Two teams who have put on an absolute sprint to the finish line of the girls basketball season will meet tonight in Bloomington.
For one, that finish line will come tonight. The other will survive to play for a shot at a sectional championship.
Columbus North has won nine of its past 11 games going into tonight’s 7:30 p.m. battle with Columbus East in the semifinals of the Bloomington South Sectional. The Olympians won nine of their last 10 regular-season games and nine of 11 since a 45-38 loss at North on Dec. 19.
"I think overall, the team has played really well over the last three or four weeks," North coach Pat McKee said. "Hopefully, we continue to play well. Overall, our defense has been good. Offensively, we’ve had bursts where we’ve shot the ball well, and other times, we haven’t shot the ball well. Hopefully, we can shoot the ball well and defend well and be successful."
The Bull Dogs (16-8) opened sectional play with a 54-31 win against Bloomington North on Tuesday. East (15-7) received a first-round bye and hasn’t played since a 77-42 rout of Southport on Jan. 28.
"When the calendar turned to 2020, we started playing pretty good basketball," East coach Danny Brown said. "We talk about getting better. Ten days since the last game is a concern, but I think we are continuing to get better. Taking our time since our last game, I think we are continuing to get better because of the competition during practice, and that’s encouraging going into the sectional."
Sophomore point guard Koryn Greiwe leads the Olympians with 21.9 points, 3.1 assists and 2.3 steals a game. Gabby Dean, a 6-foot-4 freshman, adds 7.3 points and 7.3 rebounds.
"Koryn obviously is a very good player, and they have some wing shooters and they have the ability inside to score," McKee said. "We can’t commit totally to Koryn and let everybody else get whatever. Unlike some other situations where you sell out on one kid, East is better than that. If you commit to one kid, the others can hurt you. They’re a team that you have to respect everybody."
That includes senior guards Katie Dougherty and Whitley Rankin, who have the ability to score from the perimeter. They are the veterans on an East team that features eight freshmen and three sophomores on its 13-player sectional roster.
The Bull Dogs are a balanced team with six players averaging between 5.2 and 11.4 points a game. Junior point guard Alexa McKinley leads the way with 11.4 points and 3.3 assists a game, while senior guard Sierra Norman averages 9.0 points and junior forward Madison White adds 7.5 points.
Senior guard Annie Anderson, who played the biggest role in holding high-scoring Bloomington South guard Ainsley Urbanski to two points on Tuesday, spent a big part of the two meetings with East last season and the one this season guarding Greiwe and likely will again tonight.
"They’re a great defensive team," Brown said. "We’ve gotten better since (the regular-season game against North) offensively. All of our team as a whole have improved since then, and that’s all you can ask for — to improve as the season goes on. I do think that our two seniors have really stepped up. Whitley and Katie have shown great leadership, and that’s helped us get to the point where we’re playing our best basketball right now."
East Central (20-5) and host Bloomington South (14-8) will meet in tonight’s opener at 6 p.m. The winner will play the North-East winner for the sectional title at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
"With the bye, we’re in a situation we’ve never had before," Brown said. "We’re basically in a three-team sectional. By the time we play, it will be us, North and whoever wins the first game."
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Bloomington South Sectional
Today
6 p.m.: East Central (20-5) vs. Bloomington South (14-8)
7:30 p.m.: Columbus North (16-8) vs. Columbus East (15-7)
Saturday
7:30 p.m.: Championship
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Columbus East
Probable starters;Height;Year;PPG;Other stat
G-Koryn Greiwe;5-7;Soph.;21.9;3.1 assists
G-Katie Dougherty;5-7;Sr.;7.2;2.1 assists
G-Whitley Rankin;5-4;Sr.;5.9;1.8 steals
F-Saige Stahl;6-0;Fr.;6.9;6.6 rebounds
C-Gabby Dean;6-4;Fr.;7.3;7.3 rebounds
Top reserves;Height;Year;PPG;Other stat
F-Leah Bachmann;6-0;Fr.;2.9;5.3 rebounds
F-Emma Jenkins;5-9;Fr.;3.7;4.4 rebounds
G-Albany Speer;5-5;Soph.;1.6;0.4 steals
Columbus North
Probable starters;Height;Year;PPG;Other stat
G-Alexa McKinley;5-7;Jr.;11.4;3.3 assists
G-Annie Anderson;5-7;Sr.;6.5;2.3 steals
G-Sierra Norman;5-9;Sr.;9.0;1.7 assists
F-Madison White;5-11;Jr.;7.5;3.3 rebounds
F-Kylah Lawson;5-10;Soph.;5.2;9.0 rebounds
Top reserves;Height;Year;PPG;Other stat
G-Lauren Barker;5-5;Fr.;7.2;2.4 rebounds
C-Emily Herndon;6-0;Jr.;0.8;2.7 rebounds
G-Kanon Matsuno;5-5;Jr.;0.5;0.8 assists
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