BEDFORD — Columbus East hung with Class 4A No. 12-ranked Bedford North Lawrence in the first and fourth quarters, but the second and third quarters were all Stars in Tuesday’s Hoosier Hills Conference girls basketball matchup.
Bedford outscored the Olympians by 23 points in the middle two quarters on the way to handing them their second conference loss, a 70-50 decision.
The score was tied at 13 to end the opening period, and East coach Danny Brown said pulling Kristen Lyons early in the second after picking up two fouls disrupted the Olympians on both ends of the court.
“She’s a big part of our press-breaker as far as handling the ball, taking it out and getting it in quick to get our running game going,” Brown said. “We have to have her in there … As important as (Jorie) Allen is for them defensively, Kristen is for us. She’s the anchor in our matchup zone.”
With Lyons out of the game, the Stars (14-4, 5-1) were able to build a 38-23 halftime lead. Allen scored nine of her 21 points in the second period.
East (13-4, 2-2) struggled shooting the ball after hitting three 3-pointers in the first eight minutes. The Olympians had some open looks from deep for the remainder of the game, but didn’t hit another shot for behind the arc until the fourth quarter.
“(In the first quarter) we were moving the ball and knocking down shots,” Brown said. “After awhile we weren’t knocking down shots. We are a better shooting team than that.”
East outscored Bedford 19-16 in the fourth quarter and ended the game on a 17-10 run, but it was already out of reach by that point.
The Stars outshot the Olympians at the free-throw line, also, hitting 15 of 19. East scored on eight of its 13 shots at the line.
Britney Ballard led the Olympians with 14 points and five rebounds. Addy Galarno added 13 points.
“The score is identical to the score last year — 70-50 — but we’re a lot better team this year,” Brown said. “They’re a tough team. They’re one of the better teams in Indiana.”
