The Columbus North girls basketball team got off to great start against the Class 4A No. 6 Lawrence North Saturday afternoon.
As the game wore on, the Wildcats showed why they’re one of the top teams in the state.
Lawrence North hit 12 3-pointers, with eight coming in the first half, on its way to handing the Bull Dogs a 78-44 loss.
Columbus North (3-2) started off the game with a 3-pointer from Annie Anderson and a couple baskets from Nadia Lomax to take an 8-5 lead. But that was its final lead. Jayla Smith hit a 3-pointer to tie the game, and a couple more 3s from the Wildcats pushed the lead to 14-8.
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The Bull Dogs were able to tie the game at 14-14 after a Tessa Lomax basket. Lawrence North (7-1) pushed the lead back up 19-14 following a Shamaria Walker 3-pointer. Sierra Norman converted a basket for Columbus North, and then Kayla Ervin hit a jumper at the buzzer to give the Wildcats a 21-16 lead after the first quarter.
Lawrence North increased the lead to 24-16 to start the second quarter after a 3-pointer from Maddie Howe. Nadia Lomax answered back with a 3-pointer to make it 24-19. That would be as close the Bull Dogs would get, and the Wildcats scored 19 unanswered points to make it 43-19 at the half.
“We played a good first quarter and competed, and maybe if we hit a shot or two, we might have had the lead,” North coach Pat McKee said. “Even in the first couple minutes of the second quarter, we competed OK. Then (Lawrence North) hit a couple more 3s, and then the margin grew. We panicked a little. We rushed on offense and it turned into missed shots. They converted on the break several times, and before you know it, they had a big lead.”
The Wildcats went on an 8-1 run to start the second half to increase the lead to 52-20. Tessa Lomax got a couple baskets for Columbus North, but Lawrence North responded back with a couple buckets of its own to make it 54-24.
The Bull Dogs eventually trailed 67-28 after the third quarter, which prompted both teams to slowly empty the benches in the fourth quarter.
“I thought in the third quarter, we competed OK — not great but OK,” McKee said. “This could be a great learning opportunity for us, and if we deal with it properly, we’ll be fine. You don’t like to lose, but it can be something we grow from. If we don’t improve some of the things that were wrong, then this loss is doubly bad, and we didn’t learn. More important of the winning and losing in a game like this is the growing and getting better, which I think we have the potential to do that.”
