CARMEL — Normally a 1-3 record might cause a sense of urgency and need for change.
But it’s June and a 1-3 mark at the Charlie Hughes Showcase doesn’t equate to a disappointing weekend for the New Palestine High School boys basketball team.
“(Wins and losses) that’s not what it’s about,” New Palestine head coach Trent Whitaker said. “It’s about kids getting some reps and playing some of the best teams in the state. They didn’t do us any favors with our schedule. The favor is, we’re getting better.”
Coming off a 22-6 season, a sectional championship and the return of the majority of the starting lineup, the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association gave the Dragons a very competitive schedule for its Saturday and Sunday contests at Carmel High School.
In a rematch of last season’s regional championship, the Dragons lost their opener Saturday afternoon to defending state runner-up Ben Davis, 64-59. It followed with a 71-65 loss to Class 4A power —which like New Palestine is moving down to 3A — Cathedral.
On Sunday, New Palestine lost 54-51 to the largest school in the state, Carmel, and finished off the weekend on a high note with a 69-62 win over Zionsville.
“Summertime is freedom time for the kids,” Whitaker added.”(In our third game against Carmel) we started locking in some roles. We’ve got new kids in new positions and new faces. That’s OK. Hate losing but when you lose by less than (six) to Cathedral, Carmel and Ben Davis you’re doing something right.”
Against Ben Davis, New Palestine led after the first (17-13), second (29-27) and third (47-44) quarters. Ben Davis standout guard Mark Zachery, a football commitment to Notre Dame, got some momentum back toward the Giants by scoring his team’s first five points of the fourth quarter.
The game was tight from start to finish. Point guard Moses Haynes delivered a couple of nice assists late to tie the game at 56-56 and 58-58. Keagan Harrison was the first recipient. Ben Slagley had the latter with just 2:05 remaining.
The Dragons were hurt by some late-game turnovers, committing three in the final 35 seconds.
New Palestine 6-foot, 3-inch shooting guard Julius Gizzi led all scorers with 26 points. Slagley, a 6-4 post, had 12 and Harrison finished with eight, all in the second half. Zachery had 21 for the Giants and 6-8 Tavion Williams finished with 13 points, including seven in the fourth quarter.
Against Cathedral, the Dragons led 16-12 after one and 36-28 at halftime. They extended their lead to 44-32 in the first two minutes of the third quarter before the Irish went on a 23-7 run, headed by 6-3 junior Keaton Aldredge.
Aldredge finished with 25 points, including 15 in the third quarter. Cathedral’s 6-9 Brady Koehler, who has Big 10 offers from Iowa, Rutgers and Northwestern, scored 16 points, 14 in the second half.
Trailing 55-51 after three quarters, the Dragons were able to temporarily regain the lead. Slagley opened the quarter with a 3-pointer and Haynes hit a couple of free throws for a 56-55 advantage. Gizzi had a bucket to give NP a 60-58 lead, and later hit a 3-pointer for a 65-64 New Pal advantage with two minutes remaining, but the Irish scored the game’s final seven points.
Gizzi led the Dragons with 24. Slagley had 18 and Haynes scored 14.
On Sunday morning, New Pal’s action started against Carmel. The Dragons trailed most of the game before rallying in the final minutes.
Down seven 51-44 with 1:04 left, the Greyhounds were unable to convert at the free-throw line. Slagley and Gizzi combined to go 4-for-4 at the stripe to cut it to 52-48 with 40 seconds left. After a Carmel turnover, Haynes hit a 3-pointer to cut it to one with 10 seconds left.
Carmel converted a pair of free throws on the next possession and Haynes’ attempt from 3-point range bounced off the rim.
The Dragons finished the weekend with a 69-62 win over Zionsville.
Gizzi, who received a scholarship offer over the weekend from Huntington University, had his biggest scoring game of the weekend with 39 points.
The IBCA puts on a great event here,” Whitaker added. “The coaches put this together. They know who’s going to be good. When you’re in pool play with those teams they think pretty highly of us, and we have high expectations and high standards of ourselves. On the outside looking in, they’re now going to say New Palestine is going to be a really good 3A basketball team — which seems weird to say 3A. With those expectations, you’re going to have to have kids step up.”
Four of last year’s five starters return in Gizzi, Slagley, Haynes, and defensive stalwart Austin McMahan.
Harrison, who had some starts last season, too, got the starts over the weekend.
The New Pal bench, at least over the weekend, looked relatively new except for senior Alex Guhl. Most of the bench playing time went to juniors Axtyn Hamblen, Aalijah Lassade and freshmen Sam Hirschy and Will Davidson. Hamblen was primarily a junior varsity player last season. Lassade is a transfer from Pike High School.
“We’re playing a lot of new guys,” Whitaker said. “We’ve got four kids locked in to starting jobs and the fifth-sixth spots are up for grabs. When you get into the season, and more importantly later in to March, that rotation tightens up.
“I just told the kids (after the Carmel game), I had 11 kids here, with one kid hurt and one kid playing baseball, so I’ve got 13 kids battling for those six or seven spots. I think four or four and a half are locked in. It’s going to make for good competition in the fall and come November as well. This only makes us better.”
