MUNCIE — With less than a minute left on the clock, time stopped on Saturday night as déjà vu washed over New Palestine’s Steele Brasfield.
Setup in the corner, Brasfield waited patiently as senior Maximus Gizzi drove the lane, drew three Muncie Central defenders before kicking out a pass to the wide open sophomore sharpshooter.
Tied 51-51 with Muncie Central during the Class 4A Sectional 9 championship final, the Dragons were in need of a spark.
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Brasfield was seeking redemption, and the 6-foot-5 forward capitalized with 41 seconds remaining to secure New Palestine’s eventual 54-53 championship victory.
“We were down to Richmond earlier this season, and Steele had the same shot, right corner 3-pointer. He missed it a little bit long, and I told him, ‘You’re going to get another chance when it means something,’” Gizzi said. “I saw him there tonight, and I had to give it to him. I knew he was going to hit that one.”
Brasfield’s missed jumper on the road against Richmond on Jan. 3 foreshadowed the Dragons’ disappointing 60-55 loss — one of their nine losses through the team’s grueling 3-9 start to the season.
The redo moment against Muncie Central (11-14) wasn’t about the past, however. It represented more for the Dragons (14-12), who were chasing a sectional championship repeat, and it came at the ideal time.
“Against Richmond, we were down by two with about a minute to go, and I missed,” Brasfield said. “Maximus told me that shot doesn’t matter until we get to March. It came down to tonight, and it was literally the exact same play, and I got that look and hit it.”
Not without a little anxiety.
The ball left Brasfield’s hands on a perfect line, dipped into the basket momentarily before bouncing up and dancing around the rim.
Silence fell over the crowd inside Muncie Central Fieldhouse, while the players and coaches on both sides froze like mannequins.
“I was under the basket when it happened, getting ready for the rebound, and I just saw that ball spin and sit on the rim and then finally fall right in,” New Palestine senior Eric Roudebush said. “I thought, that was sweet.”
The game’s final seconds were even more satisfying. A quick bucket by Muncie Central’s Jayden Long cut the lead 54-53 at the 34-second mark, but a pair of key stops made all the difference.
Two missed free throws by Gizzi, who posted a game-high 16 points, fueled the tension, and a traveling call against Roudebush at half court magnified the finale with 8 seconds remaining.
“The last 22 seconds was probably the most tense moments I’ve been in through my five years of coaching,” New Palestine head coach Trent Whitaker said. “They missed that last shot, and we got those stops we needed. I’m just absolutely proud of our kids and the effort, the fight.”
The Dragons’ grit was never in question.
A team comprised of several newcomers with the exception of Gizzi, Roudebush and senior Dawson Eastes, who had 14 points and five rebounds, the Dragons knew time was their greatest asset.
Their 2-8 start was followed by a frustrating 3-9 record after Gizzi became the program’s all-time career scoring leader during the team’s 75-61 loss at Southport on Jan. 11.
“We started the season 2-8, and they just stuck with it. They believed and they kept growing every day,” Whitaker said. “They just kept putting in the work, and when you do that, great things happen.”
The first was a Hoosier Heritage Conference championship this year with a league record of 5-2, their first title since 2013, and one of their three season-long team goals.
The second and third came to fruition simultaneously after a tug-of-war against the Bearcats, leading to a regional meeting against No. 3 Lawrence North (25-2) at Southport Fieldhouse this upcoming weekend.
But, the Bearcats didn’t go quietly.
New Palestine led 9-4 in the first quarter until Muncie Central tied the game 11-11 entering the second. The Dragons trailed four times in the second quarter before they took a 28-25 lead.
Tied six times with the Bearcats before Brasfield’s 3-pointer, nothing was certain until Muncie Central’s Kamrein Jackson’s 3-pointer rimmed out as time expired in the fourth quarter.
“I’m so proud of this team right now. We’ve been through a lot, obviously, and the three seniors, and even Logan (Hovis) on the bench, we know what it takes, and we’ve been here before. We know what it’s like in that moment,” Gizzi said. “We’re not scared of it. We’re not running from it.”
Instead, the Dragons ran straight ahead since Jan. 17, winning 11 of their last 14 games, including their past four in a row to claim the program’s ninth sectional championship and second back-to-back. New Palestine last repeated the feat in 2011 and 2012.
“It’s harder than anybody thinks. It’s tough to repeat. We started out 2-8. We’ve been through a lot of ups and downs, but ultimately, I think it helped us get to this point,” Gizzi said. “This week, we just played together, and we have this whole second half of the season, and it’s what led us here.”
And, it ended in elation. Once Jackson’s jumper ricocheted out and the horn sounded, Gizzi and the players let their emotions overflow in hugs, cheers and a few tears.
Gizzi embraced Whitaker and his father, Mike, who served as an assistant coach for the first-time this season after mentoring several of the team’s players through AAU and the community’s youth league.
The achievement overshadowed last year’s regional run, not by record as New Palestine went 18-9 a year ago, but in significance — in perseverance.
“At the end of the day, our team wanted it more than any other team here,” New Palestine freshman Blaine Nunnally said. “I was confident in everybody. I trust everyone on this team to come up. Steele made the best shot. He hit the shot of the game for us.”
Brasfield’s first and only other 3-pointer gave the Dragons a 38-37 lead after three quarters en route to 10 points off the bench. Roudebush had six points and six rebounds, while Nunnally, who had to pick up the slack with Gizzi in early foul trouble, added seven points.
The Dragons defense forced 12 turnovers and with both Iverson Pointer (six points, 11 rebounds) and Victory Young fouled out for Muncie Central late, the game was New Palestine’s to win.
“We just needed to find ourselves. We knew they were going to play fast, and we needed to play fast. We just needed to play to their level and pretty much find what we needed to do to get the win,” Roudebush said.
The Dragons found Brasfield and an opportunity.
“He’s capable. Everyone had confidence in him. Maximus was getting to the rim a little bit, but hey, when they pressured, he kicked out and there was no hesitation,” Whitaker said. “The only hesitation was that the ball rolls around the rim a few times.”
“I was scared. I thought it was coming out, honestly,” Brasfield added.
Not this time.
“It’s incredible. We started the season 3-9, and we used that as motivation, and we kept working. We came to practice every day, locked in, and the hard work finally paid off,” Brasfield said. “I can’t wait (for regional). I can’t wait to come in next week and start working.”
