By Brady Extin | Daily Reporter
LEBANON — Uncharted territory for the New Palestine boys basketball team led to an unexpected hero on Wednesday afternoon at Lebanon High School.
In round one of the Lebanon Holiday Classic, the Dragons had to fight from behind in the closing minutes to secure a 61-60 win over Indianapolis Metropolitan.
With the win, the Dragons remained undefeated, and moved to 7-0 on the season, while head coach Trent Whitaker recorded his 100th career win, becoming just the fifth boys’ basketball coach in school history to reach that milestone.
Two free throws by sophomore Julius Gizzi, after the buzzer, gave the Dragons the narrow victory.
“We ran a ball screen for Blaine, and he just shot faked, and I was able to get open,” Gizzi said. “Honestly, I was just trying to hit the first one and get it to overtime because I knew that our guys would clutch up and win the game, but it was definitely a relief to hit that second one.”
For the first time all season, the Dragons found themselves trailing 60-56 with just under one minute remaining.
A Ben Slagley basket and free throw cut the lead to one before Indianapolis Metro’s Aaron Wilson was fouled with just 5.5 seconds left on the clock.
A missed free throw and immediate timeout from Whitaker allowed him to draw up a final play.
“It’s one of those plays where you just have to put the basketball in your playmakers hands. Blaine’s our playmaker, and we wanted a screen for him, spread the floor and get him space, and get Julius and Ian [Stephens] in the corners,” Whitaker said. “Julius made a great read getting under the basket, Blaine made a great play to find him, and then Julius came up big at the line.”
Coming off the bench, Gizzi was fouled as time expired and sank both free throws with no time left on the clock.
For the first 16 minutes, the Dragons looked to be doing what they’ve done the majority of this season.
Stellar first half defense, and an early 11-0 run, led to a 40-22 lead at the break.
The momentum flipped nearly immediately in the second half, after a quick 9-0 run to open the quarter by Indianapolis Metro.
“We got off to a great start in the first half, and it’s one of those things where you take your foot off the accelerator, and that’s easy to do. At half, we talked about how they were going to make a run, but you don’t know until you feel it. You’re up big and you kind of relax a little bit,” Whitaker said. “But they came out and played an incredible second half. The intensity factor was definitely on their side. Our kids didn’t flinch, though. We got down four and our kids just kept playing.”
In a nine-point game, Metro’s Damarian Miller single-handedly brought the Pumas back within striking distance with seven unanswered points to cut the lead down to 44-42.
The Pumas grabbed their first lead of the game with 5:30 remaining after an Ibrahim Diakite layup made things 51-50 in their favor.
“Give credit to them. They came out and played extremely hard. But I don’t think that we played New Palestine basketball in that second half where we defend people and get after it,” Whitaker said. “I thought we were a little lackadaisical, but that happens on a Wednesday afternoon in Lebanon sometimes. Our kids stuck with it and the end result was what we wanted.”
While the Pumas found new life offensively, a New Palestine team that scored 40 first-half points was held to just eight in the third quarter.
A switch to a 2-3 zone by Metro caused issues for the Dragons not only in the third quarter, but the remainder of the game. After hitting 16 field goals in the first half, they were held to five in the second half.
“It was a little odd zone. They had the top guy coming up and then dropping back a little bit,” Whitaker said. “It was something we hadn’t seen, and their pressure, quickness, and ability to get hands in the passing lane definitely made it difficult for us.”
New Palestine’s No. 2 leading scorer Blaine Nunnally was held scoreless in the first half and limited to six points, down from his average of nearly 18 points per game.
While he was limited, others stepped up.
The Dragons’ leading scorer, Stephens, paced the Dragons with 20 points. Gizzi added 11, and Slagley had 10.
Eian Roudebush and Bryant Nunnally, the other two New Palestine starters, had five and three points, respectively.
Kendall Hill knocked down a pair of first-quarter 3-pointers.
Miller led the Pumas and all scorers with 23.
New Palestine plays Gary 21st Century today at 10 a.m. in the semifinals. With a win, the Dragons will play in the 7 p.m. championship game. If they lose, they will play in the 5:15 p.m. consolation contest.
New Palestine 61, Indianapolis Metropolitan 60
Indianapolis Metropolitan;8;14;21;17;-;60
New Palestine;20;20;8;13;-;61
Indianapolis Metropolitan (1-4): Aaron Wilson 1 0-1 2, Damarion Miller 9 4-5 23, Ibrahim Diakite 4 3-4 12, Eric Torrence Jr. 0 0-0 0, Darian Head 0 0-0 0, Brian LaBroi Jr. 4 3-3 11, Mohmed Soumare 0 2-2 2, Qushawn Ware 3 3-4 10. Totals: 21 15-19 60.
New Palestine (7-0): Ian Stephens 7 6-10 20, Blaine Nunnally 1 4-4 6, Ben Slagley 4 2-3 10, Bryant Nunnally 1 0-1 3, Eian Roudeboush 2 0-0 5, Julius Gizzi 4 2-2 11, Kendall Hill 2 0-0 6, Moses Haynes 0 0-0 0. Totals: 21 14-20 61.
3-point goals: Indianapolis Metropolitan 3 (Diakite 1, Ware 1, Miller 1), New Palestine 5 (Hill 2, Br. Nunnally 1, Roudebush 1, Gizzi 1)
