RICHMOND — You couldn’t ask for a better start.
Facing a Connersville team that beat them by a single point just three weeks ago, New Palestine came out on absolute fire Friday night, scoring the first 16 points of the game to shock the Spartans.
They opened up a lead as big as 21 early in the second quarter and went into the half up 20, having dominated the first half in every respect.
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The Dragons would need every bit of that huge lead. It shrank fast.
With their backs to the wall and season on the line, the Spartans, stunned from the start, staged a big comeback, cutting the deficit to five.
New Palestine scraped, and clawed, and held on. The Dragons advanced to tonight’s sectional championship game, getting revenge for their regular-season loss with a 56-47 win in Friday’s semifinal.
“You know what, our start was incredible. A lot of that has to do with the scout we had,” coach Trent Whitaker said. “Coach (Brian) Bowen did an excellent job with the scout, and our scout team this week ran their sets really, really well. The first half, we knew what they were doing, and I’m proud of everybody for that. But you get up 20 on a team like that, they’re not going to quit. You know that.”
After scoring the first two points of the second half and extending the lead to a game-high 22 points, the New Palestine offense struggled to get going the rest of the third quarter against one of Class 4A’s best defenses. Connersville seized momentum, cutting the lead all the way to single digits at nine points, but the Dragons scored the final three points of the quarter to enter the fourth up a dozen.
The Spartans started the fourth just as well as they played for most of the third, cutting the lead all the way down to five points before New Palestine created some space thanks in large part to two big plays.
A clutch 3-pointer from Dylan Romine pushed the lead back to eight, and what Whitaker called a “championship-level” play by Kyle King helped the Dragons stay out front. After a missed New Palestine shot, the junior dove and knocked a rebound that was falling out of bounds off of a Connersville defender, giving the Dragons the ball back on a crucial late-game possession.
“It’s tournament time. Survive and advance is definitely the key right there,” Whitaker said. “This was a road game tonight. That crowd was incredible. They got it to about 12, 13 there in the third quarter from 20 down. They did a nice job of battling back. But we did things we had to do to hang on.”
Just three weeks ago, seniors Noah Belt and Matthew True dueled in a back-and-forth contest. Belt scored 24 for Connersville; True notched 23 for New Palestine.
That duel continued in the second half Friday, but in a different way. After only two total free throws were attempted in the first half, True and Belt combined to shoot 21 free throws in the second half, part of 49 total attempts in the final 16 minutes.
Belt was held scoreless in the first half Friday, going 0 for 6 from the floor. He ended up leading all scorers with 19 points, but 10 came from the foul line. He finished 4 of 16 from the floor, in large part due to a strong defensive effort from Dylan Romine and Maxen Hook.
“Just try to stay in front of him, force him to the outside, don’t let him get to the middle,” Romine said. “He’s a tough player. Maxen Hook did a great job, too.”
True led the Dragons with 17 points, 10 coming from the foul line.
Two other Dragons scored in double figures, with Romine scoring 15 and Maximus Gizzi adding 13. King added six, Jack Walker and Eric Roudebush had a pair each and Hook closed out the New Palestine scoring with one.
With the win, the Dragons will continue their quest for their first sectional title since 2012 tonight against Mt. Vernon, who topped Richmond, 49-44, in the second semifinal game Friday.
It’s a rematch from last year’s sectional championship game, won by the Marauders.
“This is what it’s about,” Whitaker said. “We worked this entire time from November, we work all year to be your best at this point in time. I think tonight was the best 16 minutes we played all year in the first half, on both ends of the floor.”
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New Palestine 56, Connersville 47
New Palestine;18;12;7;19;—;56
Connersville;2;8;16;21;—;47
New Palestine (16-8): Maximus Gizzi 3 6-10 13, Matthew True 3 10-12 17, Dawson Eastes 0 0-0 0, Dylan Romine 5 3-4 15, Kyle King 3 0-0 6, Maxen Hook 0 1-4 1, Eric Roudebush 1 0-0 2, Jack Walker 1 0-0 2. Totals: 16 20-30 56.
Connersville (16-9): Noah Belt 4 10-11 19, Jacob Brown 2 0-0 4, Clay Garrison 2 2-3 7, Ethan Smith 5 5-5 17, James Graham 0 0-0 0, Colten Sullenbarger 0 0-0 0, Dylan Logan 0 0-0 0, Tanner Brock 0 0-0 0. Totals: 13 17-21 47.
3-point goals: New Palestine 4 (Romine 2, True, Gizzi), Connersville 4 (Smith 2, Garrison, Belt).
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With wins on Friday night, the New Palestine Dragons and Mt. Vernon Marauders advanced to tonight’s sectional championship game at Richmond.
What: Sectional 9 Championship Game
Who: New Palestine vs. Mt. Vernon
Where: Richmond High School
When: Tonight, 7:30 p.m.
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