PENDLETON — It lived up to the hype set by the regular season matchup.
And then it exceeded it.
Four lead changes, six ties, technical fouls issued to both teams and a game decided in the closing seconds.
Friday night’s IHSAA Class 4A Sectional 9 semifinal at Pendleton Heights had everything.
On a pair of Allie Blum free throws with 8.7 seconds remaining, New Palestine (14-10) knocked off the host school, Pendleton Heights (15-10), 46-44 in a near repeat of their regular season matchup.
“It was everything I expected it to be. We just beat a really good basketball team,” New Palestine head coach Craig Moore said. “I’m really proud of the girls for keeping their composure. We had seniors that stepped up and did some really good things, so I’m proud of that.”
In a game the Dragons led 35-26 entering the final quarter, the Arabians fought back to tie the game at two different points.
Seven early fourth-quarter points by Pendleton Heights’ Kaycie Warfel began the comeback while the New Palestine senior duo of Blum and Vivian Miller did all they could to hold off the charge.
Blum knocked down a 3-pointer early in the period to push the lead back to eight and later in the quarter a pair of Miller free throws made it 41-35.
“They picked up the pressure early. We put a lot on Vivian to handle the basketball and I thought she did a really good job tonight,” Moore said. “She handled the pressure well. We had to put the girls in some spots that they really haven’t played before and they came through.”
With 2:26 remaining, a charge called on Warfel sent the Arabians leading scorer to the bench for good with five fouls. She scored nine fourth-quarter points and led Pendleton Heights with 25 points.
With her out of the game, her sister, Aubree Warfel, tied the game, 42-42, with 35 seconds remaining.
But again, the New Palestine senior leaders were there to make sure the Dragons season didn’t end.
“Every time the game got tight and we had a timeout, those two seniors Vivian and Allie kept coming over and telling everyone ‘we are not going to lose this game’,” Moore said. “Everybody else hopped on their backs, and I’m just really proud of them.”
A Miller jumper made things 44-42, but a Mamie Trout basket-and-the-foul tied it again. Off of the missed go-ahead free throw attempt, Blum was fouled as she grabbed the rebound.
With 8.7 seconds remaining she sunk both shots to send the Dragons into the sectional championship.
“Honestly I just felt like I really needed to make them for my team,” Blum said. “All that was going through my mind was that I needed to make them. I knew we all wanted this one so bad.”
Blum came up big for the Dragons all night.
After a Kylee Beranek 3-pointer in the second quarter trimmed the Pendleton Heights lead down to 15-14, a Blum basket put New Palestine ahead.
On the next Dragons possession, she answered a Kaycie Warfel bucket with one of her own and scored the last six New Palestine points of the half.
“She’s [Blum] done it all year. It’s nothing new for her,” Moore said. “She has been tremendous all year coming through in tough times.”
In the third quarter, she scored another eight points and knocked down a pair of early-quarter 3s to extend the Dragons lead.
On the night she finished with a team-high 24 points.
“It means a lot to me because I know how much Pendleton wanted it and I know how much we wanted it,” Blum said. “It just felt amazing to play so well for my team and to help us get to the championship.”
The Dragons take on Mt. Vernon in an all-Hancock County championship — and a repeat of last year’s final — today. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. at Pendleton Heights.
“We’re going to enjoy tonight and then regroup tomorrow morning when we get together for practice,” Moore said. “I want to make sure they enjoy this though because they’ve done tremendous things all year. They’ve exceeded everybody’s expectations, so I’m really happy for them.”
–
New Palestine 46, Pendleton Heights 44
New Palestine;11;11;13;11;—46
Pendleton Heights;11;8;7;18;—44
New Palestine (14-10): Allie Blum 6 9-14 24, Vivian Miller 2 2-2 6, Sadey Hughbanks 2 0-2 6, Kylee Beranek 2 3-7 8, Kendra Moore 1 0-0 2, Natalie Sevier 0 0-0 0. Totals: 13 14-25 46.
Pendleton Heights (15-10): Kaycie Warfel 10 3-6 25, Adah Hupfer 1 2-2 4, Olivia Jones 2 0-0 4, Skylar Baldwin 1 0-0 2, Makayla Morrison 0 0-0 0, Mamie Trout 3 0-1 7, Emma Roberts 0 0-0 0, Brea Perry 0 0-0 0, Aubree Warfel 1 0-0 2. Totals: 18 5-9 44.
3-point goals: New Palestine 6 (Blum 3, Hughbanks 2, Beranek); Pendleton Heights 3 (Warfel 2, Trout).
