INDIANAPOLIS — Halftime adjustments, getting back to playing a New Palestine-style of basketball, and a big third-quarter run sparked the Dragons girls basketball team to a win Thursday night.
After a physical, hard-fought first half at Southport Fieldhouse, the Dragons pulled away in the third quarter for a 60-22 win over the host Cardinals to snap a two-game skid.
“I wouldn’t say it was easy. We didn’t play our best and I thought Southport did some nice things defensively, got us out of our rhythm early on, and forced us to make some passes that we don’t normally make,” New Palestine head coach Craig Moore said. “Getting back into the win column is a nice thing though heading into the break with a few days off.”
A 15-0 New Palestine run out of the halftime break keyed the victory.
After a grueling first half that saw the Cardinals shoot 15 free throws and enter the half trailing the Dragons just 24-16, New Palestine came out hungry on both ends of the floor to open the third quarter.
An Allie Blum free throw began the run, and the Dragons knocked down a trio of 3-pointers to help push the lead to 39-16 just under the four-minute mark of the quarter.
Kenna Tweedy buried two of the 3-pointers and Vivian Miller hit one, while Blum had two baskets and a free throw over the four-minute stretch.
On the defensive end, the Dragons forced nine third-quarter turnovers. After allowing 12 points in the second quarter, they limited the Cardinals to just six second-half points.
“We just talked about playing good position defense. We work on that every day and we just weren’t doing that in the first half. We were out of position and sometimes we didn’t even know what defense we were in,” Moore said. “ I thought we did much better in the second half which helped us get a big lead.”
A layup by Southport’s Nola Linson ended the 15-0 run, but the Dragons would go on to outscore the Cardinals 26-5 in the quarter.
Two Blum baskets, a Blum free throw, and a Miller layup pushed the lead to 50-21 by the end of the quarter.
The team’s two senior leaders, Blum scored 12 of her game-high 28 points and Miller scored all five of her points in the third quarter.
“We didn’t handle the zone very well to start. It took me getting on them about some silly passes that we were making,” Moore said. “Once we adjusted to what they were doing though, I thought we handled it pretty well.”
In the fourth, with a mixture of different players in the game, the Dragons defense was just as stout, allowing zero made field goals, and just one free throw.
The Southport offense was held to single digits in three of the four quarters.
“We just wanted to get back to doing what we do. I knew Southport was hungry for a win, so the message at half was that we had to be more physical,” Moore said. “We were letting them do whatever they wanted to offensively and get to the spots they wanted to in the first half and that’s not typically how we play, so we just tried to get back to how we play.”
Along with Blum and Miller, six different Dragons found the basket.
Kylee Beranek scored nine points, Sadey Hughbanks and Tweedy each hit two 3-pointers. Natalie Sevier, Kendra Moore, and McKenzie Hacker all finished with two points.
New Palestine enters the Christmas break 7-8 and will look to get back to .500 next Thursday at home against Franklin County.
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New Palestine 60, Southport 22
New Palestine;13;11;26;10;—;60
Southport;4;12;5;1;—;22
New Palestine (7-8): Allie Blum 11 6-9 28, Vivian Miller 2 0-0 5, Sadey Hughbanks 2 0-0 6, Kylee Beranek 3 2-3 9, Natalie Sevier 1 0-0 2, Kendra Moore 1 0-0 2, Kenna Tweedy 2 0-0 6, Ella Holman 0 0-0 0, McKenzie Hacker 0 2-2 2, Allyson White 0 0-0 0. Totals: 22 10-14 60.
Southport (2-11): Nola Linson 2 0-0 4, Sophia Nguyen 2 2-5 6, Josie Miller 1 2-4 5, Lorelei Bennett 0 2-4 2, Josie Bolen 0 0-0 0, Izzy Meece 1 2-4 4, Teasia Bibbs 0 1-2 1, Addy Begley 0 0-2 0, Graycee Eacret 0 0-2 0. Totals: 6 9-23 22.
3-point goals: New Palestine 6 (Hughbanks 2, Tweedy 2, Beranek, Miller); Southport 1 (Miller).
