NEW PALESTINE — It was a night of big numbers at New Palestine High School.
The New Palestine boys basketball team got out to an 8-0 start, led by double figures most of the night, and gave head coach Trent Whitaker his 127th career win — the most in school history — in a 77-60 victory over Roncalli Friday.
It was the team’s sixth straight win, 11th of the season, and ninth in the last 10 outings.
Junior Julius Gizzi scored 36 points, his ninth 30-plus scoring game in the last 10 and fifth straight. Teammate, classmate and cousin Moses Haynes, the Dragons point guard, had a career-high 19 points. Both Haynes and forward Ben Slagley had seven assists.
“The start of the game was good for us,” Whitaker said. “We have not started very well the last three games. We were down 20-6 to Pendleton and were down to Delta. Getting off to an 8-0 start was something we talked about. We’ve got to start ballgames better.”
Whitaker is in his ninth year as head coach and 20th year in the varsity program. He coached under both Adam Barton, 10 seasons, and Brian Kehrt, one season, before becoming head coach. Kehrt had 126 wins as the Dragons’ leader from 1995-2005. Barton won 120 from 2005-15.
“It’s one of those things, you start out nine years ago and you don’t think about that number [of victories],” Whitaker said. “To be honest, I didn’t know it would happen at all. We talk all the time that New Palestine basketball has been here 100 years before me and hopefully it’s here 100 years after me.
“I have to give a lot of credit to coach Barton and coach Kehrt. I learned a lot of things from both of them, basically everything. Everything I’ve learned I’ve learned from those guys. They talked a lot about basketball, but also about having great camaraderie, great friendships. That’s what the basketball program is about, relationships. Hopefully having relationships with those kids … It’s for everyone that’s been a part of it.”
Gizzi grabbed a rebound on Roncalli’s first missed shot, went coast-to-coast for a layup, was fouled and added a free throw for a quick 3-0 lead.
It was the start of another big offensive night for the 6-foot, 3-inch guard. He had 10 points in each of the first two quarters and 12 in the third.
“The thing with Julius, he’s not taking a crazy amount of shots. He’s getting it within the offense,” Whitaker said. “The kids are doing a great job moving and cutting. Ben [Slagley] made some great passes tonight and got some people open. Moses [and Julius] they just kind of click and know where each other is going to be. Julius has scored nine of the last 10 games over 30. When you see that stat you probably think he’s just jacking up shots every chance he gets, but the kids are moving the basketball and he’s trusting his teammates and he’s in a zone right now that I have never seen.”
It was a big night for Haynes, too. He had scored 16 in a game during a victory in a holiday tournament against Jennings County. On Friday, he hit 7 of 10 field-goal attempts, including 5 of 7 from 3-point range.
“I’m happy for him because he doesn’t always get the limelight Julius does because he’s not a scorer,” Whitaker said. “He can score, but he doesn’t put it first. He’s averaging over six assists per game. He puts the scoring on the backburner and he thrives off throwing passes. When he makes a pass he’s the first one to turn and be excited for the guy that makes a shot. He’s not worried that his cousin is scoring 30-some points per game, because, honestly, without Moses, Julius is not scoring 30 points per game.”
Roncalli got New Palestine’s lead down to six, 48-42, with 2:53 left in the third. The Dragons followed with a 13-2 run to end the quarter.
Haynes hit a trey, Alex Guhl scored on a nice pass from Slagley and Evan Darrah got a bucket and free throw to jump the margin to 56-42. Following a Roncalli basket, Gizzi had one of his four conventional three-point plays. After a steal, Haynes ended the period with a bucket for a 61-44 advantage.
New Palestine (11-2) is back in action today, at home, against Franklin. Roncalli dropped to 7-5.
–
New Palestine 77, Roncalli 60
Roncalli;9;17;18;16;—;60
New Palestine;20;17;24;16;—;77
Roncalli (7-5): Drew Keggereis 6 3-3 18, Noah Schmaltz 5 0-0 13, Luke Greene 3 0-0 9, Will Hegwood 2 2-6 7, Joe Taylor 3 3-6 10, Conner Kesler 1 1-2 3, Eli Lauck 0 0-0 0, Judd Selke 0 0-0 0, Charlie Elsener 0 0-0 0, Eli Miller 0 0-0 0. Totals: 20 9-17 60.
New Palestine (11-2): Brady Armstrong 1 0-0 2, Moses Haynes 7 0-0 19, Julius Gizzi 13 7-8 36, Austin McMahan 2 0-0 4, Ben Slagley 3 0-0 6, Keagan Harrison 0 0-0 0, Evan Darrah 2 1-1 6, Alex Guhl 1 0-0 2, Rigg Mahurin 0 0-0 0, Landon Seib 1 0-0 2. Totals: 30 8-10 77.
3-point goals: Roncalli 11 (Keggereis 3, Schmaltz 3, Greene 3, Hegwood, Taylor); New Palestine 9 (Haynes 5, Gizzi 3, Darrah).
