FRANKLIN — Columbus East used some hot first-half shooting and some near-perfect free-throw shooting to topple host Franklin 52-49 on Saturday night.
Two free throws by senior guard Drew Johnson with 3.3 seconds left sealed the deal for the Olympians, who with their win against Jennings County on Friday, now have a modest, two-game winning streak.
“We’ve been playing really well, I think,” East coach Brent Chitty said. “We sure didn’t make it easy (tonight), but we hit some big free throws, and I’m really pleased.”
The Grizzly Cubs (13-7), winners of four straight entering the game, was hoping the momentum would continue, but the Olympians (8-9) didn’t play like a team with a losing record.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery
“I just know we didn’t execute as well as we wanted to,” Franklin coach Brad Dickey. “We had some good moments, but we couldn’t build on it. (East) played pretty well.”
The pace of the game was set immediately with both teams trying to run each other off the court. Trouble for the Cubs was shooting. They shot more than the Olympians, but their shots weren’t falling as often.
East hit on 11 of 17 shots from the field for 65 percent. Franklin could only manage a paltry 38 percent, but thanks to a few late turnovers from the Olympians, the Cubs were only down by five points.
Franklin’s anemic shooting didn’t last long. The Cubs hit six of their first seven shots in the third, but East was matching them on baskets.
Also helping was three straight Franklin turnovers, which the Olympians converted into points. The result was a four-point lead heading into the final frame.
Patience was the key, at least during the first part of the fourth, with each team working to get a decent shot at the basket.
The Cubs had three key 3-pointers go in, but they could only manage a single basket inside as East stifled any second or third attempts.
The game was still anybody’s with a minute to go, but a three-point play by 6-5 senior Matt Frost, gave the Olympians a 48-45 lead that they would not relinquish.
“I thought our shot selection was pretty good,” Chitty said.
East did “cool” off as the game progressed, shooting 53 percent from the field.
Frost led all scorers with 21 points, while Johnson added 13. Franklin, which had only four players score, was led by Drew Byerly’s 15 points.
