There are usually two keys to winning a basketball — defense and rebounding.
Against Class 3A No. 6 Greensburg Thursday night, the Columbus East girls won the advantage in both categories.
It wasn’t the best outing for the Olympians, but they led from wire-to-wire and hit their free throws down the stretch to claim a 53-43 victory.
“We play them tough every year, and to lead the No. 6 team in 3A the entire game and never fell behind says a lot about where we’re at right now,” East coach Danny Brown said. “We didn’t play well at Bedford (Tuesday) night, but I think each game, we learn from, try to get better. Greensburg is a quality opponent and to be ahead the entire game says a lot about our effort.”
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The Olympians (11-7) got off to a good start and made the most of their second-chance opportunities. Saige Stahl was the main catalyst, leading the charge with a couple of putbacks to give East a 12-6 lead.
With the score 14-6 after the first quarter, the Pirates (16-3), led by top player Aliyah Evans, cut it to 20-15. The Olympians’ Whitley Rankin then got her own offensive rebound after a miss to lay it in, but then Greensburg scored five straight points to make it 22-20. East’s Emma Jenkins then converted a basket inside off a Rankin assist, and the Pirates’ Melina Wilkison converted one of two free throws to make it 24-21 at the half.
The Olympians took a 41-32 lead going into the fourth quarter. Greensburg slowly inched its way back into the game, cutting it to 45-42 at one point. Time became of the essence for the Pirates because they were then forced to foul, and Koryn Greiwe and Rankin combined to sink eight straight free throws to ice the victory for East.
“We got a little careless with the ball. They were double-teaming Koryn,” Brown said. “Saige hit a couple free throws. Whitley hit two big ones. Once Koryn gets open, they were hanging on her, but when she gets open, she’s deadly at the free-throw line, so we have to have the ball in her hands or Whitley’s hands because they great shooters … that was a big win to beat Greensburg. That’s a quality team.”
Griewe went 8 for 8 at the line and finished with a team-high 14 points to lead the Olympians. Stahl added 12 points and nine rebounds, and Gabby Dean had eight points, 10 rebounds and six blocks.
Evans finished with a game-high 20 points for Greensburg.
“Gabby and I make a great team down low. We communicate and watch and keep an eye on 30 (Evans) because she kept driving,” Stahl said. “We needed to communicate and made sure that we stopped her down low because that was where they were getting most of their points.”
