By Rich Torres | Daily Reporter
NEW PALESTINE — The key word for the New Palestine girls basketball team after Wednesday night’s 49-37 loss to visiting Warren Central was consistency.
New Palestine head coach Sarah Gizzi would like to see nothing more moving forward with a little less than a month remaining in the 2020-21 regular season.
Riding a two-game winning streak heading into their second straight home game, the Dragons endured a difficult start against the Warriors (10-6) and trailed from the opening tip.
New Palestine tied the game three times through the first and second quarters, but 20 turnovers overall in the game proved too much to overcome.
“They’re a good team, and I’m not taking anything away from them, but I felt the turnovers were unforced. That’s what’s so difficult,” Gizzi said. “Just silly passes, silly decisions, and I felt we didn’t have a great shot selection to start the game.”
New Palestine deadlocked the score at 2, 4 and 8 in the first half, and it kept the margin within two possessions until the Warriors put together a 7-0 run to take a 26-15 halftime lead.
The Dragons (9-6) led by Addi Jones’ team-high 13 points, chopped the deficit to 28-24 behind a key 3-pointer from their senior guard in the third quarter, but another Warren Central run pushed the advantage back up to double digits.
“The girls played hard in the second half and cut it to four, and then we had a little bit of a defensive letdown, again,” Gizzi said. “Then, we just struggled to get back into transition. I think that was a big difference.”
The Warriors had a pair of double-figure scorers with K’la Talley posting a game-high 19 points on 7 of 14 shooting. Talley converted 3 of 7 free throws and hauled in four rebounds.
Asiah Baxter finished with 10 points and six rebounds, while Sanaa Thomas provided nine points and four rebounds. DeNishia Nalls scored four points with six rebounds as the Warriors owned the defensive glass with 19 boards, including 14 in the second half.
Jones had a double-double with 10 rebounds, and Dragons’ teammate Isabella Gizzi grabbed nine rebounds with six points and six assists, but they couldn’t catch up to the Warriors.
“Their press definitely slowed us down in the first half, which was smart on their part. It definitely was a factor for us because we like to see if we can score a little bit going quick,” Gizzi said.
Grace Marshall had eight points for the Dragons, and Koryn Marshall added five points off the bench. Anna Ackerman had three points and Rachel Kelley had two.
New Palestine had put together a 54-45 win over Southport on Dec. 30 and a 62-45 victory against Hoosier Heritage Conference foe Yorktown on Saturday.
Their losses this season, however, have been by 24, 6, 7, 14, 15 and now 12 points.
“I would like to see us make more improvements at this point in the season. We have a big game on Saturday against HSE (on the road). We have Triton Central coming up (on Jan. 12). I know those aren’t conference games, but they are some good tests. Awesome competition,” Gizzi said. “I’d like to see us building a little bit more and improving.”
Last year prior to winning a sectional title, the Dragons regrouped despite some late-season letdowns to hit their stride. Over the next few weeks, the goal remains the same.
“The girls work hard, so I’d like to see them capitalize on that and start to see their efforts pay off,” Gizzi said. “We just have to stay positive, keep practicing and keep pushing.”
