steals and four rebounds for the Dragons. Tatum Biddle scored eight off the bench and grabbed seven rebounds.
“Hats off to New Pal. They’re tough,” Greenwood coach Justin Bennett said. “Being senior-led, having six, seven, eight seniors on that team, those kids have been playing together for a long time. They’re well-coached.”
The Woodmen were led by Bailey Taft’s nine points. Sarah DeCastro added six, Jenna Sawyer, Ashley Buster and Kylie Hankenhoff had four, and Anna Pritchett and Brooklyn Stubblefield added two points each.
New Palestine dominated the glass, out-rebounding the Woodmen by a significant margin, leading to a slew of second-chance points. The Dragons picked up 15 offensive boards to Greenwood’s two.
It was the second consecutive all-around dominating win for the Dragons, who move to 2-0 on the young season after outscoring Connersville and Greenwood by nearly 100 points combined.
“They are playing hard. Good things happen when you’re playing hard,” Gizzi said. “It’s a mindset that they felt like a couple of teams brought into our gym and did to us (last year), and we don’t forget that. We’re really building on the way that felt when somebody did that to us, so we want to keep that intensity level high.”
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New Palestine 74, Greenwood 31
Greenwood;10;7;9;5;—;31
New Palestine;20;21;20;13;—;74
Greenwood (1-2): Jenna Sawyer 1 1-2 4, Brooklyn Stubblefield 1 0-1 2, Sarah DeCastro 3 0-1 6, Bailee Taft 4 0-0 9, Ashley Buster 2 0-0 4, Quinn Kelly 0 0-0 0, Anna Pritchett 1 0-0 2, Kristen Whobrey 0 0-0 0, Kyra Adkins 0 0-0 0, Kiley Hankenhoff 1 2-4 4. Totals: 13 3-8 31.
New Palestine (2-0): Leah Seib 5 3-4 14, Katie Herron 4 3-4 11, Jordan Reid 11 1-1 24, Megan Jolly 0 0-0 0, Haley Harrison 4 0-0 11, Tatum Biddle 3 2-2 8, Michaela Jones 0 0-0 0, Avery Biggs 1 0-0 2, Emily Newcomb 0 0-0 0, Claire Cherry 0 4-4 4. Totals: 28 13-15 74.
3-point goals: Greenwood 2 (Sawyer, DeCastro), New Palestine 5 (Harrison 3, Seib, Reid).
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