SEYMOUR — Columbus North girls basketball coach Pat McKee said his team played liked it practiced Tuesday night at Seymour: without enough purpose.
The Owls took full advantage, posting a 57-44 win over their Class 4A No. 10 visitors.
Seymour drained nine 3-pointers, sinking just under 50 percent of all their field-goal attempts, and had 14 assists.
“(Seymour) played so much harder than we did,” McKee said. “They played with passion and like this game mattered. The players played like we practice — lethargic, with a lack of energy and lack of purpose. Seymour played really well, made shots and moved the ball. They deserved to win. They outplayed us in all facets.”
Owls sophomore Ashton Chase hit 6-of-7 shots, all 3-pointers, while sinking four free throws for 22 points.
Seymour (9-3) ignited from behind the arc in the first quarter, drilling four 3-pointers on seven attempts. The Owls then scored 13 -straight points from the 5:42 to 1:45 mark, anchored by treys from Lauren James, Sarah Benefiel and Chase to lead 13-4.
North’s Imani Guy hit a pair of free throws to stop the run before a 3 from Jenna Borger concluded the quarter with Seymour leading 16-9.
The Owls went on a 6-0 scoring string midway through the second quarter to lead 23-11 with 2:50 left in the first half. The Bull Dogs (6-3) answered by scoring seven straight which started with a 3-pointer from Ashlyn Huffman, but Griffin sank two shots from the line to give Seymour a 25-18 advantage at intermission.
At half, the Owls had outrebounded North 14-6.
The Bull Dogs brought the score to 28-24 following a basket from Tessa Lomax and free throws from Maliah Howard-Bass with 6:21 in the third quarter.
“We tried to get more energy,” McKee said of the start of the second half. “It doesn’t matter what the tactics are if you have no energy. I think in the third quarter, we had a little more.”
Unfortunately for North, Chase again caught fire, hitting back-to-back 3-pointers and hitting free throws for eight straight points, and Semyour led 39-27 at the 1:58 mark. After three quarters, the Owls held a 41-29 advantage.
The Bull Dogs wouldn’t trail by fewer than double digits the remainder of the game. A 3-pointer by North’s Jenna Borger and a free throw from Lomax cut the lead to 10 with 2:21 in the game. In the final 1:50, the Owls hit eight free throws to seal the game.
Patberg topped the Bull Dogs’ scoring with 11 points, while Huffman added nine. Seymour won the rebounding battle 23-20.
“We have to bring energy, passion and purpose,” McKee said. “We have to actually care in practice, and then maybe it will show up in the game. In practice, we play like it’s obligatory. Our players don’t really want to be in practice. It’s, ‘Well we have to.’ They play like that in practice, and they played like that in tonight’s game.”
