Friday night hoops

In our broadcast tonight, the New Palestine boys basketball team jumped out to an early double-digit lead and posted its best defensive game in 13 years in a 63-19 victory over Greenfield-Central.

The Dragons' victory was their largest win margin since a 49-point win over Eastern Hancock 1999 and their best defensive effort since also holding Sheridan to 19 points in 1998.

Freshman Brandon Jonas had a big night, scoring a career-high 17 points, hitting 7-of-8 from the field. Junior Michael Morris kick-started the Dragons in the second quarter, scoring 12 points in the frame en route to a 16-point night on 6-of-7 shooting. Junior Justin Ikerd added three 3-pointers and 13 points. He hit two early threes that gave the Dragons an 11-3 edge. NPHS would lead 19-3 after a quarter and 37-9 at the half.

The Dragons shot 54 percent from the floor, hitting 24-of-44.  G-C's bright spot was its free throw shooting, as the Cougars hit 8-of-10 from the line in the game.

Now 3-1, the Dragons next play Friday 12/16 at home against Morristown, beginning a three games in six days stretch that will continue Saturday 12/17 at Franklin Central.

G-C (0-6) next plays Friday at home against Yorktown. 

Pendleton Heights 58, Mt. Vernon 49: Kellen Dunham had yet another strong game for the Arabians, totaling 32 points and six rebounds to lead the Arabians past MV.

The Marauders fell behind 18-2 early and battled back into the game. from there. Stephen Turner led the Marauders with 18 points. C.J. Coleman had 15.

MV (2-2) will next play Friday against Shelbyville.

Northeastern 68, Eastern Hancock 65: The Royals jumped out to an early 21-point lead, but Northeastern chipped it down to three by the end of the third and took the game in the fourth.

EH is now 2-2. The Royals are the one county boys team in action Saturday, hosting Sheridan.

Girls basketball
Greenfield-Central pulled away from a close game to beat New Palestine 51-45.

The game was close throughout, but G-C had eight offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter and outboarded the Dragons 15-6 in the final frame. That led to key second-chance points that eventually allowed the Cougars to pull away.

Shelby Oldham hit a big 3-pointer that gave G-C its first six-point lead and set the tone for the latter stages of the game.

But the big key was Sara Jones. The junior post player had career highs with 16 points, 12 rebounds and four blocked shots. LaRae Cruz added 17 points and eight rebounds, and Katie Peters had 12 points and eight boards for G-C.


Bethany Murrell had 18 points to lead the Dragons in scoring, to go along with six rebounds. Lauren Tieman had nine points and nine rebounds. Abby Seifert had seven points, eight rebounds and two assists.

Both teams are back in action Saturday. The Cougars will host Chatard for a 6 p.m. JV tip. The Dragons next play Saturday at home against Shelbyville. The varsity-only game will tip off at 7:30 p.m.

Next week
Join the HancockCountySports.com crew for two live broadcasts. On Thursday night, join Chris Lambert and Greg Elkins for girls basketball, as the Mt. Vernon Marauders visit the New Palestine Dragons. On Friday, join Andrew Smith and Chris Lambert for boys and girls hoops, with the Eastern Hancock Royals hosting the Knightstown Panthers. Airtime is 5:40 on Friday and 7:10 p.m. on Thursday.