New Palestine High School

The New Palestine basketball teams both have double-weekends this week, with both teams hosting Pendleton Heights tonight. The girls game tips at 6 p.m., the boys at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, the girls host East Central with a noon JV tip, while the boys travel to Avon for a 6 p.m. JV tip. FRIDAY: PENDLETON HEIGHTS ARABIANS (8-2, 0-1 HHC) at NEW PALESTINE DRAGONS (6-5, 3-0 HHC) Time: 6 p.m. (girls), 7:30 p.m. (boys) Site: New Palestine HS Tickets: $7, at gate or https://public.eventlink.com/tickets?t=167294 Audio: NewPalRadio.com Video: IHSAAtv.org/newpalestine ($) SETTING THE SCENE The Dragons and Arabians reunite for their annual doubleheader. NP comes in with a share of the HHC lead, but PH has had a strong start against a challenging schedule and enters this contest on a four-game winning streak. NP leads the all-time series 22-20 - including 10-7 at NP. The teams played twice from 1969-71 and have met annually in the regular season since the HHC was formed in 1993-94. NP has won 10 consecutive meetings since the 2018 sectional - including three tourney meetings. Saturday, the Dragons and Orioles meet for the first time ever in the regular season, and the second time in school history. NP won a 64-59 decision in the 2019 Southport regional semifinal. This is the Dragons’ lone road game in a five-game stretch. DRAGONS NOTES The Dragons remained unbeaten at home last Friday with a 66-53 victory over Delta in the Eagles’ final visit to NPHS as a conference foe. The Dragons had three players in double figures, led by Cael Butler’s career-high 16 points and five rebounds off the bench. Will Davison scored 15 points and Evan Darrah 14. Butler’s 16-point game was the Dragons’ first double-digit game by a player coming off the bench since Davison scored 11 against Indian Creek Feb. 1, 2025. It was the most points for a bench player since Julius Gizzi scored 17 against Guerin Catholic Feb. 7, 2023. The Dragons are 4-2 when at least three players score in double figures this season. Guard Eli Parrett has been Dr. Dish of late. He had five rebounds and nine assists against Delta, coming one week after he dished 12 assists in a victory over Castle. Sam Hirschy returned from a three-game absence due to illness and had an immediate impact against Delta, tallying eight rebounds - five offensive - and six points. He also had three steals. At 21.9 ppg, Davison is third in the HHC and 28th in the state in scoring. He is sixth in the state among sophomores. Darrah is seventh in the HHC at 14.4 ppg. Davison has hit double-figures in 10 of the Dragons’ 11 games this season and has tallied 20-plus points seven times. Darrah has hit double-figures nine times and the 20-point mark in seven games. Parrett ranks second in the HHC and 20th in the state in assists at 5.7 per game. He is averaging 6.4 assists per game in January. SCOUTING THE ARABIANS Senior Cooper Sims leads the Arabians, tallying 21.3 points per game. Junior Clark Emly adds 7.9 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. Sims has a season high of 30 points, set Dec. 2 in a win over Westfield. He tallied 24 in PH’s last game, a 62-39 victory over Liberty Christian last Friday. SCOUTING THE ORIOLES Avon finished third in last week’s Hendricks County Tournament, beating Cascade and Tri-West and falling to Plainfield in the semifinals. This is Avon’s lone game of the weekend. Avon’s first-year coach, Corey Taylor, led Ben Davis to the State Finals in 2023-24. Avon has two double-figure scorers. Jedidiah Minnett averages 19.0 ppg and recently hit the 1,000 point mark for his career. William Clore tallies 12.6 ppg. FOLLOW THE GAMES All games, home and away, are broadcast at NewPalRadio.com. Home games are also simulcast on a pay-per-view basis on IHSAAtv.org. NPHS athletics is online (NewPalestineAthletics.com), on X (@NPHSDragons), Facebook and Instagram (@newpalestinedragons)