Columbus North built itself a double digit lead at halftime, but Lawrenceburg kept chipping away at the deficit in the second half.
Kanon Matsuno was there to help the Bull Dogs gain some breathing room.
When the Tigers made a run to put more pressure on the Bull Dogs, Matsuno was there to slam the door shut at any potential comeback by knocking down two timely 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, and that cushion helped give North a 42-29 girls basketball victory Saturday afternoon.
“I think we had some real good ball movement so that I could get off a good shot, and I got more confident,” Matsuno said.
The Bull Dogs (7-3) gave themselves plenty of second chance opportunities in the first quarter by grabbing a lot of offensive rebounds. That helped push them to a 10-6 lead after the first period.
North got two 3-pointers from Lauren Barker to start the second quarter to push the lead to double digits at 16-6. Kylah Lawson put up a shot in the paint, and two free throws from Matsuno helped increase the lead to 20-6. Alexa McKinley got herself in the scoring column to end the first half with a 3-pointer near the top of the key to push the lead to 23-6 at the break.
As much as the offense clicked in the second quarter, it was the Bull Dog defense that really shined in the second quarter, giving the Tigers (10-7) a zero in the scoring column.
“We definitely fuel off of defense. We wanted to get a jump on them early,” Barker said. “They started making a run (in the second half), but I don’t think we let it get to us. We just knew if we got our defensive stop, that ultimately will fuel our offense, and shots will start falling in.”
McKinley picked up where she left off to end the first half. She buried two more 3-pointers to keep the Tigers at bay and give North a 29-12 lead. Lawrenceburg then finished the third quarter on a 11-2 to cut the lead to 31-23.
To begin the fourth quarter, McKinley delivered a cross-court push to an open Matsuno, who made the 3-pointer. McKinley then would later sink her fourth 3-point shot of the game to extend the Bull Dog lead to 37-23. After a couple baskets from the Tigers made it 37-27, Matsuno hit her second 3 of the quarter. The North defense made enough stops to eventually seal the win.
McKinley finished with a team-high 12 points, Barker had 11 and Matsuno added eight to lead the Bull Dog scoring.
This is North’s first full week back to basketball action after missing more than a month of the season due to COVID-19 concerns. The Bull Dogs have picked up two wins in a row and hope to keep the momentum going with a heavy slate of games coming up the next two weeks before the sectional.
North has another tough test on Tuesday when it faces Class 3A No. 1 Silver Creek.
“It was hard getting in shape, but we’re getting back now and had a good week this week, so I think we’re getting ready for these games,” Matsuno said.
McKinley added, “I think these games really are going to help us in the future next week, knowing that we have to start out the game good and just focus on winning.”
