Columbus East can credit its 3-point shooting for ending its three-game losing streak and getting its first Hoosier Hills Conference win of the season against Seymour on Wednesday night.
The Olympians hit 10 of their 15 shots from deep on their way to beating Seymour 73-53. Their five 3-pointers in first eight minutes helped them jump out to a 23-13 first-quarter lead.
“It think we’re a very good shooting team,” East coach Brent Chitty said. “We kind of went through a spell there where we didn’t shoot well, but I just told them they have to have confidence in themselves. Our team takes good shots … even through our losses, we’ve taken pretty decent shots.”
Owls coach Tyler Phillips and his coaching staff dared Drew Johnson and Thomas Myers to beat them from outside and they did just that.
Myers, who led the Olympians (6-6, 1-2) with 16 points, scored two of his three 3-pointers in the first quarter and shot 3 of 4 from behind the arc. Johnson, Max Nolting and Carson Whitehead all scored on two 3-pointers.
East’s 7 of 12 3-point shooting in the first two quarters helped it to a 23-13 halftime lead. The 3-point shot attempts may have slowed down in the second half, but the accuracy was still there. The Olympians did not miss from downtown in the final 16 minutes and began to pull away after a 52-36 lead to end the third quarter.
Shooting well from deep wasn’t the only reason for the win against Seymour (6-7, 1-4). While Drew Hasson’s teammates were lighting it up from downtown, he was working hard on the inside. All 14 of his points came from down low, and he led the Olympians with nine rebounds.
Chitty said working through Hasson is in the team’s DNA and playing off of him is what helps players get open looks. East ended with four players in double figures, with Johnson and Nolting both adding 13 points.
“We played better as a team and we were all passing the ball to each other. We were all dising and scoring off of each other,” Myers said. “We’ve got some tough conference games coming up so this win was definitely big for our conference.
