BROOKVILLE — The Columbus East girls basketball team looked a bit rusty during parts of Friday’s game against Franklin County.
The Olympians, though, knew how to close out the game.
The Wildcats cut the lead to two points midway through the fourth quarter, but East was able to knock down its free throws to survive with a 56-47 victory.
The Olympians played short-handed when senior forward Sarah Park did not dress for the game. It is still unknown when Park, who sustaining an injury in last week’s contest against Columbus North, will return.
East’s bench got a lot more playing time in Park’s absence and didn’t disappoint with 17 points. Sophomore Megan Vetter was one of the biggest beneficiaries, scoring five points in her first career varsity game.
“I got a lot of support through my teammates and the coaching staff,” Vetter said. “(The bench scoring) was big for our team because we all work really well together, and I think putting all of our talents together makes things great for us.”
East coach Danny Brown was glad to see his bench take advantage of the opportunity that was given to them.
“It was a big opportunity for Megan out there,” Brown said. “In the first half, I wasn’t really happy with the contributions we were getting. I wanted her to get in there at the start of the second half because she is used to starting at the JV level, and we wanted to make it seem like it was a start for her. She was like a magnet because the ball found her a lot. It was a great chance for her to step up and get playing time.”
The Olympians (6-6) started the game with a 10-4 lead following a Whitley Rankin 3-pointer. The Wildcats (4-8) climbed right back to tie the game 10-10, but East responded to end the quarter with six straight points to make 16-10.
Even though the Olympians never trailed, they never could build enough cushion to pull away from Franklin Central. Every time the Wildcats kept threatening in the second quarter, Albany Speer and Gretchen Comer would come up with big baskets, including a Comer buzzer-beating 3 to end the half to give East a 32-23 lead.
“Our bench was probably the difference in the game,” Brown said. “They did a great job. Albany came in and did a nice job in the first half. Gretchen and Olivia (Linnemann) off the bench gave us some energy. They all did a good job, and I thought that was the difference in the game.”
After Koryn Greiwe hit a 3-pointer to give the Olympians their largest lead of the game at 47-36, Franklin County went on a 9-0 run to cut it to 47-45 with four minutes left in regulation. However, East was able to hit its free throws in the end to seal the win.
Greiwe finished with a game-high 15 points, while Rankin finished with 13. Vetter, Speer and Comer all scored five.
The Olympians will have its hands full when they travel to Class 2A No. 8 Eastern (Pekin) tonight.
“Hopefully, we’ll get a good night’s rest and have ourselves a little more energy (today) and more enthusiasm,” Brown said. “When you go on the road against a good team like Eastern, we have to be ready to go and go into Christmas break with some momentum.”
