Columbus East got off to a good start against crosstown rival Columbus North in Friday night’s boys basketball game.
Over the final three quarters, it was all Bull Dogs.
North outscored East 15-4 in the second quarter and never let up in the second half to defeat the Olympians 62-34.
“I think the key for us was the experience factor,” North coach Paul Ferguson said. “Going into rivalry game, the team that is more experienced tends to usually win those games. We knew we had the experience factor going in, and obviously, we had to weather a little storm early going down and not having a great first quarter.
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“The tide changed in the second quarter, and clearly in the second half like the late third and early fourth,” he added. “I thought our ball pressure wore them down. They threw some bad passes, and we were able to get out on the break and get some easy baskets.”
East (1-4) showed a ton of energy to start the game, and it showed when four different Olympians got into the scoring column to get them out to an 8-3 lead. The Bull Dogs (5-1) came back by driving to the basket and drawing fouls. North scored six straight points off of the free throws to lead 9-8. A Bailey Harden free throw for East tied the score at 9-9 after the first quarter.
“We weren’t all that worried after the first quarter,” North senior Will King said. “We knew that we may get off to a bad start and that fueled us in the second quarter. Coach said to keep running and keep up the pressure on their guards to get easy looks in transition, and that’s what happened in the second quarter.”
With a 13-11 Bull Dog lead early in the second quarter, North forced turnovers that led to transition baskets or free throws at the other end. That fueled a 13-2 run, capped off with a dunk from Blake Barker, to close out the first half with a 26-13 lead.
“I liked our energy,” East coach Brent Chitty said. “The game was a physical game. I thought it took a toll on us, but that is something we’ll have to learn is the physicality. You have to credit North for that. Our guys can shoot, but we’re just not hitting shots. We have to believe and have confidence in our shooting.”
The Olympians went on a 7-3 run to open the second half to cut the deficit to 29-20. However, the Bull Dogs responded with five straight points of their own to extended the lead to 34-20. North eventually possessed a 40-27 lead heading into the fourth.
Barker drained a 3-pointer to spark a 16-0 run to start the fourth — which capped an overall 20-0 spurt — and that eventually sealed the win.
A total of nine Bull Dogs got into the scoring column. Barker lead all scorers with 19 points, and Nick Schiavello added 15 points and seven rebounds. Daniel Murphy scored seven points, and Ben Major had six rebounds to lead East.
“Having dangerous weapons like Blake and Nick on offense just creates opportunities for other guys like me and Will, Cameron (Wischmeyer), and Cooper Horn coming in here as a freshman gave us great valuable minutes,” North senior Casper Clark said. “It really opened up things for everyone else.”
North will play in the Noblesville Tournament Friday and Dec. 28. East will travel to take on Evansville Central on Dec. 28.
