NEW PALESTINE — After leading most of the first half, Greenfield-Central had to rally from a seven-point, fourth-quarter deficit to defeat rival New Palestine 58-54 in a Hoosier Heritage Conference boys basketball battle at New Palestine High School Friday.
Trailing 47-40, after a steal and bucket from New Pal’s Moses Haynes, Greenfield-Central was able to keep its unbeaten record intact by getting to the free-throw line and recording a pair of big buckets from junior guard Boston Willard.
G-C junior standout Braylon Mullins hit four straight free throws and Willard scored off a steal to cut it to 47-46, with 6:21 to play, to keep the game tight the rest of the way.
A basket and free throw by Mullins tied the game, 51-51. He added two free throws on G-C’s next trip to give the Cougars the lead.
After New Pal’s Ben Slagley hit one of two at the line, Willard hit his third 3-pointer of the night, giving Greenfield-Central a 56-52 lead with only 1:36 to go.
“That was big, a great shot. The greatest shot of the night,” Mullins said.
Mullins had a game-high 27 points, including 15 of 17 at the free-throw line. He hit 8 of 9 at the stripe in the fourth quarter. The Cougars were 18 of 22 (81.8 percent) on the night.
“Boston’s steal at the very end got the momentum going and we didn’t stop from there,” Mullins said. “(New Palestine’s) game plan was good, trapping, ball screens, switching, playing physical with me. They knew that was their best chance to win.
“Down the stretch they fouled more and with the new rules (all free-throw shots are two shots instead of a one-and-one) that’s where free throws come in.”
Greenfield-Central jumped out to a 15-8 first-quarter lead and led by six, 32-26 at halftime. But, New Palestine had the upperhand in the third period.
Julius Gizzi had nine third-quarter points. He hit a 3-pointer to cut G-C’s lead to 38-37 with 4:10 remaining in the quarter.
After a G-C timeout, Slagley scored inside to give the Dragons a 39-38 lead. It was their first lead of the night, coming at the 3:18 mark of the third quarter.
Haynes hit 3-pointers to end the third quarter and to start the fourth, giving the Dragons a 45-40 advantage.
“I think our kids battled,” Greenfield-Central head coach Luke Meredith said. “I talked to them in the third quarter, ‘How bad do you want it?’ This is what New Pal has done to us for a long time. They’ve been able to out-physical and out-tough us. I thought tonight we showed some fight and heart. I’m proud of our team and our basketball program.”
Gizzi led New Pal scorers with 20. Slagley followed with 12. Evan Darrah came off the bench to hit three second-quarter 3s and finished with nine.
New Palestine (2-1, 0-1) returns to action next Friday with another HHC contest, at New Castle.
“It was a good basketball game between two pretty good basketball teams,” New Palestine head coach Trent Whitaker said. “Playing against their zone slows us down and we can’t let that dictate our pace and it did early in the first half. The third quarter we got a run, but Mullins is an incredible player and some of their other kids hit shots.
“We’ve got to get better. It’s a long season and a long journey.”
Following Mullins, both Willard and Dallas Freeman finished with 11 points.
Greenfield-Central (4-0, 1-0) makes a quick turnaround playing at 12:30 p.m. today against Southport at Southport Fieldhouse. It’s the first game of the Forum Tip-Off Classic.
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Greenfield-Central 58, New Palestine 54
Greenfield-Central;15;17;8;18;—;58
New Palestine;8;18;16;12;—;54
Greenfield-Central (4-0, 1-0): Dallas Freeman 4 1-3 11, Jake Hinton 0 2-2 2, Braden Robertson 2 0-0 5, Boston Willard 4 0-0 11, Braylon Mullins 5 15-17 27, Cooper Robertson 1 0-0 2, Brady Johnson 0 0-0 0, Tucker Brown 0 0-0 0. Totals: 16 18-22 58.
New Palestine (2-1, 0-1): Julius Gizzi 9 0-0 20, Austin McMahan 1 1-1 3, Ben Slagley 4 4-7 12, Brady Armstrong 0 0-0 0, Moses Haynes 3 0-0 8, Evan Darrah 3 0-0 9, Keagan Harrison 1 0-0 2, Rigg Mahurin 0 0-0 0. Totals: 21 5-8 54.
3-point goals: Greenfield-Central 8 (Willard 3, Mullins 2, Freeman 2, B. Robertson). New Palestine 7 (Darrah 3, Haynes 2, Gizzi 2)
