NEW PALESTINE — What a difference a few months can make.
When the New Palestine Dragons conducted boys basketball tryouts for this season, the group that was there that day looked significantly different than the team that just won a sectional title and will play in the regional at 10 a.m. Saturday against Avon at Southport High School.
Junior Maximus Gizzi was there. Senior Dylan Romine was there, joined by fellow seniors Justin Rightley and Luke Ramsey.
That’s pretty much it. Those four players — along with some JV players and some that tried out but didn’t make the team — were all of the Dragons core lineup that was available for tryouts.
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To prepare for the upcoming season, New Palestine had two total starters and zero rotation players available. With the football team playing into Thanksgiving week and winning a state championship, five members of the Dragons basketball team weren’t available, including two who start and two who play significant minutes off the bench.
Another starter, Matthew True, along with role player Jack Walker, who plays a good deal of minutes off the bench, joined the team late in the fall. But Kyle King, Dawson Eastes, Maxen Hook, Eric Roudebush and Jacob Hockett had football business to attend to.
That left New Palestine significantly short as they readied for a new season. It was different, to say the least. It elevated players like Rightley and Ramsey, seniors who don’t see much game time, into new roles, along with some current members of the JV team.
“When the football team wasn’t here, they were good, they are still good enough for us to go against and help us get ready, get a good practice and get a good workout in,” Gizzi said of the group that was there early in the preseason. “That was before the season; they did their part, stepping up and filling in for those guys who were gone. As soon as the (football) guys got back, those guys are executing good scouting reports and good game plans every week. They’ve kind of bought into that role, and that’s a vital piece of what we have going here, and everybody knows it.”
Switching gears
While he was still with the football team, Eastes was keeping tabs on the basketball team. He was also shooting whenever he could, whenever he had downtime from football.
“We were keeping in contact. I was asking Maximus how workouts were going with the young guys,” Eastes said. “He said they were working hard and competing, so I knew it was a good group of JV guys that could help us get better. I think they did a great job of being leaders and showing the young guys the ropes while some of us couldn’t be here. When we came back, those guys were ready and pushing us every day.”
As the football program kept winning, basketball practices kept going, with fewer than a dozen players at times. The start to the basketball season was pushed back several weeks, all the way to Dec. 7, allowing the Dragons time to practice as a full team once the football team won a championship.
Once the football players came back, it was almost like they were never gone.
“In the first couple weeks, we really only had four or five varsity guys. It was a lot different,” Ramsey said. “We had to bring out some JV guys just to play five-on-five. Once the football guys got back, the intensity and competition really picked up. It was a big transition going from four or five varsity guys to 12 or 13. It was a bit different, but it kind of expanded some of our roles, some of the lower varsity and JV guys.”
New Palestine lost just one player from last year’s team — Gavin Hausz — which meant there was a lot of familiarity and a lot of experience on the team.
That helped ease the transition for everyone involved.
“When those guys came back, it didn’t take long to redevelop the chemistry at all,” Gizzi said. “That definitely helped a lot. When they got here, they just stepped right into the drills. They already knew everything; they knew the plays and all that.”
That didn’t mean it was easy to switch gears with basically no break for the guys who had to, though.
“It was definitely a hard transition, because you’re still trying to get out of football mode when you’re in basketball,” King said. “Four or five fouls a game was pretty normal at the beginning. For my other teammates that were already here for basketball, I bet it was hard. You miss out on that team bonding, team chemistry, practicing your plays, basically everything.”
“I’d say the hardest thing was conditioning,” Eastes added. “Football shape versus basketball shape … football is six seconds of all-out. Basketball is up and down, up and down.”
The Dragons didn’t exactly start the season slowly. They beat county rival Greenfield-Central to start the year, then, after a loss to Westfield, rattled off four straight wins despite the late start.
They might have missed out on some team bonding, some time to develop chemistry and work together, but there was so much of that already present, it didn’t really affect the team to be apart until so late in the fall.
“Number one, they are just a great group of kids to be around. After practice every night, this is what we see until somebody comes in at 5:30 or 6 to kick ‘em out when it’s their gym time,” New Palestine coach Trent Whitaker said after Tuesday’s practice, when most of the team was still hanging around the gym. “They stick around, they shoot, they go out to eat together. They just hang out. They’re friends from number one to number 12. Every kid gets along, and it’s an easy group to coach. They want to win for each other.”
New challenge
The Dragons have targeted this sectional-championship win since they walked off the court in Richmond last year, having fallen short of their goal against the same team they beat six days ago, Mt. Vernon.
“Since we were not very good my freshman year, I saw what it was like to lose a lot,” Eastes said. “The feeling of winning this year makes it that much better, and then beating Mt. Vernon, who we lost to last year, it’s just amazing to still be playing. Hoosier Hysteria, March Madness. I’m kind of on a basketball high right now. I can’t get enough of it.”
New Palestine has earned at least one more game, and it’s a big one. The Dragons basketball program hasn’t won a regional, ever, and hasn’t won a regional game since 1989.
They will try to change that Saturday morning against Avon, an unfamiliar foe. They know the Orioles are big and athletic, and they know they are in for a battle. The Dragons are trying to stay focused and grounded and treat things as if it is just another week, even though the stakes are higher.
“It’s another basketball game,” Whitaker said. “I know it’s not, but we try and tell the kids that we’re playing an Avon team that we’ve never played against in school history, and it’ll be just a fun challenge.”
As they prepare for the biggest game of their basketball lives to this point, the Dragons are enjoying the extra time together getting to play past sectional week.
It’s a luxury none of the New Palestine players have had on the basketball court before.
“It was an amazing feeling on Saturday, just knowing that our team was on top,” Ramsey said. “I love this team, everyone on it, everything about it. I’m just so thrilled I get to spend another week, at least, with the guys, practicing, getting as good as we can.”
The Dragons will enter the Southport Regional as underdogs, with the state’s No. 1 team, Lawrence Central, and two top 20 teams, Ben Davis and Avon, rounding out the bracket.
They are confident and ready for the challenge.
“I think that’s the beauty of basketball. You never know,” Eastes said. “To be playing here, we feel very fortunate, but we feel like we deserve to be here. We think we can compete with them very well, we think we can beat them, just like any other team we play. We’re going in to win. That’s our mindset. We want to win. We’re not going to be scared of the moment. We’re going in with a winner’s mentality.”
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At Southport
Saturday
10 a.m. – New Palestine vs. Avon
12 p.m. – Lawrence Central vs. Ben Davis
8 p.m. – Championship game
Regional breakdown
Teams: New Palestine Dragons (17-8), Avon Orioles (15-9), Lawrence Central Bears (22-3), Ben Davis Giants (17-7)
Sagarin ratings: Lawrence Central 104.60 (No. 1 in 4A), Ben Davis 94.02 (No. 8), Avon 87.19 (No. 19), New Palestine 81.39 (No. 35)
Favorites: Lawrence Central
Darkhorses: The field
Outlook: The challenge for everyone in this regional is simple – how do you stop the No. 1 team in the state, Lawrence Central? The Bears have played one of the toughest schedules in the state, have only lost three games, and have been on a roll recently, winning every tournament game by double digits, including an impressive 15-point win in the sectional final against Warren Central. The Bears boast three players who score at least 16 points a game, with 6-foot-7 senior Jake Laravia (17.9 points, 7.0 rebounds) leading the way, and juniors Dre Davis (16.6, 8.4) and Nijel Pack (16.5, 4.0) following close behind. Their opponent is a familiar one, as the Bears topped Ben Davis by 15 points earlier this season. The Giants are led by three seniors who combine to average nearly 50 points per game – Jalen Windham (19.6 points), Dawand Jones (18.2 points, 9.2 rebounds), and Cameron Maul (10.0). Jones is a dominant force inside, standing 6-foot-8 and weighing 320 pounds. If he gets going the Giants have a chance, but expect the Bears to come out on top in this semifinal.
New Palestine and Avon have never met before, although they’ve played nine of the same opponents this season. Avon has won all of those contests, while the Dragons beat six of those teams. The Orioles are led by sophomore Jayden Brewer (15.1 points, 5.7 rebounds) and senior Wendell DeMyers (11.7, 4.3), but have a lot of depth behind them, with five other players averaging more than five points per game. The Dragons are led by junior Maximus Gizzi (15.6 points, 3.9 rebounds, 4.4 assists), senior Matthew True (15.1 points), junior Dawson Eastes (11.2 points, 6.6 rebounds) and senior Dylan Romine (9.1 points, 3.7 rebounds). Both teams are on a roll, with the Orioles winning seven in a row, dating back to Feb. 5, and New Palestine winning five of its last six, the only loss coming by one point. Controlling the ball will be a key to this game for the Dragons, as the Orioles use their length and athleticism to average over 10 steals and nearly three blocks per game. This is a winnable game for both teams, setting up a championship game where either would be underdogs but could win if they have a strong shooting game.
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What: Boys basketball regional
Who: New Palestine vs. Avon
When: 10 a.m. Saturday; championship game at 8 p.m.
Where: Southport High School
Cost: $7 per session, $10 both sessions
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