New Palestine’s Ben Slagley had 15 points in the Dragons win at Shelbyville Friday. (Mike Brown | For The Daily Reporter)
Staff report
With a 61-51 victory at Shelbyville Friday, New Palestine’s boys’ basketball team guaranteed a share of the Hoosier Heritage Conference championship.
The Dragons, ranked No. 10 in both the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association poll (all classifications) and Associated Press Class 4A poll, improved to 6-0 in the HHC and 18-1 overall.
Their final conference game is Feb. 17, at home, against Mt. Vernon. The Marauders are 4-1 in HHC games. Greenfield-Central has completed its conference schedule with a 6-1 mark. Mt. Vernon has a Feb. 24 conference game against Yorktown in Fortville.
To win on the road Friday, the Dragons had to rally from a slow start. New Palestine trailed 22-20 at halftime, and then outscored the Golden Bears 41-29 in the second half.
Blaine Nunnally led the Dragons with 23 points. He was 11 of 17 at the free-throw line, including 7 of 8 in the fourth quarter.
Sophomore Ben Slagley scored 15. He had nine points in the pivotal third quarter when the Dragons outscored the Golden Bears 20-9.
Shelbyville is 9-10 and 1-5 in the HHC.
New Palestine travels to Connersville (14-4) tonight.
Cougars’ streak at 15
Greenfield-Central ran its winning streak to 15 games with a 57-25 victory over Franklin County in Brookville Friday.
The Cougars held the Wildcats scoreless in the first quarter and led 33-9 at halftime.
Owen Anderson and Will DeJarnett led G-C scorers with 12 points each. Braylon Mullins added 10 and Dylan Moles scored nine. Eight different Cougars got in the scoring column.
Franklin County dropped to 8-11.
Greenfield-Central (18-1) plays host to Avon (8-10) tonight.
Royals roll at home
Eastern Hancock picked up its fifth straight win, defeating visiting Morristown, 75-28, Friday.
Senior Silas Spaulding went over the 1,000-point mark for his career and led the Royals with 20 points, 18 in the first half. Jacob Spaulding had 19 points and Edric Miller added 12.
Grant Gray joined his teammates in double figures with 10.
Silas Spaulding was 7 of 10 from the field, including 4 of 7 from 3-point range. Jacob Spaulding hit 8 of 10 shots and was 3 of 5 from long range. Miller had a team-high five steals.
The Royals are 14-5 on the season. Morristown dropped to 1-18.
Eastern Hancock (14-5, 6-1) will play host to Blue River Valley (14-5, 6-1) Tuesday in a Mid-Eastern Conference game.
