Columbus Christian girls, boys sweep Whirlwinds

Both the Columbus Christian girls and boys were victorious Tuesday night over visiting Indiana Christian Academy, but their victories could not have been more different.

The Crusader girls used a stingy defense and a strong inside presence to earn a 48-31. The boys, on the other hand, used their quickness and the outside shooting of senior C.J. Reed to claw their way to a 51-46 victory.

The girls opened their game by scoring the first eight pointst. Although they caused the Whirlwinds to turn the ball over 12 times in the quarter, Indiana Christian Academy stayed in the game thanks to Shelby Patterson, who scored all eight of her team’s points in the quarter, including a three- quarter court buzzer beater that cut the lead to 12-5 after one.

Much like the first quarter, it was Patterson again doing her best to keep the visitors in the game. She scored six more of her game-high 15 points in the second, keeping the Whirlwinds within striking distance. To combat this, Columbus Christian (8-3) used a balanced attack, with five different players scoring.

Ellie Ridder was the only player with more than one field goal in the quarter, scoring four of her team-high 11 points to help the Crusaders to a 27-18 lead at the break.

It was more of the same from the home team in the second half. Seven different players scored in the quarter with no player scoring more than one field goal. Meanwhile, Columbus Christian played together on the defensive end as well, holding Indiana Christian Academy to just six points to extend the lead to 43-24.

That margin allowed Crusaders coach Kay Jones to play her bench in the final eight minutes, gaining valuable experience.

“We were able to allow some of our girls to work on things to gain some confidence while our starters encouraged them from the bench. Our press gave us some energy toward the beginning of the game, and as long as our bench can maintain our lead, I will leave them in there,” Jones said.

And the bench did just that, allowing them to post the comfortable victory.

Much like their female counterparts, the Columbus Christian boys also jumped out to a quick lead. Gabe Ridder’s seven first-quarter points and a stingy defense led the Crusaders to a 12-4 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter provided more of the same for the visiting Whirlwinds, who had trouble holding onto the ball due to Columbus Christian’s feistiness. Although they were able to muster 10 second-quarter points, Reed and Josh Jones scored 11 points between them, helping the Crusaders double up the visitors by the half, 28-14.

“Although we were up, I did not like the intensity we brought into the game,” Columbus Christian boys coach Kevin Roth said. “I told them at halftime that they weren’t showing me much that I like, actually.”

Roth’s words seemed to be prophetic when Indiana Christian Academy came out in the second and promptly cut a Crusader lead that had grown to 18 points at 36-18 down to just two midway through the fourth quarter. Following a Whirlwinds technical foul, the visitors went on a 19-3 run to pull within 39-37.

Columbus Christian was able to right itself and stymie the run when Roth ordered up a trapping defense that gave Indiana Christian Academy fits, causing them to turn the ball over. That allowed the Crusaders to do just enough to escape with the win.

“We should have won this game easier. We had too many turnovers, too many missed free throws, and not enough intensity throughout the night. Our big guys need to get tougher down low, and we need to take better shots,” Roth said.

Reed led Columbus Christian, hitting five 3s on his way to a game-high 19 points. Jones and Jacob Conrad each chipped in 11 points.