Falling behind in the first quarter, the Columbus East girls basketball team was unable to overcome early turnovers in falling to Class A No. 5 Loogootee 55-51 Saturday afternoon.
The Lions raced out to a 12-4 lead in the first five minutes of the game, with many of their points coming from disruption on the defensive end. The Olympians committed six turnovers in the quarter and were unable to get a rhythm going offensively.
Brooklyn Jones gave the Olympians fits down low, scoring nine of her 20 points in the opening quarter helping Loogootee to a 12-8 lead.
“Today just proved that class basketball doesn’t matter when it comes to effort, determination and playing smart and playing hard,” East coach Danny Brown said. “They deserved to win.”
The Lions (7-0) extended their lead to 20-11 after an 8-3 run in the opening two minutes of the second quarter. Shortly after, Jones sustained an ankle injury that sidelined her and the Loogootee momentum.
Olympians point guard Koryn Greiwe took advantage of Jones’ absence, weaving her way into the lane with ease, while getting to the free-throw line and scoring 11 of her game-high 24 points in the quarter. Both teams scored 17 points in the quarter, and the Lions took a 29-25 lead into the half.
East (5-3) was without 6-foot-1 senior starter Claire Cunningham during the first half because of an SAT requirement.
The third quarter proved much the same for both teams when each team scored 12 points in the period, allowing Loogootee to carry a four-point lead into the final period.
Trailing 43-39 to begin the fourth quarter, the Olympians put together a 5-0 run to take the lead with 6 1/2 minutes remaining. With East’s eyes set on a come-from-behind victory Greiwe drove the left baseline hard looking for her 26th point with four minutes remaining, but was called for charging, sending her to the bench with her fifth foul.
Leading 51-50 at the time of Greiwe fouling out, the Olympians were unable to get their offense flowing and were held scoreless down the stretch. East committed two late turnovers in the final minute to allow the Lions to seal the game from the free-throw line and escape with the victory.
Sarah Park chipped in eight points, while Whitley Rankin sank both of the Olympians 3-point goals en route to 11 points.
“We had the ball, we had the lead and we didn’t take care of it. We didn’t hit our free throws down the stretch,” Brown said. “When it comes down to it, it doesn’t matter what class it is. It comes down to playing basketball, and they played it better than we did today.”
