New Palestine and Franklin Central are an even 5-5 against one another since November of 2015, but not for long. The New Palestine Dragons are taking a road trip to challenge the Franklin Central Flashes at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
New Palestine is headed into the contest having just posted their biggest victory since January 18th on Wednesday. Everything went their way against Greenwood as New Palestine made off with a 59-36 win. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest victory the Dragons have posted against the Woodmen since November 7, 2018.
New Palestine got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was Kylee Beranek out in front who dropped a double-double on 17 points and 12 rebounds. The dominant performance also gave Beranek a new career-high in offensive rebounds (eight). Haven Flagle was another key player, posting six points plus nine steals and six rebounds.
New Palestine smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 19 offensive rebounds. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Greenwood only pulled down eight.
Meanwhile, Franklin Central waltzed into their game on Saturday with three straight wins... but they left with four. They blew past the Pioneers, posting a 49-12 victory. The Flashes have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won four matchups by 21 points or more this season.
Franklin Central relied on the efforts of Payton Duvall, who made all 5 shots she took racking up 11 points plus seven rebounds and three blocks, and Lily Graves, who posted 14 points along with two blocks. The team also got some help courtesy of Riley Huotari, who earned five points plus five assists and two steals.
Franklin Central's record now sits at 4-1. As for New Palestine, they now have a winning record of 2-1.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: New Palestine has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 27 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Franklin Central struggles in that department as they've been averaging 27.2. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
New Palestine ended up a good deal behind Franklin Central in their previous matchup back in November of 2023, losing 59-44. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Graves, who went 10 for 19 en route to 23 points plus eight rebounds and three steals. Now that New Palestine knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
