Basketball Recap: Roncalli Falls Short of New Palestine in the Playoffs

Roncalli and New Palestine squared off in some playoff action on Saturday, but Roncalli had to settle for second. They took a 65-55 hit to the loss column at the hands of the New Palestine Dragons. While losing is never fun, the Royals can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Indiana basketball rankings (they are ranked 54th, while the Dragons are ranked sixth).

Joe Taylor

Points (Career)

03/08/25 vs New Palestine	20
01/11/25 @ Franklin Central	19
02/09/24 @ Heritage Christian	19
03/05/25 vs Shelbyville	18
12/13/24 vs Decatur Central	17

Several Royals players turned in solid performances despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Joe Taylor, who almost dropped a double-double with 20 points and nine boards. Those 20 points gave Taylor a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Luke Greene, who made all 5 shots he took to post 12 points.

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead New Palestine to victory, but perhaps none more so than Julius Gizzi, who went 9-for-19 to rack up 25 points and seven rebounds. Gizzi's big performance that evening made it 29 games in a row in which he has scored at least 15 points. Moses Haynes was another key player, shooting 75% from the field on his way to 15 points and six assists.

Roncalli's loss dropped their record down to 16-9. As for New Palestine, they are on a roll lately: they've won 17 of their last 18 matches. That's provided a nice bump to their 24-3 record this season.

Roncalli does not have any more games scheduled as of now. As for New Palestine, they will face off against Guerin Catholic at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Guerin Catholic comes in on five and New Palestine on four.