NEW PALESTINE — Greenfield-Central scored the final four points of regulation to force overtime and took control from start to finish in the extra session to defeat New Palestine 60-52 Friday in the first game of a girls-boys basketball doubleheader at New Palestine High School.
Kendra Moore hit a 3-pointer to put the Dragons up 46-42 with 1:52 left in regulation, but the Dragons failed to score the remainder of the fourth quarter. Greenfield-Central got within two points on a bucket from Brooklyn McConnell.
A pair of Chaney Brown free throws tied the game, 46-46, with 59.6 seconds left.
Both teams had opportunities in the final minute, but turned the ball over. New Palestine had the last regulation shot, but it went off the rim.
In the overtime, Greenfield-Central scored the first six points. Brown put the Cougars up 48-46 and added two more points after a technical foul on the Dragons.
Izzy Silcox scored with 2:50 remaining in the extra period to give Greenfield-Central a 52-46 lead.
The Cougars scored 14 points in the overtime.
Brown and McConnell scored 18 apiece. Brown had 16 in the second half.
G-C’s Madison Sonsini added 16, 14 came in the first half. The Cougars played without the 6-foot junior most of the fourth quarter and overtime. She fouled out with 6:05 remaining in final quarter of regulation.
“That was a true team win,” Greenfield-Central coach Bradley Key said. “I thought Madi Sonsini played an unbelievable first half. If it wasn’t for Madi, we may have been in a bigger hole.
“Down four with a minute and something to go, I’m looking at the clock like everyone else. Are we going to buckle, or are we going to fight through it? Give credit to our kids. They dug deep and fought through it and believed they were going to do this.”
Greenfield-Central improved to 7-3 overall and 1-1 in the Hoosier Heritage Conference.
New Palestine had its three-game winning streak ended. All three had been HHC games. The Dragons are 5-6 overall and 3-1 in the conference.
The game went back and forth most of the fourth quarter.
The first five fourth-quarter baskets changed the lead. Greenfield-Central was on top 37-35 heading into the final quarter.
New Pal’s Kenna Tweedy opened fourth-quarter scoring with a 3-pointer. G-C’s Brown followed to give the Cougars a 39-38 lead. The teams went back and forth with 3-pointers from NP’s Allie Blum and G-C’s McConnell. A Natalie Sevier bucket gave New Pal a 43-42 lead prior to the Moore trey.
“Their zone is very, very effective,” New Palestine head coach Craig Moore said. “If you’re not knocking down shots it’s going to be a rough night. In the first half we had a rough start, but found a hot-hand with Kenna Tweedy. It gave us some momentum going into halftime.
“We did a pretty good job in the second half. We were up four late and we just made some passes that weren’t there and that led to us getting sped up and kind of panicking and throwing the ball away. That continued in the overtime and Greenfield knocked down a lot of free throws.”
New Palestine was led in scoring by Blum with a game-high 19. Tweedy had a career-best 12.
New Palestine continues conference play Tuesday with a home game against Mt. Vernon. Greenfield-Central has an HHC contest at home Tuesday against Shelbyville.
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Greenfield-Central 60, New Palestine 52, OT
Greenfield-Central;10;10;17;9;14;—;60
New Palestine;9;9;17;11;6;—;52
Greenfield-Central (7-3, 1-1): Madison Sonsini 5 6-8 16, Brooklyn McConnell 5 5-6 18, Chaney Brown 6 6-7 18, Izzy Silcox 1 0-0 2, Jalyn Smith 0 4-6 4, Addi Herrin 0 2-4 2. Totals: 17 23-31 60.
New Palestine (5-6, 3-1): Sadey Hughbanks 3 0-2 6, Allie Blum 6 3-4 19, Vivian Miller 0 2-4 2, Kylee Beranek 2 0-0 4, Kendra Moore 1 0-0 3, Natalie Sevier 2 2-4 6, Kenna Tweedy 5 0-0 12, Ella Holman 0 0-0 0, Ally White 0 0-0 0. Totals: 19 7-14 52.
3-point goals: Greenfield-Central 3 (McConnell 3). New Palestine 7 (Blum 4, Tweedy 2, Moore)
