GREENFIELD — With the graduation of six seniors, including four starters — two that were honorable mention all-state selections — from the winningest team in the boys basketball program’s history, New Palestine head coach Trent Whitaker wasn’t sure what to expect out of his 2023-24 group.
Fast forward to Saturday night.
The Dragons won the Class 4A Sectional 9 tournament for the second straight year, grabbing their 22nd win of the season — the second most in school history — by downing previously undefeated Greenfield-Central, 60-48, at Greenfield-Central High School’s sold out Dellen Automotive Gymnasium.
“If you told me [before the season] we’d win 22 games and a sectional, I’d say, ‘Sign me up now,’ kind of crazy,” New Palestine head coach Trent Whitaker said. “I really thought if we could get to 15 I’d be pretty happy, but they don’t quit and don’t understand what they’re doing sometimes. They just have a mentality of, ‘We win, that’s what we do.’”
Whitaker knew he had three good incoming juniors that got playing time with key 2022-23 season subs Julius Gizzi and Moses Haynes and lone returning starter Ben Slagley.
He didn’t know Gizzi, a 6-3 guard/forward, would be the state’s second-leading scorer at 28.9 points per game. Haynes, a flashy 5-11 point guard, would rank sixth in the state in assists (6.8 per game) and the veteran of the group, Slagley — a 6-4 post player and now a three-year starter — would earn a well-deserved moniker as “Big-Bucket Ben.” He also did not know he’d get solid contributions from the supporting cast.
“A lot of us have been playing together since kindergarten,” Gizzi said.
Along with the three most experienced players, the team has eight members of the junior class.
“After losing [all-staters] Ian [Stephens], Blaine [Nunnally] and all of those guys, we really didn’t know at the beginning of the year how good we were going to be,” Gizzi added. “Our first couple of games were a learning process for us. Once we got halfway through the season, we knew we could do this. We’re really good.”
The tournament route wasn’t easy.
To win a second straight sectional title, and fourth in the last six years, the Dragons had to beat two teams they lost to during the regular season, Mt. Vernon and Greenfield-Central, and a well-rested, dangerous Pendleton Heights team that drew the bye into Friday’s semifinals.
After dropping a 66-44 decision to the Marauders — without Slagley — in the final week of the regular season, the Dragons drew their biggest rivals for a Tuesday quarterfinal sectional game. A back-and-forth battle ended with game-winning free throws from Slagley and a 58-56 victory. Gizzi had 21 points.
Slagley scored the game-winner at the buzzer, assisted by Haynes — the school’s single-season assists record holder with 177 — to defeat the Arabians 60-58 in a Friday semifinal game. It was the third time this season Slagley scored the game-winner. Along with the two tournament wins, he beat the buzzer in a regular season game victory over Guerin Catholic.
On Saturday, the Dragons avenged their early-season loss to the Cougars. Greenfield-Central had defeated New Palestine 58-54 on Dec. 8 at New Palestine.
Greenfield-Central — led by highly-recruited junior Braylon Mullins, seventh in the state in scoring at 25.0 points per game — came in as the only remaining undefeated team in the state.
The Cougars star was hobbled Saturday. He’d played the entire season with a stress fracture in his back that doctors told him wouldn’t get worse with him playing, but would only get better with rest.
After a physical game Friday in a win over Muncie Central, Mullins could hardly move Saturday morning. He played only a few minutes in the first half and remained in the locker room at halftime before reentering the game in the third quarter.
“It was unfortunate he couldn’t be full-go. You hate beating teams that aren’t full strength. He’s a great player and he battled through, give him credit for that,” Whitaker said. “[The game] wasn’t given to us. We had to earn it. Coming back after Mt. Vernon put a hurting on us a week prior [to the tournament], we regrouped and talked after the Mt. Vernon game that we could still do something special. It was one game, it didn’t mean a whole lot and our kids believed and made it happen.”
Mullins hit a Cougar-inspiring 3-pointer to close the third quarter to cut New Palestine’s lead to 39-34.
G-C senior Braden Robertson added a 3-pointer early in the third quarter to cut the Dragons lead to 40-37 with 7:32 remaining, but it would be as close as the Cougars would get the rest of the night.
Gizzi answered Robertson’s trey with a conventional three-point play. His bucket and free throw, which included Robertson’s fourth foul, gave the Dragons a 43-37 lead with 6:08 to go.
With 3:01 remaining, the Dragons’ lead approached double figures. A no-look pass from Haynes to Slagley gave the Dragons a 50-41 advantage.
New Palestine closed it out at the free-throw line.
“We’ve never had that feeling and it just happens to be in the sectional championship,” Greenfield-Central head coach Luke Meredith said after his club’s only loss of the year. “With Braylon, you can’t question God, but why did it have to happen today? Of all days, at home, for the sectional title.
“It messed up our rhythm and our mojo, but credit to coach Whitaker and New Pal. They’re a great program and do great things. This is no disrespect to them. They earned it and they beat us and they’re back-to-back sectional champs. For me, it’s going to be tough for our program and our kids because that situation happened … it’s always going to be frustrating and, ‘What if…’”
Meredith said Mullins had back muscle tightness during the season, but always woke up the next morning able to go. That wasn’t the case Saturday morning. Mullins could hardly walk and Meredith had to help his 6-5 junior star put his shoes.
“I had to help him put his shoes and socks on in the locker room before the game because he couldn’t bend down to put his shoes on. He sat down on the chair and I helped him tie his shoes,” Meredith said.
Mullins started but only played a few first-quarter minutes. He went to the locker room and didn’t return until early in the second half. At halftime, one of the team’s senior leaders, Braden Robertson, persuaded him to give it a go.
“Our senior leader B-Rob prayed with me and told me I had to play it was going to be the last one if we go out. I said I’d do it. I played the last half and I’m glad I played it out with them,” Mullins said. “I tried my best and that’s all everybody can ask.
“[Robertson] convinced me at halftime. My trainer recommended not to play, but it was the sectional championship and we hadn’t been here in 20-some years. I knew I had to show-out and come out and try to play and I’m glad they left it out on the floor. Playing their last game, I know it’s emotional. I wish (our seniors – Robertson and Jake Hinton) the best for their futures. I wish we could have done more. They deserved more. The season was unbelievable and I feel like we could have done something great, but it was just the wrong timing.”
It might not have been enough Saturday. The Dragons’ offense was on fire all night. They shot 67 percent (18 of 27) from the field, and were able to get to the free-throw line 29 times (20 of 29).
They missed just three field-goal attempts in the second half (8 of 11 for 72.7 percent) and were 13 of 19 at the charity stripe in the fourth quarter.
Gizzi finished with 31 points, 21 came in the second half and 13 were in the fourth quarter. He also went over the 1,000-point mark (1,018) for his career and extended his total for the program’s single-season scoring record (779).
Slagley scored 10 points. Haynes had six assists, five rebounds and four points.
After leading the team in scoring with 18 points in the win over Pendleton Heights, Haynes took just two shots Saturday. That’s not a problem to one of the state’s top distributors.
“I love looking up at the crowd after a nice pass,” Haynes said. “I like seeing my teammates score off one of my passes better than scoring myself. It is so cool.”
It wasn’t just the veteran juniors that made big plays in New Palestine’s win. Sophomore Evan Darrah scored six second-quarter points, including a 3-pointer. Lone senior Brady Armstrong, who played a crucial role Friday in erasing a 10-point deficit against Pendleton Heights, had a big 3-pointer early in the game to give the Dragons their first lead.
Junior Austin McMahan also scored six points, his highest scoring game of the tournament.
“It feels really good to win back-to-back, especially since we had four senior [starters] last year and we only had three players that played minimal varsity minutes last year,” Slagley said. “To be back-to-back sectional champs feels really good, but I totally believed we could win. We’ve all been playing together since kindergarten. We know if we move the ball well and we’re hitting our shots we’re a very good basketball team and we can beat anybody.”
The sectional tournament was sold out three of four nights, including Wednesday’s quarterfinal doubleheader, Friday’s semifinals and Saturday’s title game.
“To see that it was sold out at noon [Saturday] it’s so fun,” Haynes said of playing before big crowds every night of the tournament. “I used to be the little kid in the front row. To say it’s a dream come true is cliche’ but it is so fun to get to play in front of these crowds.”
The Dragons improved to 22-5 with the win. They avenged two of the losses in the tournament. They also lost to a pair of Class 4A teams that won sectionals Saturday, Lawrence North and Franklin. The other loss was to one of Kentucky’s top teams, Newport High School. The Wildcats are 29-3 and have won 21 straight. They are currently in their regional tournament.
New Palestine moves on to the Southport Regional and will play defending state champion Ben Davis (20-5), winners of Class 4A Sectional 11, Saturday at 4 p.m.
Dallas Freeman led Greenfield-Central scorers with 15 points. Robertson had 12 and Mullins scored nine, all in the second half.
The Cougars finish the year 24-1, with school records in wins (24) and winning streak (24). They also won the Hoosier Heritage Conference.
Like the Dragons, the Cougars were coming off a record-setting season (21 wins), but graduated six seniors, including three starters.
Meredith, like Whitaker, wasn’t sure what this year would bring.
In two years, his teams have a combined record of 45-3, with two of the three losses coming to the rival Dragons.
“We talked about this before our [Wednesday] Anderson game, putting G-C basketball back on the map,” Meredith said. “I think we’ve been able to do that. If you win they will come. There were people waiting in line here at 2:30 p.m. for a 6 p.m. (opening of doors). I went down to the training room to be with Braylon and there were people sitting down waiting for the doors to open. It was unbelievable. It’s a credit to these kids and what they’ve done and how the community has responded to our kids.
“We won 24 straight which is a school record. We won 24 games which is a school record. We won the first conference title in 20 years and we made it to the first sectional championship game since [2003]. I’m proud to be their coach. They’re special kids.”
“I feel like Greenfield is a family within itself.” Braylon Mullins added. “Everybody here, it’s a great community and they like watching basketball and watching us play. We had a great season this year and they all came out and I think next year it will be bigger and better.”
New Palestine 60, Greenfield-Central 48
New Palestine;11;15;13;21;—;60
Greenfield-Central;13;5;16;14;—;48
New Palestine (22-5): Brady Armstrong 1 0-0 3, Moses Haynes 0 4-6 4, Julius Gizzi 9 11-15 31, Austin McMahan 2 2-4 6, Ben Slagley 4 2-3 10, Keagan Harrison 0 0-0 0, Evan Darrah 2 1-1 6, Alex Guhl 0 0-0 0. Totals: 18 20-29 60.
Greenfield-Central (24-1): Dallas Freeman 5 2-4 15, Braden Robertson 4 2-2 12, Jake Hinton 1 1-2 3, Braylon Mullins 2 4-4 9, Boston Willard 3 0-0 6, Cooper Robertson 0 0-0 0, Brady Johnson 1 0-0 3, Tucker Brown 0 0-0 0. Totals: 16 9-12 48.
3-point goals: New Palestine 4 (Gizzi 2, Armstrong, Darrah). Greenfield-Central 7 (Freeman 3, B. Robertson 2, Mullins, Johnson).
The Greenfield Daily Reporter All-Sectional 9 Team
First Team
Pos.;Player, School;Ht.;Cl.
F;DeMarkis Cole, Muncie Central;6-1;12
F;Ben Slagley, New Palestine;6-4;11
G;Julius Gizzi, New Palestine;6-3;11
G;Moses Haynes, New Palestine;5-11;11
G;Braylon Mullins, Greenfield-Central;6-5;11
Second Team
F;Dallas Freeman, Greenfield-Central;6-4;11
F;Seth LaRavia, Pendleton Heights;6-5;12
G;Cedric Horton, Richmond;6-5;11
G;Damien King, Anderson;6-5;11
G;Julien Smith, Mt. Vernon;6-0;10
