ST. LEON — Columbus East played a solid game on both ends of the floor at the East Central girls basketball sectional against Shelbyville on Tuesday night.
The Olympians put up 58 points and forced 22 turnovers in the 58-24 win against the Golden Bears. All 10 players scored for East, including Addy Galarno and Kristen Lyons who both finished with a game-high 11 points.
“I think it was a really good effort,” Lyons said. “Everybody on the team scored, and that’s how you should play a team game, so we’ve got the momentum to keep going.”
East (15-9) is set to play Columbus North in the semifinal round at 6 p.m. Friday for a rematch. The Bull Dogs beat the Olympians 57-54 earlier in the season.
Galarno said she likes the way the team is playing heading into the final East-North game of her high school career.
“I think we’re playing pretty confidently,” Galarno said. “We’re playing as a team, so that’s always helped us going into the next game. We’re ready for whatever they come at us with.”
Tuesday, the Olympians played some stingy defense, especially in the first quarter. East started on a 12-0 run, and didn’t allow a single basket until the Golden Bears (1-22) scored on a buzzer-beating jump shot that still left the Golden Bears with a 12-2 deficit to start the second period.
Shelbyville scored six more points in the second quarter, but could not stop the Olympians from scoring another 14 points to push the lead to 28-8 by halftime.
“I think that was important, especially in the sectional to get off to a good start,” East coach Danny Brown said. “I thought our defense was excellent the first few minutes, and I thought our second group, (we) were able to give them some experience in the sectional.”
East’s bench scored 17 points, led by Sarah Park’s seven. Second-chance opportunities helped the Olympians pull away, also.
East outrebounded Shelbyville 39-24, and Lyons ended with 11 boards. Claire Cunningham had nine, and Galarno grabbed seven rebounds.
The solid rebounding to go along with the forced turnovers helped the Olympians continue to limit the Golden Bears’ offensive opportunities in the second half. East outscored Shelbyville 26-16 over the final two quarters.
