GREENFIELD — The Greenfield-Central Cougars are on fire.
With back-to-back home wins this past weekend, the Class 4A Cougars have now strung together six consecutive victories, capped by a record-setting performance on Saturday.
The Cougars defeated 3A Franklin County, 71-59, on Friday before dominating 2A Western Boone, 79-46, on Saturday.
Against the visiting WeBo Stars, Greenfield-Central knocked down a single-game, team-record 18 overall 3-pointers to improve their season record to 12-7.
A total of five players reached double figures with eight different Cougars converting at least one 3-point attempt.
Dylan Moles, Rashawn Street, Tyler Kerkhof and Braylon Mullins each hit three 3s. Owen Anderson and Rune Carpenter-Jones had two apiece. Nathan Gasparrini and Dallas Freeman each added one.
Moles finished with a team-high 13 points and seven rebounds with four assists. Anderson and Mullins both had 12 points each. Kerkhof totaled 11 points, and Street had 10 with five rebounds. Carpenter-Jones chipped in eight points with four assists.
Against Franklin County, Joey Roland finished with a team-high 17 points and six rebounds. Moles had 16 points and 10 assists, Mullins added 13 points and four assists and Carpenter-Jones contributed 10 points.
Mullins converted a trio of the Cougars’ six 3-pointers. Carpenter-Jones finished with a pair.
The Cougars’ home stand continues this Friday at 7:30 p.m. against Hoosier Heritage Conference foe New Castle. Greenfield-Central is 3-3 in the HHC. New Castle is 13-3 overall and 4-1 in league games.
Dragons’ rally falls short
The New Palestine boys basketball team rallied from a late eight-point deficit, but fell just short in a 55-54 loss Saturday at home to Connersville.
The Dragons’ record dropped to 15-5 on the season with three games remaining. It was the Dragons’ first home loss in 10 games this year.
The Dragons trailed 49-41 with four minutes left, but clawed back with two free throws by Ben Slagley. The Dragons followed with a 3-pointer and two baskets by Steele Brasfield to cut the deficit to 51-50 with 1:30 left.
Connersville’s Tobey Billups hit two more free throws to push the Spartans’ lead to three with 55 seconds left. But on the ensuing possession, Blaine Nunnally drilled a 3-pointer to tie the game with 35 seconds left.
Connersville held for the final shot and Billups hit a baseline runner with 1.1 seconds left. The Dragons threw a baseball pass and drew a foul at the buzzer, but hit one of the three free throws.
Brasfield tallied 22 points to lead the Dragons. Nunnally scored 20 points, including 11 in the fourth quarter, his second straight 20-point game. Ian Stephens added eight points and Slagley four.
Braxton Myers led Connersville with 14 points. Billups added 12, including the Spartans’ final six points. The Spartans – who were ranked No. 1 in 3A earlier in the year and are currently receiving votes in the Associated Press 3A poll – improved to 15-6.
The Dragons are next in action Friday at Mt. Vernon, then return home Saturday for senior night against Whiteland.
Royals fall to Trojans
The Class 2A No. 11 Eastern Hancock boys basketball team was going for a sixth-straight victory on Saturday, but the Royals fell short at home against visiting New Castle, 63-50.
The Trojans took a 15-8 lead after the first quarter and led 26-21 at halftime. The Royals had a pair of double-digit scorers by the end, but it wasn’t enough as Eastern Hancock’s record dropped to 13-5 overall.
Edric Miller finished with a team-high 13 points and Landon O’Neal added 11 points. Silas Spaulding chipped in nine points, followed by six points from Jacob Spaulding and Grant Gray apiece.
Miller and Gray buried two 3-pointers each. Silas Spaulding had a team-high nine rebounds. Jacob Spaulding dished out two assists, while O’Neal had four.
The Trojans shot 53 percent from the field, led by a game-high 17 points from Gavin Welch. Dawson Scott had 13 points. Trey Miller finished with 11.
The Royals travel to Mid-Eastern Conference foe Blue River tonight and cap their conference schedule on Friday at Union (Modoc). Eastern Hancock is 5-2 in the MEC, two games behind front-runner Monroe Central (7-0). Wapahani is currently second at 6-1.
