Semifinal roundup

The Hancock County Tournament finals are set, and we're set to bring you both games Thursday from Eastern Hancock.

Girls: #1 Mt. Vernon (11-0) vs. New Palestine (5-5)
Boys: Greenfield-Central (3-5) vs. New Palestine (4-4)
Listen LIVE beginning at 5:40 p.m.

On the girls side, NP got there with a near record-breaking 61-15 win over Eastern Hancock. The Dragons held EH in single digits for the game's first 27 minutes, and allowed the second-fewest points in program history -- and the fewest since surrendering 10 to Morton Memorial in 1975-76. Bethany Murrell scored 16 points to lead NP, while Danielle Owens added nine.

MV pulled away late from Greenfield-Central 42-29. Anna Olson scored in double-figures for the Marauders.

So that sets up a rematch of the Dec. 16 game that went into OT before MV pulled away to a 58-46 victory. MV has now won 27 consecutive regular-season games, and that is NP's lone blemish in its last five outings.

On the boys side, NP won a thriller in OT, beating Eastern Hancock 76-74 on a reverse layup by Reid Clark with 2.8 seconds left. The Dragons trailed by 12 points late in the fourth quarter, but rallied and tied the game at 63 when Solomon Haynes hit a long 3-pointer in the closing seconds of regulation. Josh Penley scored 28 points to lead the Dragons, while Dustin Smith had 23 for the Royals.

G-C won a slow-down game against Mt. Vernon 31-22. The Cougars led for much of the game, and held MV in the teens until the latter stages of the fourth quarter. That sets up a rematch of the Cougars' 51-35 win over NP on Dec. 10, a game in which G-C hit 72% of its shots in the second half to pull away from an early deficit, and jumpstarted the Cougars to three wins in their last four games. NP is also on a bit of a roll, having won three straight since that game.