HANOVER — Columbus East had a very tough matchup in its boys basketball season opener at Class 2A No. 6 Southwestern (Hanover).
After everything that went against the Olympians in the game, they still found a way to keep it close against a state contender in Class 2A.
East got to within one point late in the fourth quarter, but the Rebels were able to hit their free throws at the end to come away a 72-65 victory on Saturday.
“Let give credit where credit is due — (Southwestern) can shoot the ball pretty well,” East coach Brent Chitty said. “You have to give them all the credit. They outplayed our kids the majority of the game. In the first half, it was rebounding, and in the second half, it was knocking down big shots. For us, we know we have to get back to fundamentals.”
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The Olympians had a 12-7 lead after a 3-point basket from Carson Whitehead, but Southwestern (3-0) came back following a Tyler Kramer 3-pointer and a Matthew Williams basket to tie the game at 12-12.
East regained the lead with a Tyler Boyer basket. It was the final lead the Olympians had in the game before Kramer buried a triple just before the buzzer to give the Rebels a 15-14 lead.
Williams opened the second quarter with a 3 to make it 18-14. Later in the second quarter, Southwestern extended the lead following an Austin Kramer 3-pointer to make it 25-18. At the end of the first half, East trailed 29-22.
The Olympians came out of the gate with a 7-0 run to tie the game at 29-29. But the Rebels’ Foster Mefford, who went scoreless in the first half, went on a tear in the second half and made sure East wouldn’t take the lead. Southwestern went on a 10-5 run after a 3 by Mefford to make it 39-34, and a Tyler Kramer 3 at the buzzer made it 42-35 heading into the fourth quarter.
The Olympians faced their biggest deficit of the game trailing 59-47 midway through the fourth quarter. East was able to cut it to 66-58 and then went on a 7-0 run to cut it to 66-65. That was as close as they got before the Rebels hit their free throws to seal the win.
Carson Whitehead finished with a game-high 24 points for the Olympians. Beck Kelley had 15 points, and Boyer added 11.
Tyler Kramer led the Rebels with 22 points and Mefford added 19, all of which came in the second half.
“I’m really proud of our kids. We didn’t give up and got right back in against a very good team on the road,” Chitty said. “We can’t play that way and expect to win. We have to play four quarters of fundamental basketball. We have to be a lot smarter. We have to be a lot tougher.”
