NORTH VERNON — Columbus North picked up right where it left off Friday against Terre Haute North during its boys basketball matchup Saturday at Jennings County.
The Bull Dogs used two runs during the first half to give themselves a comfortable cushion and closed the game out in the fourth quarter for a 61-38 victory.
The game was tied 6-6 in the first quarter before North scored eight straight points to lead 14-6. Toward the end of the first quarter, a 3-pointer by Aaron Martin had the Panthers trailing 17-14, but a jumper from Schiavello gave the Bull Dogs a 19-14 lead.
“What we talked about before the game is that the mark of a great team is consistency,” North coach Paul Ferguson said. “We had great effort and energy from Terre Haute, and we replicated that tonight. I liked the way we came out in the first quarter. We didn’t execute quite as well defensively as we wanted, but the effort and energy was there. Those two things carried us through the game.”
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In the second quarter, Owen Miller hit a 3-pointer for Jennings (5-7) to cut the deficit to 25-22. That would be as close as the Panthers would get. The Bull Dogs (9-4) went on a 10-2 run to close out the first half and build a 35-24 lead.
To start the second half, Reese Harmon got North going with five straight points, including a 3-pointer to push the lead to 40-24, forcing a Jennings timeout. The Panthers closed out the third quarter with a 9-5 run but still trailed 45-33 heading into the fourth.
“I thought we came out flat in the second and third quarter. We just didn’t have any energy,” Jennings coach Josh Land said. “At this point in the season, it’s about going out there and playing hard with a lot of energy, and that can take care of a lot of mistakes.”
The Bull Dogs put the game away in the fourth by starting out on a 10-1 run to seal the win.
It was another balanced effort scoring-wise for North. Blake Barker finished with a game-high 21 points. Schiavello had 16, and Harmon hit three 3-pointers in the game to finish with 12.
Josh Pettit led the Panthers with 12 points.
North now has won three straight games and five of the past six. A big part of the reason for that is the team’s unselfish play.
“We don’t care who takes the shots or who gets all the points as long as we win,” Harmon said. “We pass up the good shot for a great shot. We are not wanting to be over-aggressive; we just want the best shot we can.”
Ferguson agreed.
“Patrick (McKinley) had 12 points for us against Terre Haute, and Reese had 12 for us tonight and balanced scoring is something we talk a lot about,” Ferguson said. “It was one of those nights where we moved the ball well, and different guys stepped up and made shots.”
