Sectional champ: Dragons win

Another wild night in New Palestine as a packed house witnessed the Dragons win a sectional championship for the second time in three years.

The Dragons came into the sectional with a sub-.500 record, finished 1-6 in the Hoosier Heritage Conference and had a young club with no seniors. At the same time, they were a battle-tested team that played *five* overtime games during the year, won another with two free throws at the buzzer, won the county championship -- coming from behind in the fourth quarter in both of those games -- and had experienced virtually every situation possible while "growing up" during the year. That all paid off this weekend, as the Dragons' quickness and explosiveness led them to a sectional title.

Saturday night, it was a 66-55 victory over the Shelbyville Golden Bears -- avenging an overtime defeat from the week before -- and one the Dragons controlled from the start.

New Palestine gave up the first basket of the game ... and then scored the game's next nine points. From that moment forward, the Dragons were the ones in control. NP led 9-2 and 14-7 early, pushed the lead to double-digits in the second quarter and settled at a 29-22 lead at halftime. Shelby jumped out in the third quarter, scoring seven points in 56 seconds to knot the game, and even took two one-point leads, but the Dragons methodically responded to the run by pushing the lead back up to seven a couple of possessions later, and pushed it to double-digits late.

A big reason why was balance. Josh Penley had a double-double with 16 points and 11 boards to go along with five assists. Taylor Rainey played one of the best games of his high school career with 19 points, eight rebounds, two blocked shots and he capped the game with a dunk on the final play. But the X factor was the Dragons' inside game. Michael Morris, a 6-4 sophomore, didn't play in the first game as he was recovering from an injury. He was 6-of-7 from the field, hit two big 3-pointers, and scored 17 points to go along with six rebounds. Junior Reid Clark scored nine points and had 11 rebounds and controlled things inside, keeping a lot of ballas alive and helping the Dragons build a 50-30 rebounding advantage. NP outrebounded Shelby 27-13 in the second half. Brandon Collins had five boards, three assists and two blocks and played solid defense. Solomon Haynes had three big assists and a key early 3-point basket to get the Dragons going early ... just a strong overall effort.

We hope you enjoyed it. We will continue broadcasting next Saturday when the Dragons (11-11) face Batesville (16-5) in the opening game of the Shelbyville regional. Tipoff is 10 a.m., Andrew & Chris will be with you at 9:35 a.m. Defending regional champ Danville will face Roncalli in the other semifinal.

As always, CLICK TO LISTEN LIVE!

Saturday was also a great night for the Hoosier Heritage Conference, as HHC teams won all three sectionals in which they were entered -- duplicating a feat the girls programs also pulled off earlier this year. Pendleton Heights beat Richmond 44-40 to win the 4A New Castle sectional, while Delta beat Eastbrook 60-47 in the 3A Muncie sectional.