New Path for New Buddy: Talented Dragons Move to 3A – The Daily Reporter

NEW PALESTINE – The New Palestine boys basketball program is facing a new challenge.

Winners of 22 games and back-to-back Class 4A sectional championships, the Dragons will have no chance of defending last year’s Section 9 title.

That’s good news for Greenfield-Central, Mt. Vernon, Pendleton Heights and others competing in the Sectional 9 tournament.

The Dragons return most of last year’s lineup, including Julius Gizzi, the state’s second-leading scorer, Moses Haynes, one of the state’s best assists and 3-point shooters, and multi-talented fourth-year starter Ben Slagley.

That’s not good news for Roncalli, Shelbyville, Greenwood, Indian Creek, Beech Grove and Rushville, all of which are in Class 3A Section 28.

With new enrollment numbers for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 seasons, New Palestine has dropped from Class 4A to Class 3A and is considered one of the top teams in the entire class.

“It’s a great opportunity, but 3A is definitely a no-brainer,” Gizzi said. “There are some really strong teams in our section and visiting Shelbyville (host of the Sectional 28 tournament) is a really difficult gym. It won’t be easy, but it’s a great opportunity for us.”

The Indiana Basketball Coaches Association (all classifications) ranks the Dragons at No. 13. They are the third-highest ranked 3A school, behind Crispus Attucks (No. 3) and Cathedral (No. 6). Like New Pal, Attucks and Cathedral also made the drop from 4A to 3A.

“Delegating to 3A might seem like it has to be a completely open shot since we’ve had success at the 4A level, but there are teams in our section that will be circling us. They’re going to want to play us,” Haynes said. “If we downplay our competition or just don’t perform the way we should, we could get beaten early. It’s a different challenge for us.”

The Dragons will continue to compete with those rivals for the Hoosier Heritage Conference title, which Greenfield-Central won last year.

“It’s one of those where I hate that we lost the (partial) rivalry with Mt Vernon, Pendleton and Greenfield. It was just an incredible atmosphere last year. “It took you back to the old days when there was an interdistrict section in the ’80s and ’90s,” New Palestine head coach Trent Whitaker said. “As we go down, we still have Roncalli, Shelbyville, Indian Creek, there are still some pretty good basketball teams. The size of the teams won’t be as big as 4A, and hopefully we can get another sectional without a Ben Davis or Brownsburg waiting for us. That’s the difference, but there’s still Cathedral and Attucks, but only one of them can win their section. Brebeuf and Guerin (Catholic) are really good too.”

Before the Dragons begin preparing for the postseason, they will feature one of the most experienced and talented lineups in the state that should lead them to another strong season.

Gizzi, Haynes and Slagley are the Big 3 of New Palestine. All three were part of the IHSAA/IBCA Top 100 showcase last summer.

Gizzi is an Indiana All-Star candidate.

As a junior, he led the state in scoring with 810 total points and was second in scoring with an average of 28.9 per game.

The 6-4 guard/forward, a third-party Associated Press All-State selection, also averaged 8.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists. He shot 50 percent from the field and made 55 3-point field goals. He was named to the All-Hancock County, All-Hoosier Heritage Conference, IBCA All-State “Supreme 15” Underclassmen and Indiana Junior All-Star teams.

He scored 20 or more points in all but three of 28 games, scoring 43 against Franklin Central and 44 later in the year against Whiteland, both Dragon victories.

Ranging in age from 5 to 11, Haynes is one of the top point guards in the state, ranking fifth in assists per game as a junior with 6.7.

He also scored well with an average of 11.4 points. He made 70 3-pointers, which ranked him 19th nationally, and set single-season school records for assists (182) and steals (51).

He added 2.0 rebounds and 1.9 steals and shot 50 percent from the field and 46 percent from 3-point range.

Haynes scored over 20 points three times, including a season-high 24 in the regular season finale against Greenwood. In that game, he went 7-for-8 from 3-point range. He recorded double-digit assists four times, including 14 to go, 17 points and four steals in a win at Guerin Catholic.

His postseason honors included being named All-Hancock County, All-HHC and IBCA Underclass Honorable Mention All State.

Slagley, the only returning starter from the 2022-23 section championship team, is a versatile 6-4 post player. He averaged 9.3 points, 6.6 rebounds, 3.6 assists and shot 57 percent from the field. He was selected All-Hancock County and All-HHC.

Slagley hit a buzzer-beater to defeat state-ranked Guerin Catholic on the road in the regular season, added the game-winning free throws in the final seconds of a first-round sectional win over Mt. Vernon and added another buzzer-beater in the sectional semifinals a win over Pendleton Heights.

“They’re the three-headed monster for us,” Whitaker said. “We will get a lot of good things out of them. The great thing about these kids is that they like each other. They hang out outside the classroom, outside of basketball, and they want to make sure everyone is successful.”

They aren’t the only three players who returned from a year ago.

Three more return after significant playing time in the 2024/25 season.

Austin McMahan is a 6-4 senior who was a defensive player for the club last year. He faced difficult tasks last year, trying to slow down Greenfield-Central Mr. Basketball candidate Braylon Mullins and Ben Davis standout KJ Windham, now at Northwestern.

McMahan had a great football season as a wide receiver in which he caught 13 touchdown passes and 849 receiving yards. He averaged 5.0 points and 3.4 rebounds.

Keagan Harrison is a 6-3 forward who was either a starter or the first player off the bench last season. He averaged 3.8 points and 2.1 rebounds.

Evan Darrah is a 5-11 junior sharpshooter who averaged 3.9 points and was third behind Haynes and Gizzi in 3-pointers with 23 points.

“You could say these three guys are role players, but every single one of them can score,” Whitaker added. “Austin will have the difficult defensive task every night. He’s a tall, athletic boy. Keagan and Darrah have worked extremely hard on their games over the last six months. Darrah is working on doing more than just being a shooter. He wants to be a defender and get a lot of minutes. Keagan is getting a little familiar with the game and understanding where to move to the basket on double teams.

“I think our program has done a pretty good job over the last decade of putting kids in situations where they can be successful, kids who can step into roles and see things bigger than themselves. “

Juniors Axtyn Hamblen (6-0, guard/forward), Liam Atkinson (6-1, guard/forward) and Evan Study (5-11, guard) are all freshmen from last year’s junior varsity team.

Whitaker calls Hamblen a gym rat. He was supposed to be the first dragon after the returnees.

Two guys who should see varsity minutes are Will Davison (6-3, forward/guard) and Sam Hirschy (6-3, forward).

“There’s a lot of competition in the gym right now, and that’s a good thing,” Whitaker added.

There was no rest for McMahan, Hirschy and second-year junior varsity player Brody Smith. They won a state championship with the New Palestine football team on Friday and were on the basketball court on Saturday to qualify for the team’s season opener this Friday at home against Eastern Hancock.

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2024-25 New Palestine Boys Basketball Squad

No.;Name;Class;Height;Position

4;Moses Haynes;12;5-11;G

5;Keagan Harrison;12;6-3;F

11;Julius Gizzi;12;6-4;D/F

13;Austin McMahan;12;6-4;F

14;Evan Darrah;11;5-11;G

15;Will Davison;9;6-3;D/F

20;Liam Atkinson;11;6-1;D/F

21;Evan Study;11;5-11;G

22;Axtyn Hamblen;11;6-0;F

24;Ben Slagley;12;6-4;F

44;Sam Hirschy;9;6-3;F

Head Coach: Trent Whitaker

Assistant coach: Jordan Myers, Mike Gizzi

JV coach: Danny Davison

Freshman Coaches: Doug Pardue, Greg Nicholson

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2024-25 New Palestine Boys Basketball Schedule

Date;opponent;time

Dec. 6;vs. Eastern Hancock; 7:30 p.m

Dec. 7;vs. Greenwood; 5:30 p.m

December 13th; at Greenfield Central; 7:30 p.m

Dec. 14; Zionsville (in Southport); 14 o’clock

Dec 20;vs. New Castle; 7:30 p.m

Dec. 21;vs. Franklin Central; 5:30 p.m

December 27th; in Lawrenceburg; 11 a.m

Dec. 27; Castle (at Greendale MS); 3 p.m

Dec. 28;TBD (in Lawrenceburg);TBD

January 4, at Whiteland, 1:30 p.m

January 10; in the delta; 7:30 p.m

Jan. 17, at Pendleton Heights, 7:30 p.m

January 24; in Roncalli; 7:30 p.m

January 25, Franklin, 7:30 p.m

Jan 29;vs. Lawrence North; 7:30 p.m

Jan 31st;vs. Yorktown; 7:30 p.m

February 1, at Indian Creek, 3:30 p.m

Feb. 6, at Perry Meridian, 7:30 p.m

February 8th vs. Southport; 2:30 p.m

February 11th vs. Guerin Catholic; 7:30 p.m

February 14; in Shelbyville; 7:30 p.m

February 21st;vs. Mt Vernon; 7:30 p.m

February 27; at Warren Central; 7:30 p.m