Columbus North had a solid defensive game against Martinsville on Friday, holding Martinsville star point guard Kayana Traylor to less than 20 points.
The Purdue commit only hit six of her 18 shots for 18 points, but North coach Pat Mckee said the Bull Dogs struggled to finish plays on the offensive end of the floor, which led to a 50-39 loss.
“We made it hard on Traylor, who is an outstanding player,” Mckee said. “She made some plays because she’s really good, but it’s not like she just ran down and got everything she wanted. We made it hard on her. … Holding her to (18 points) and holding (Merideth) Deckard to five, we did a lot of good things.”
The Bull Dogs (1-1) held a 6-4 lead to start the game before Class 4A No. 13-ranked Martinsville went on a 12-2 run to end the first quarter with an eight point lead. North held the Artesians to seven second-quarter points, and a 3-pointer by Jenna Borger right before halftime cut the Artesian lead to 23-20. Borger ended the game with nine points and seven rebounds.
Co-No. 15 North was with in striking distance down by five heading into the fourth quarter. The Bull Dogs were trailing 45-38 with 2:40 left, and Martinsville kept the ball away from North to prevent it from scoring.
The Bull Dogs didn’t score another point until until Sierra Norman scored her only point on a free throw with 33 seconds left. Martinsville (2-1) already had created a big enough lead to secure the win.
Tessa Lomax led North with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Kenzie Patberg added six points, and Nadia Lomax had five. The Bull Dogs did a solid job getting to the line hitting 16 of 24 free throws.
“I think everybody who played did some good things, and everybody who played made at least one or two mistakes and could be better,” McKee said. “We just have to be better as a team. We did a lot of good things we just have a few things that need to be cleaned up.”
