New Palestine wins 5th straight

The New Palestine basketball team trailed at halftime, but seized the lead in the third quarter and eventually pulled away to a 62-48 road victory over Beech Grove Wednesday night.

The victory was the Dragons' fifth straight, and their first since receiving votes in the AP Class 4A poll. The Dragons are now 6-1 on the season heading into the Dec. 27 Hancock County Tournament.

Reid Clark and Josh Penley helped the Dragons take the lead after Beech Grove led for much of the first half. Penley and Michael Morris combined for 16 points in the third quarter after scoring two between them in the first half, helping the Dragons turn a 19-17 deficit into a 39-30 lead. It would be cut to 39-38 when BG's Cody Utterback and Ronnie Dietz hit back-to-back 3-pointers to sandwich the quarter break, but the Dragons responded.

Justin Ikerd's 3-pointer -- the only one for the Dragons in the game -- helped the Dragons re-build a six-point edge and they pulled away from there. Clark scored 10 of his team-high 18 points in the fourth quarter. Penley added 17 points -- 10 in the third quarter, 15 in the second half -- to help lead a balanced attack. Penley also had four rebounds and three steals.

Clark had a double-double -- his second of the season -- by adding 13 rebounds to his 18 points. The Dragons outrebounded Beech Grove 36-20. He scored five straight points in the fourth quarter to help the Dragons pull out to a double-digit lead.

The Dragons had to rally from an early 11-4 deficit, as they scored nine straight points to take a brief lead in the second quarter before BG took the lead at halftime.


Morris added eight second-half points for the Dragons. Brandon Collins had seven points and five rebounds off the bench. Brandon Jonas also had five rebounds. The Dragons' defense held Beech Grove to 34 percent shooting. Zach Barkdull led the Hornets with 22 points and three assists. Ronnie Dietz had 12 points and nine rebounds.

Listen to the archive at HancockCountySports.com

The next games for all of the county teams will be Dec. 27 in the county tournament. New Palestine (6-1) will host Greenfield-Central (0-7); while Eastern Hancock (5-3) will host Mt. Vernon (4-2) in the semifinal rounds, which will begin at 10 a.m. The girls games will follow each. 


The boys championship and consolation games will be played at 6 p.m. that evening at Mt. Vernon. Listen to the title game live at HancockCountySports.com beginning at 5:40 p.m.