NEW PALESTINE — A fire alarm forced evacuation of New Palestine High School’s gymnasium just prior to tip-off of Friday’s Hoosier Heritage Conference boys basketball game between the host Dragons and New Castle.
It proved to be a false alarm, though it would have been understandable if New Castle was asking for some assistance in cooling down the undefeated Dragons.
A fire alarm, nor the New Castle defense could put a damper on a fully-involved, red-hot Dragons offense.
The Dragons shot 60 percent (18 of 30 for the first two quarters) and scored 48 points in the first half.
All 10 varsity players scored and seven hit 3-pointers in an 85-60 victory over New Castle.
The Dragons are 5-0 overall and 2-0 in the HHC. New Castle dropped to 4-3 and 1-1.
After New Castle scored the game’s first two points, the Dragons followed with the next 15.
New Palestine scored 28 second-quarter points and when sophomore Ben Slagley scored the first bucket of the second half, the Dragons had doubled the Trojans, 50-25.
“It’s one of those things, if we want to be that team that can come out and just dominate from the get-go, that’s something we have to do,” New Palestine head coach Trent Whitaker said of his team’s first-half play. “New Castle’s a good basketball team, but we knew we were better than them. Sometimes when you know you’re better than somebody, you take it for granted and don’t come out ready to play.
“Our kids were focused from the tip.”
Five Dragons scored in double figures. Ian Stephens led the way with 17 points. Blaine Nunnally scored 14. Eian Roudebush added 12. Julius Gizzi had 11 off the bench and Slagley finished with 10.
Stephens had 14 in the first half and hit 6 of 8 from the field. Blaine Nunnally had 10 at the break.
“The nice thing about our starters, right now they’re playing extremely well and know their roles and are sharing the basketball extremely well,” Whitaker added. “I’m very happy with that.”
Blaine Nunnally, Bryant Nunnally, Roudebush, Gizzi, Moses Haynes, Kendall Hill and Daniel Tippit all hit 3-pointers. Blaine Nunnally, Roudebush and Haynes each hit two.
“Everybody knows Blaine and Ian and are starting to learn Bryant on the defensive end,” Whitaker added. “Eian Roudebush can shoot the basketball and does the dirty work for us. Slagley’s going to give you inside presence. The three kids that came off the bench tonight, Kendall Hill played a really, really good game. … That gives us one more scorer off the bench.”
As a team, the Dragons hit 10 of 18 (55.6 percent) from 3-point range.
“Team ball,” senior guard Bryant Nunnally described as what went well for the Dragons Friday. “When the ball moves, this offense is hard to stop. “(Being 5-0 overall and 2-0 in the conference) we’ve got a target on our back, so we have to keep working every week.”
New Castle was led by Gavin Welch with a game-high 18 points, his scoring average on the season. The Dragons did a nice job on the Trojans top scorer as most of his points came after the game had already been decided. Welch hit just one of his first nine shot attempts.
The Dragons put their unbeaten mark on the line tonight in a non-conference game home game against Franklin Central.
The next conference game is Jan. 6 at Delta. The Dragons and Mt. Vernon are the only 2-0 teams in league play. The Marauders won at Shelbyville Friday.
New Palestine 85, New Castle 60
New Castle;6;19;15;20;—;60
New Palestine;20;28;20;17;—;85
New Castle (4-3, 1-1): Tyson Lewis 1 0-0 2,, Colin Taylor 6 1-2 14, Gavin Welch 7 2-2 18, Clay Butler 2 0-0 6, Ethan Hinton 4 5-6 13, Cole Johnson 0 0-0 0, Quintin Boatright 0 0-0 0, Landon Thompson 1 0-0 2, Caden Blackford 1 0-0 3, Mason Miller 0 0-0 0, Bradley Henderson 1 0-0 2, Isaac Madden 0 0-0 0. Totals: 23 8-10 60.
New Palestine (5-0, 2-0): Ian Stephens 6 5-6 17, Eian Roudebush 5 0-0 12, Ben Slagley 5 0-0 10, Blaine Nunnally 6 0-0 14, Bryant Nunnally 1 2-2 5, Julius Gizzi 4 2-3 11, Moses Haynes 2 0-0 6, Kendall Hill 2 0-0 5, Daniel Tippit 1 0-0 3, Brady Armstrong 1 0-0 2. Totals: 33 9-11 85.
3-point goals: New Castle 6 (Welch 2, Butler 2, Taylor, Blackford); New Palestine 10 (Roudebush 2, Bl. Nunnally 2, Haynes 2, Br. Nunnally, Gizzi, Hill, Tippit).
