NEW CASTLE — The temperature outside was freezing cold on Friday, Jan. 23, but the 3-point shooting inside of the New Castle Fieldhouse was red hot.
New Castle hosted Yorktown for a doubleheader between the girls and boys varsity basketball programs on the Trojans’ annual “Purple Night” to support the school’s Best Buddies chapter. The Hoosier Heritage Conference rivals split victories on the night, as New Castle girls basketball won 54-40 in the first game, and Yorktown boys basketball won 45-31 in the second.
The winning teams relied on strong shooting from outside to elevate their offenses. New Castle’s girls poured in 10 3s in their victory, while Yorktown’s boys knocked down seven from long range. The matchup also provided each team with a chance to face off with a potential sectional opponent, which is steadily becoming more important for the girls teams with sectionals less than two weeks away.
New Castle girls basketball keeps on cruising
The Lady Trojans have really hit their stride in recent weeks. After a 4-6 start to the season, New Castle has won eight of its last nine including a now four-game winning streak. Their only loss in that span came at the hands of East Central, one of the top teams in Class 4A, and they’ve defeated some tough competition in Hamilton Heights, Eastern Hancock and Tri.
On Friday night against Yorktown, the Lady Trojans got off to a very fast start. The 3s were falling early as they knocked down five in the first quarter to jump out to a 25-5 lead. New Castle distributed the ball nicely with six different Trojans scoring in the first quarter — including four different players hitting a 3.
After a slow second quarter saw each team score just eight points, it was Yorktown who came out firing in the second half. The Tigers trailed by 20 at halftime but opened the third quarter on a 13-0 run and outscored New Castle 16-5 in those eight minutes. Yorktown got it back to within six early in the fourth quarter, but New Castle held off the furious rally by the Tigers and secured the victory.
“To weather that kind of run in the third quarter by Yorktown like we did, it’s a credit to our girls because last year, we wouldn’t have done that,” New Castle coach Bobby Jones said. “They just would have kept scoring and we would have walked out of here with our heads hanging.”
Junior Alana Orr and senior Megan Luce tied for the team lead with 14 points. Orr’s points were almost exclusively from beyond the arc — she knocked down four 3-pointers, and her only 2-point field goal was a deep one with her foot on the line. Junior Piper Arthur also impressed with 11 points including two momentum-shifting 3-pointers. On a rare quiet night for leading scorer Carlee Lanzer (five points), the rest of the Lady Trojans stepped up to keep the offense clicking.
“We keep pushing each other in practice,” Orr said. “It really started off when Megan came out in that first quarter and she just got those 3s, she had the layups. It’s high energy, and it made me feel even more confident knowing I have support from my team.”
New Castle’s next game is Saturday, Jan. 24, at Union City at 1:30 p.m. Yorktown is back in action on Tuesday, Jan. 27, at home against Greenfield-Central at 7:30 p.m.
Yorktown boys secure bounce-back win
After New Castle’s girls started the first game on fire from beyond the arc, Yorktown’s boys did the same thing in the second game of the doubleheader. Sophomore guard Zahden Zowd was locked in from the first possession, hitting his first of three first-quarter 3s the first time he touched the ball. The Tigers shot 5-for-7 from 3-point range in the first half, and four of those makes came off the hand of Zowd, who finished with a game-high 18 points.
“We know what we can do,” Zowd said. “It’s nothing new, it’s just the effect of showing it and coming out with that energy every game. I feel like every one of us feeds off each other’s energy. Once we all get going, it’s going to be tough to play us.”
In the second half, New Castle made some defensive adjustments to keep Yorktown off the perimeter. While the adjustments worked — the Tigers hit just one 3 in the second half — they also created gaps down low. Yorktown exploited those gaps to perfection and got most of its second half points in the paint. Meanwhile, Yorktown’s own defense was suffocating, holding New Castle to just 10 points in the second half.
“I was really pleased that we didn’t just start settling for 3-pointers,” Yorktown coach Justin Ullom said. “We started off hot with that, but then we still attacked the paint and played inside. But at the end of the day, our ball screen defense, I thought we really took them out of a lot of things they wanted to do, and our guys were locked in on that side of the ball all night.”
Despite the low score, New Castle coach Matt Luce thought the Trojans executed their offense well and took good shots — they just weren’t falling in that second half. The Trojans don’t have much varsity experience on their roster and remain a work-in-progress in Luce’s first season, but he expressed pride in his players for being continually willing to put in that work.
“We’re just learning how to win varsity basketball games,” Luce said. “I’m proud of our guys. We are just not there yet. We’re inexperienced and learning how to be tough offensively. They’re very respectful young men, and I know they’ll come into practice and work hard. We’ve just got to conitune to fight and get better here in the dog days of high school basketball.”
Luce also tipped his cap to Ullom for the job he has done in his first season at Yorktown. Friday night’s game marked their first time going head-to-head with both coaches wearing green, but the two veteran coaches have faced off plenty of times over the years between Ullom’s Monroe Central and Muncie Central teams and Luce’s Wapahani teams. According to Luce, their history goes even further beyond coaching.
“I have watched Mr. Ullom grow up,” Luce said. “I think we met at the Muncie Boys Club, when he was probably 7-years-old and I was 10. I have a lot of respect for Justin and his entire family. I also know all of the Yorktown kids very well. I’m happy for them that they’re having fun and getting better and getting well-coached.”
Both teams are at home on Friday, Jan. 30, to host HHC opponents in their respective next games. Yorktown will host New Palestine, while New Castle will host Mt. Vernon (Fortville). Both games are scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
Contact Cade Hampton via email at cbhampton@muncie.gannett.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @CadeHamp10.
This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: New Castle girls, Yorktown boys win in HHC basketball doubleheader
Reporting by Cade Hampton, Muncie Star Press / Muncie Star Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
