MUNCIE — It wasn’t pretty, but a W is a W, and the New Palestine Dragons earned it on Tuesday night.
Caught in a game of runs with Anderson (13-11) during the Class 4A Sectional 9 quarterfinals, the defending sectional champions utilized the free-throw line and the steady shot of sophomore Isabella Gizzi to win 59-55 and advance into Friday’s semifinal round.
Gizzi scored a game-high 31 points, shooting 15 of 17 from the foul line, including 11 of 12 in the fourth quarter to complete the Dragons’ (14-9) comeback.
“She’s been shooting better in the second half of the season, so it came up at a great time,” New Palestine head coach Sarah Gizzi remarked on her daughter’s performance.
Down by as many as 11 points before halftime, the Dragons fell behind early in the first quarter, 10-2, and rallied back to take the lead 11-10 in the second.
An 8-1 run by Anderson, however, gave the Indians a 26-15 lead with 59 seconds left until halftime.
An Isabella Gizzi 3-pointer with 18 seconds remaining cut it to 27-23 at halftime, and Anderson responded by going up 31-23 early in the third, but the Dragons put together a 16-2 run and seized a 39-35 lead that they never relinquished.
“This is huge for us. There were a lot of girls that didn’t play a lot last year in the sectional, so just to get their feet wet. Every game is a gift. We’ve said that all year, and this time of the year, it’s so special,” Sarah Gizzi said. “This is just awesome to get a chance to play another game.”
A threat to topple the Dragons, Anderson showcased a premier scorer in senior Tyra Ford, who was averaging nearly 26 points per game.
Against the Dragons, she was held to 15 points on 5 of 22 shooting and fouled out with 4:01 left in the game.
“She did get into foul trouble, so she couldn’t be as aggressive,” Sarah Gizzi said. “She’s good. We had a game plan to help on her wherever she was. I just kind of hoped to contain her. If we could hold her to 15, then that was an absolute victory for us.”
Anna Ackerman and Addi Jones drew the assignment, and it paid off as New Palestine amassed 23 turnovers, including six in the fourth quarter that gave Anderson a chance to tie the game 45-all with 4:57 on the clock.
“It’s not new for us. We know we can play like that and push through those rough moments and persevere and keep fighting to get the win,” Sarah Gizzi said. “We do well playing bad sometimes. We’re OK if we don’t get a basket for a while or have turnovers. They don’t ever get too down. They always manage to get back.”
The Dragons did exactly that scored 11 of the Dragons final 14 points, highlighted by a steal and a transition layup at the 4:25 mark to put New Palestine ahead 47-45.
“Sometimes our girls are a little bit overaggressive, so I was afraid at the moment, but it was a nice steal and a turning point for us,” Sarah Gizzi said.
Ackerman had 10 points and five rebounds, scoring a putback basket to increase the lead 50-45 and Faith Hensel, who had four points, swatted a key shot attempt as the Dragons clung to a 51-49 lead with less than 2 minutes left.
Gizzi converted eight straight free throws against the Ford-less Indians, and won their third straight game to advance into Friday’s semifinal round against host Muncie Central (6-11) at 8 p.m.
Jones had eight points, two blocks and four rebounds despite fouling out late int he game along with Grace Marshall, who had two points.
New Palestine’s Alaina Miller chipped in four points off the bench.
Karlee Goodwin added 13 points for Anderson, followed by seven points each from Amaya Collins and Zoe Allen. Makyra Dixon had five points.
“So many turnovers. It’s been our Achilles’s heel all season. It’s something that we can clean up, but we work so hard to do basic things sometimes, it’s just so frustrating, but it’s part of high school basketball and basketball,” Sarah Gizzi said. “There are moments where you just lose it.”
