Bloomington South girls basketball coach Larry Winters is probably going to have nightmares about Columbus East sophomore Koryn Greiwe following Thursday’s basketball contest.
After scoring 31 against the Panthers last year, Greiwe scored 11 points in the final quarter en route to a game-high 32 points to lead the Olympians to a huge 53-44 victory.
“Our energy was through the roof tonight,” Greiwe said. “We were very excited to see what else we could do. It was fun. That’s why I like playing basketball — the atmosphere, it was awesome!”
The Olympians were underdogs heading into Thursday’s contest against the Class 4A No. 12 Panthers, and it was a good way to prove doubters wrong.
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“I’m really proud of the girls,” East coach Danny Brown said. “We’ve been working really hard, especially on the defensive end. Koryn just had another super-game, but it takes all 10 players on varsity, five of which are freshman, and three of which are sophomores. We’re only going to get better.”
The score was 4-4 in the first quarter, Whitley Rankin hit a 3 from the right wing and Koryn Greiwe later extended the lead with a floater shot to give East a 9-4 lead. Bloomington South fought back to cut it to 10-9 following a Lauren Conner 3-pointer. Kaitlyn Dougherty then drained a triple with about 30 seconds left to give the Olympians a 13-9 advantage after the first quarter.
The bench of the Panthers took control of the game early in the second that helped propel an 11-4 run to lead 20-17. Greiwe stopped the rally and buried a 3 to tie the game for the Olympians. The Panthers then converted a 3-point-play back on the offensive end to push ahead 23-20. Greiwe converted a basket, and then stole the inbound and was fouled on the play. She sank both free throws to put East ahead 24-23 at halftime.
The Panthers started double teaming Greiwe to start the second half and it helped them to a 28-24 lead. A 3-pointer from Dougherty and a couple baskets inside from Leah Bachmann kept the Olympians in striking distance only trailing 33-31.
Brown stated that the 3-point shot from Dougherty was one of the key points in stopping the Panthers’ momentum.
Greiwe then got the lead back for East when she was fouled on a 3-pointer shot attempt. The ball took a couple bounces on the rim and went in. She converted the free throw to give the Olympians a 37-35 lead heading into the fourth.
After Bloomington South tied the game following an Olivia Blackketter shot, Greiwe then helped pace East to 10-3 run that would eventually seal the win.
Dougherty finished the game with three 3-pointers for nine points, and Leah Bachmann finished with seven for the Olympians.
“It’s a great team effort, and it was a great win for the program tonight,” Brown said.
