New Palestine looks on in defeat before the closing seconds of the Class 4A Sectional 9 championship against Mt. Vernon at Greenfield-Central High School. New Palestine lost to Mt. Vernon 83-68 on Saturday, March 5, 2022. (Tom Russo/Daily Reporter)
GREENFIELD — New Palestine senior Steele Brasfield wiped tears from his eyes before leaving Greenfield-Central’s Dellen Automotive Gymnasium on Saturday night.
A sectional championship game hero for the Dragons as a sophomore in 2019-20, the pain of missing out on another potential title stung, but it was the closing of his prep career that overwhelmed him emotionally more than losing to No. 7 Mt. Vernon, 83-68, in the Class 4A Sectional 9 finals.
After losing their chance to compete at regional in 2019-20 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which cancelled the IHSAA state tournament for the first time ever, Brasfield and the Dragons reached the sectional finals for a third time in four years after winning the championship in both 2018 and 2019.
Brasfield provided 21 points against repeat sectional champion Mt. Vernon Marauders (22-2), and junior Blaine Nunnally had a team-high 23, but there wasn’t much more the Dragons (19-7) could do.
“I’m extremely proud. Nobody expected us to win 19 games or even compete with this team. There’s honestly no shame in losing to this team. They’re top-10 in the state for a reason. All respect to the Jarrard twins and respect to the whole program. Coach (Ben) Rhoades is a winner, so you can’t hate what they have going,” Brasfield said. “I’m proud of my guys, and I’m proud of everything and everyone that went into this program this year.”
Pride. That was the point of emphasis for the head coach Trent Whitaker after his Dragons finished 5-2 in the Hoosier Heritage Conference to tie for second with New Castle behind outright and unbeaten champion Mt. Vernon.
The Dragons’ win total this season tied the program’s second most in school history, and Brasfield, as he’s been known for in his career, gave New Palestine a brief early first-quarter lead against Mt. Vernon with a 3-pointer. He’s converted 144 in 365 attempts over three seasons and added his final four to keep the Dragons close on Saturday.
“That’s something about our team. It doesn’t matter who we’re playing. We’re not going to give up. It doesn’t matter if we’re down by 20 or if we’re up by 20. We’re not taking our foot off the gas. We’re coming to win. That’s all,” Brasfield said. “Even tonight, we were playing to win. In my opinion, we fought as hard as we could.”
The Dragons had four players reach double figures, including 11 points from Ian Stephens and 13 by freshman Ben Slagley, who is quickly climbing the ranks.
An 8-0 run by the Marauders in the second quarter, however, loomed large as the Dragons couldn’t close the gap the rest of the way, trimming the deficit to seven points twice in the second half.
Mt. Vernon countered with a 7-0 run in the fourth and five double-digit scorers, including a game-high 26 points from senior Armon Jarrard, an IUPUI commit.
“It’s kind of like, pick your poison. They have a lot of poison. They had five kids in double figures for them. That’s pretty impressive,” Whitaker said. “They’ve got five guys where you can’t help off anybody. They did a nice job of executing the game plan, but overall they’re just a very talented basketball team.”
The same can be said of the Dragons, and especially Brasfield, an Indiana Tech commit.
In his career, Brasfield leaves New Palestine with 1,081 points, the fifth-most in program history. He amassed 510 points this year, which tied him for fourth-most in school history.
“Our seniors, they’re great kids, No. 1. There are kids in this senior class some don’t know about like Steele and (Damon) Hockett, but Logan Strong and Matthew Barada and Jaret Whitaker are kids that give you everything. That’s the culture and the community we’re trying to build. We use the word ‘family’ a lot and that’s what it is. We have each others’ back and credit Mt. Vernon. That’s a heck of a basketball team,” Whitaker said.
The Dragons senior class netted the program a sectional title and the HHC in 2020, and accounted for 65 wins over four years.
“That’s the key word, proud. The product we put on the floor this year was absolutely incredible. Our community did a great job, our principal and athletic directors did a great job of getting kids in the crowd this year, the band, the atmospheres and coming back from COVID, the place just bought into it. We’re so grateful,” Whitaker said. “We came out and playing the way we played, you win some basketball games. People supported us, and I’m proud of everybody.”
