NEW PALESTINE — To call New Palestine’s success last season magical wouldn’t be too far-fetched.
The Class 4A Dragons won 18 games a year ago, the most for the boys basketball program since 1995-96 when former coach Brian Kehrt led the team to a 19-3 finish.
Head coach Trent Whitaker’s group captured the sectional title last March, another first for the Dragons since 2012. They defeated Avon in the regional semifinal, 64-59, before nearly taking down eventual state runner-up Ben Davis, 53-47.
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Everything lined up for New Palestine’s elite eight run, but can they do it again?
They’re ready to answer that question in 2019-20, led by a trio of seniors, including two who are coming off a second straight football state championship season.
“Last year motivated us a lot. Our team motto this year is ‘Prove It.’ We want to prove that we can compete with some of the top teams in the state and the bigger schools,” 6-foot-5 senior Dawson Eastes said. “We just want to prove we belong.”
The process has been on-going for Whitaker and the Dragons over the past four seasons. Through the first two, New Palestine posted back-to-back six-win finishes before catapulting to 15 wins in 2018.
A big reason for the team’s win-column boost returns this year, standing 6-1 in senior guard Maximus Gizzi, who can shoot with some of the state’s best.
Gizzi, a gym rat with a high hoops I.Q., led the Dragons in scoring last year with 15.8 points per game and dished out 4.3 assists per game.
The Marian University commit is already a career 1,000-point scorer with 1,004 overall to go with 286 assists and 270 rebounds. He posted a career-best single-season 427 points as a junior and is considered an Indiana All-Star candidate.
“Individually, I’ve been working out, taking a ton of shots, trying to work my 3-point shot, trying to make that more consistent,” Gizzi said. “I think last year gave us a ton of confidence because we know we can make it there, and we know we belong there. It’s a goal of ours this year to prove to everybody that we belong there. It was huge for us to see what we can do as a team as a whole.”
The key will be replacing several vital players that have departed over the offseason. Graduation has left the Dragons without Matthew True’s 14.7 ppg and Dylan Romine’s 9.1 ppg, while role player and football standout Kyle King is set to leave early for college.
Eastes and Eric Roudebush, a 6-4 senior, are expected to step up. Eastes played summer basketball at Indiana Elite with Gizzi and averaged 11.3 ppg with 6.4 rebounds a night as a junior.
Roudebush, a multi-sport standout, brings competitiveness to the court after playing a reserve role last year and recently steered the Dragons to their first football state championship repeat at quarterback in the clutch last month.
“Me and coach were talking the other day how close we were to being in the semistate game. If we hit a couple more shots, then we’re in there. We win that one and we’re two games away from state,” Eastes said. “It just shows we’re right on the edge, and it motivates us more this season to keep battling and winning another sectional and get back to that regional championship and finish the job this year.”
Another football player, Matthew Brown, who stands 6-4, is projected as a starter along with 6-4 sophomore Steele Brasfield, who is 6-4.
A 6-1 junior Eli Stephens, 5-10 freshman Blaine Nunnally, 6-2 junior Kyle Bastian and 6-7 junior Maurice McGee will come off the bench and provide the Dragons will depth.
“It will definitely be some getting used to with the new guys out on the court, but our senior class, me, Dawson and Eric, we’ve been playing together forever. I think we’ll be fine getting those guys meshed in and filling roles that are left,” Gizzi said. “Losing guys will hurt a little bit, maybe, but I think we’ll fill in quick, and we’ll be just fine.”
Nothing is impossible for Gizzi, who is at complete ease entering his final season.
With his future set and the school’s all-time career-scoring record fewer than 300 points away from reality, Gizzi is having fun as the Dragons’ postponed season opener quickly approaches next week against rival Greenfield-Central on Dec. 13.
“His work ethic is second to none. He’s showing those young kids how to become a better basketball player every day that’s he’s been here,” Whitaker said. “He’s not satisfied. He has his commitment to Marian, obviously, but he wants to make sure he finishes some business here. He has a chance to become one of the greatest, if not the greatest player in New Palestine history, scoring over 1,000 points already. He’s around 280 away from the record.”
In the meantime, the Dragons are using the extra preparation time due to the school’s state championship football run to get off to a fast start.
“It doesn’t hurt at all. It gives us more practice time and time to get ready. It happened last year, too, so we’re used to it. We know how to capitalize off that time, so it only benefits us,” Gizzi said. “We have a lot of guys that can hit shots, and we have a lot of guys who can do multiple things. Dawson can shoot, and he can put it on the floor. Eric can shoot. Really, everybody in our lineup can shoot or put it on the floor. We’re versatile as a team.”
