GREENFIELD — When the season is on the line, there is no such thing as calling too many timeouts to make sure your team gets it right.
New Palestine got it right.
On the game’s final possession, New Palestine point guard Moses Haynes found Ben Slagley, who laid the ball in against the Pendleton Heights defense right before the buzzer sounded to give New Palestine a 60-58 win on Friday night and berth into the Class 4A Sectional 9 championship game.
New Palestine went on to defeat Greenfield-Central 60-48 in the final on Saturday.
The Dragons, after two Julius Gizzi free throws, led 58-54 with just 27.7 seconds to go.
Pendleton Heights answered with a bucket from 6-7 senior Josiah Gustin. He was fouled by Slagley on the play, but missed the free throw.
Aaron Cookston grabbed the offensive rebound and scored, tying the game with 10.9 seconds remaining.
New Palestine called timeout and after inbounding the ball, called another timeout with 7.8 seconds to go.
Seeing how the Dragons were lined up after the break, Pendleton Heights called timeout, which was followed by another New Pal TO without any time going off the clock.
After trailing by 10 points in the first quarter, Pendleton Heights led by 10 points at halftime, 37-27. But, the Dragons were able to quickly erase the Arabians’ advantage.
Lone senior Brady Armstrong hit a pair of 3-pointers and Haynes and Slagley each had steals and layups to tie the game 37-37. It all happened in less than two minutes. Right after a Pendleton Heights timeout, the Dragons got another steal. Haynes laid it in for a 39-37 New Pal lead with still 5:43 left in the quarter.
Armstrong hit another triple late in the fourth quarter to extend New Palestine’s lead to 56-52. The nine-point performance tied his career-high.
New Palestine led by 10 points, 18-8, in the first quarter. An Evan Darrah drive for two gave the Dragons a 10-point advantage with 2:17 left in the period.
Pendleton Heights started making its comeback late in the first and took off from there. The Arabians ended the opening quarter on a 10-3 run, and trailed just 21-18 heading into the second period.
The Arabians outscored the Dragons 19-6 in the second. Gustin was 4-of-4 from the field in the first quarter and hit his first two shots of the second. He had 17 first-half points, but his late-game bucket was his only two points of the second half. He was 8-of-10 from the field in the first half and finished 9-of-13.
He got plenty of first-half help from 6-5 senior Seth LaRavia, who had 11 first-half points and was 4-of-5 from the field. LaRavia finished with a game-high 21 points.
Haynes got the Dragons off to a good first-quarter start. He was 4-of-4 from the field, including 3-of-3 on triples in the first quarter. He had 11 first-half points and led the Dragons with 16.
Slagley had 12 and Gizzi finished with 11.
The Dragons had defeated Pendleton Heights, 57-54, in a regular season game Jan. 12 at New Palestine. They also eliminated the Arabians last year in the first semifinal game of the Muncie Central Sectional.
A year ago, it was the Dragons that drew the tournament’s only bye. They went on to defeat the Arabians 48-35 before downing Mt. Vernon in the sectional championship game.
