ST. LEON — Columbus North almost game from wire-to-wire and had a comfortable lead throughout Saturday’s boys basketball game at East Central.
It wasn’t too comfortable, however.
The Trojans kept the deficit to around 10 points, but the Bull Dogs were able to fend off any offensive rally to post a 58-43 victory, their eighth win in a row.
“We’ve been on a roll recently, and everyone’s confidence is really high,” said North senior Trenton Kelley, who led the Bull Dogs with 19 points. “I think that confidence helps with our shooting and our offense, really.”
The Bull Dogs (14-4) had trouble defensively stopping the Trojans (13-5) inside presence in the paint. All 20 of the East Central points in the first half came within three feet of the basket. Luke Collinsworth scored 14 of the 20 points for the Trojans, with Trevor Becker scoring the other six.
“Collinsworth is a load inside,” North coach Paul Ferguson said. “We struggled defending him all day. I thought we did a better job in the second half.”
The Bull Dogs countered with a lot of perimeter shooting, hitting four 3-point buckets in the first half.
North led 15-10 after the first quarter and 27-20 at halftime. Four Bull Dogs scored in the half. The only blemish for North in the first half was the free-throw shooting, going 1 for 4 at the line in the first half.
The Bull Dogs extended the lead to 39-27 in the third quarter. East Central made a late third-quarter charge, scoring six straight points to cut the lead to 39-33.
The Trojans forced a lot of traps defensive during the run, but North broke through big in the final possession of the third. Nick Schiavello looked to be trapped in the left corner, but he broke through and drained a 3-pointer from the left wing to make it 42-33 heading into the fourth quarter.
The teams traded points for most of the final period. As much as their woes from the free-throw line in the first half, the Bull Dogs came through down the stretch going 7 of 8 to seal the win.
Blake Barker finished with 18 points for North, while Schiavello added 14. Collinsworth posted a game-high 22 points for East Central.
